8-10 Weeks Old This is around the age that many new puppy owners bring home their new puppy. During this phase of your pup's life, they should be learning the basics such as their name, good manners at home, introducing some commands, and some early socialization.
Puppies are capable of learning basic obedience commands from as early as eight weeks old, essentially the moment they're through your front door they can begin their training.
By the time they're one year old, dogs should be making progress in learning of all the polite behaviors they will need for the rest of their lives.
Like humans, dogs go through a rebellious “teenager” phase (around 5 months to 18 months). During this time, they'll often test their owners, seeing what they can get away with. Being firm and consistent with your training will help establish boundaries.
Approximately 35% of owners and trainers voted 8-9 months as the toughest age citing new challenging behaviors associated with their puppy's now larger size such as pulling on the leash or counter-surfing.
More specifically, a well-behaved pup should respond to seven directions in order to become a good canine citizen: Sit, Down, Stay, Come, Heel, Off, and No.
From there, McMillan explains his playful, careful, and kind approach to training the 7 Common Commands he teaches every dog: SIT, STAY, DOWN, COME, OFF, HEEL, and NO.
According to Ray, the basic commands that every dog should learn (in this order) are heel, sit, stay, and come.
Sit. Unlike teaching your pup to stay down, “sit” is the easiest command to teach your furry friend. To teach your puppy this trick, make sure to follow the next steps carefully: Kneel in front of your puppy with a treat in your hand.
When you set aside time for a training session, plan on working on just one command. The quick, intense lessons will help your dog learn, and sticking with just one command or behavior will help the dog stay focused. You can train them on more than one command in a day but try to stick to just one for each session.
You need an incentive to encourage your dog to come back - a really tasty treat or a fun game with a toy. Show your dog the toy or food. Run away a couple of paces then call your dog's name and say "come" in a friendly, exciting tone - getting down low can also encourage them to come back.
If you catch your puppy misbehaving, try a loud noise such as clapping your hands or a loud "uh-uh" or a sharp “off”. Remember, reprimands need to occur while the behavior is happening, preferably just as it begins, and never after.
If you implore proper training methodology, are consistent, use appropriate high-value rewards and praise, your dog should begin to understand the commands within days - potentially the first day of training. They should be performing the basic commands outlined in this article consistently within 7 days.
Along with their name, the best training lesson you can teach them are the 5 basic commands. These include “come”, “lay down”, “sit”, “stay”, and “leave it.” These 5 tricks may not seem like much, but they provide your pup with a foundation that sets them toward a good path for adulthood.
When training a basic cue, keep the sessions short, about 5 minutes each, and try to average a total of 15 minutes per day. Puppies have short attention spans, so end your session on a positive note so that they are excited for the next session!
While there is no specific order in which to train basic commands, one of the best skills to teach first is “come” because it is a lifelong skill your puppy needs for obedience and safety. “Sit” is another relatively easy command to teach your puppy, especially if you use rewards and lots of praise.
Those who did more involved training (specialty courses or certification courses) had greater success, with more than 83 percent of dogs knowing at least three commands. In fact, those who completed specialty courses scored especially well, with 57 percent saying their dogs know more than seven commands.
"Sit" is one of the easiest tricks every pet owner should teach their dog. The “sit” command is the starting point for most dog tricks. Once your pet has perfected "sit," they will have an easier time learning other tricks. Teaching your dog "sit pretty" is a fun trick to entertain to your friends and family.