Many dog owners make the mistake of giving commands in long sentences that only another
human being would understand. You get certain inflections in the dog’s bark or whine, but only another dog understands “dog talk.” Why should you expect your dog to understand all the words you use? True, your pet will love to hear you talk. Still, it is your tone that reaches and pleases him.

In his lifetime a dog comes to recognize many words, but he can be a well-trained, obedient pet by knowing just a few. He must know: “Come!,” “Out!,” “Stop it!,” “No!,” and “Down!” To them, add “Walk?,” or “Want to go for a walk?,” “Get in your chair!,” “Go to bed!,” or some such command to direct action, usually taught with a gesture or by actually lifting the dog to the indicated spot. Of course, he soon knows “Good dog!” or “Bad boy.” If you think though that he “understands every word,” try bawling him out some time in a honey-sweet tone. That little tail will wag madly; it sounds mighty nice to him!

The most important word is his name. You may decide what you will call your puppy before you get him, or his name may come out of the blue, but do not delay choosing it. Use it every time you speak to him, over and over again, until he knows it as well as you do. Once he knows it, he will rush to respond because of your affectionate tone, or hang his head, ashamed, because your voice carries reproach.

He will soon learn your name, too, and those of other members of the family. To these, he will add the names of friends, neighboring children, and their dogs - names which will be useful in his daily life as your friendly, well-mannered pet.

The capacity to learn is born in every puppy, to a greater or lesser degree. Your puppy starts learning the moment he enters your house. (He starts learning about you and soon knows whether you or he will be the boss.) His capacity to learn grows as he does and is fully developed at the age of about a year. Although he eventually stops growing, he never stops learning.

One way to train the puppy, and prepare him for more formal training when he is an adult, is to play with him. This may sound simple, but in our busy lives we often fail to play with a new puppy as much as we should. At first he is a novelty, but it becomes “too much trouble” to give the time to him, and we tell the eager, bouncing little fellow to “be a good dog and lie down.” He’d much rather be a good playfellow and later lie gladly at your feet for a snooze.

The game of fetch-and-carry, for instance. . .running after a ball or a stick, catching it and then
bringing it back. . .is a chance for obedience training. The command “Go fetch!” may later be useful. Vary the game by substituting other items for the ball or stick. At first all these toys should be hidden in some place that is easy to find; then make it harder. Identify objects by word until he associates the word with the object - your slippers, the newspaper, etc. Fetch soon becomes a known word, and so does find, when you use them often for the same purpose.

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Puppy training can be taught in many various different forms, and it is especially important to be clear on your vocal training commands. Your little pup may become confused if told the same things that may have different meanings to you. For a great example, let’s refer to the command words “OFF” and “DOWN”.

It is important to learn the difference between “OFF!” and “DOWN!.” When you get into obedience work, you will use the command “DOWN!” to mean that the pup will lie down. Therefore, while you’re working on the problem of jumping up on or at you, don’t use the wrong command. Tell Puppy “OFF!” And what if she doesn’t? Let’s examine why a puppy jumps before we try to eradicate jumping.

Have you ever greeted someone you love and been able to see only that person’s ankles? Don’t you want to look into the face of your beloved? So does your puppy, so, being very short, it jumps up to see you. The first thing you can do to begin to eradicate the unacceptable jumping is bending or squatting down to greet your puppy. You bend and your puppy doesn’t have to jump up to see your face. That’s an important beginning. Second, every time the puppy jumps up on you, take his/her front paws, put him off you firmly, and while you’re doing this, say “OFF!” loudly and firmly. If you do this, coupled with the bend-over greeting, while the puppy is still young, you have no need for rougher methods. Remember to pat him and say “Good Puppy” as soon as all four feet are on the floor.

Praise must always follow any attempt by the pup to do what you’ve demanded, even if the attempt is a pretty casual version of what you have in mind as ideal compliance. Your praise is your puppy’s reward for good behavior. However, maybe you have a year-old stubborn-minded dog who has been running your life his way before you read this. You don’t need me to tell you that you have a problem! You’re going to have to get rougher than the behavior described above if you want results. I suggest a knee-jerk reaction. When you see your dog coming at you to jump, bring your knee up fast against his chest. At the same time, shout “NO. OFF!” Do this every time. You may even shove with your knee. Knocking the dog down once or twice may be beneficial to it in getting the message across; certainly it’ll be beneficial to you in working off some frustrations.

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Along with learning his responsibilities and duties, your puppy is also open to learning whatever tricks and games you want to teach. But before you decide to teach him any game or to let some cute puppy behavior continue, ask yourself whether what you think is cute now will be cute in a full-grown dog.

Dogs of all breeds will “Fetch,” “Bring,” and “Give.” Especially if you have a sporting dog that you might hunt with someday, teach the “Give” or “Drop it” command at the same time you teach “Fetch.”. Otherwise, you will spend your hunting days chasing down your dog to get the birds you thought you were going to have for supper!

Once you have taught the basics, you can teach him anything that works well to amuse you both, bond you, and make your lives together happier. The more you are your pup’s teacher, the more firmly your pup looks to you as the leader of the pack. As your puppy knows more, he will welcome advanced lessons, be the lessons about what games you like to play or what jobs you want him to do.

Just like children, but on a more limited scale, the puppy thrives on going beyond the basics. While you stick firmly to consistency in things like feeding times and obeying certain commands, you and your maturing puppy can also cope with varying amounts of inconsistency. It is in these areas of innovation that you allow your pup’s own unique personality to blossom.

Many people find great fulfillment in obedience training their dogs. A basic obedience course is necessary for anyone who is going to raise a civilized puppy, but one can go far beyond the basics. It all depends on what you want. Watching a well-trained obedience dog work is a pleasure, and in dog shows, it is the obedience ring where you will see the real honesty of dog and owner functioning as a team.

You can go beyond obedience into tracking, too. One does not have to have a bloodhound to participate in this sport. The puppy who has been taught the game of “Go find” can grow up to “Go find” in a very serious way. Dog-sledding is also becoming an increasingly popular sport. If you have ever watched well-trained herding dogs work, you know what precision they exhibit, and you can guess at the time and love it took to train them.

The more you learn about your puppy and his breed, the more you will see that your horizons are limited only by how much time and expense you want to invest in having fun with your canine companion.

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