Promoting Good Habits with Puppies

Just like us, puppies start learning as soon as they enter the world, so it’s important that you reinforce good habits as soon as you bring your new furry friend home. Here are our tips for promoting good habits in your puppy:

Best Practices for Teaching

Puppies can’t behave properly without some guidance on your part, so you’ll need to work on using positive reinforcement and proper teaching methods to help them learn. When possible, use food (puppy treats work great) or your little one’s favorite toy to lure them into the proper behavior. Training sessions should be kept as short as possible (usually about 15 minutes total), but you should try to work with your pup every day.

Teaching Your Pup to Sit

Though sitting may seem basic, it can be difficult for pups to master. Hold food over your dog’s nose and slowly move it back over their head. As they watch the food, your pup will sit down. After they master it with food, start saying “sit” every time you cue them in. Gradually, your dog will improve and you’ll be able to remove the food and just say “sit” to get them to sit. It may take some time, but patience and many repetitions should do the trick! For more guidance, check out this helpful video.

Teaching Your Puppy to Lie Down

Laying down is a step above sitting, so once they’ve mastered sitting, you can move on! Start with your pup in a sitting position, then take a treat and slowly lower it down in between their paws. If your pup successfully lies down, reward them with one of your handy puppy treats. Similar to how you teach sitting, pair this behavior with the verbal cue to “lie down” and your dog will master the behavior in no time at all!

Teaching Your Puppy to Stay

Once your pup has mastered sitting and laying down, you should move onto bigger and better things — in this case, getting them to stay put! Start with short distances and gradually move up to longer and longer distances, using the “stay” cue for an audial cue and — if you like — your hand as a stop sign for a visual cue. In this case, you should be careful not to reward your dog after they move. They need to learn to associate the cue with not moving, and you can only do this if you immediately reward them for staying put.

Understanding how best to train your puppy is crucial to promoting good habits in your pup. Use these tips as a guide to navigate your puppy’s younger years and be the best teacher and pup parent possible!