Puppy Training Advice

When you're trying to train a puppy, it's important to realize that you should NEVER scold or punish a dog or puppy. It's not about "abuse", which is certainly a factor, and you should never hurt one of your pets! But it's about the fact that dogs and puppies will never be able to understand why they're being punished! They just don't have the type of brain capacity it takes to understand the "why" of it. It won't teach them anything other than they need to fear you.

Let's say you're trying to call your puppy to you. You call and call, but he just won't come. Now you're getting mad. The more times you call, the more angry you become. Maybe you're thinking like, "Why doesn't this stupid dog just come! He's just being disobedient!"

Whatever his reasons for not coming when you called him, he finally decides to come to you. Now you're really angry with him, so when he finally comes to you, you scold him. You yell at him and say, "BAD DOG! Why didn't you come when I called you?" You might even swat him if you're angry enough. (PLEASE don't ever do that!)

What has he learned? He's learned that he shouldn't come to you, because coming to you means scolding. Coming to you makes you mad. So he will learn that you don't want him to come to you! (See, they don't have that higher reasoning. They can only think raw thoughts.)

No matter how mad you get at your puppy for "disobeying" you, it's important to ALWAYS praise your puppy when he does what you want him to do. Smile, tell him he's a good dog in a pleasant voice, pet him, hug him, or give him a treat.

Praise sets off the pleasure centers in your puppy's brain. Once he gets praised several times for an action, he'll automatically learn to perform that action on command, because he wants very much to please you. Puppies really do want to please their "owners". (I hate that word. I don't like using "owner" or "master", because it implies that the animal is a slave. I actually prefer the term "human companion".)

If you want your puppy to learn faster, here are some tips.

1. Give your puppy a lot of love on a regular basis. The more your puppy likes you, the more eager he will be to please you.
2. Never, ever scold your puppy after he's done something right, even if he's just done something wrong. If he's chewing your shoe and you yell, "STOP!" don't punish him when he stops! It may be tempting to punish him for chewing your shoe, but he'll think he's being scolded for stopping!
3. Always give your puppy some sort of treat when he obeys. It doesn't always have to be food, but a pat, hug, or cuddle can be just as effective.
4. Do not EVER use physical punishment with a pet. Kicking, slapping, punching, swatting, etc. only teach your pet to fear you. This will make it VERY hard to train him, and it's not right to harm an animal, either! Even swatting gently with a rolled-up newspaper is harmful to your relationship with your dog!