One of the most asked questions by dog owners is “When do I start my dogs training?” Quite simply, as soon as your dog (puppy) starts to get around the house looking for things to get into.

Now, once you start the training it is most important that you keep it up until the desired results are achieved. While your dog is very young you will need to keep the training very structured, short and in an area COMPLETELY under your control. Look for small advances don’t expect the little dog to behave in the sense an older dog would react. Example: Teaching your puppy to stay or whoa. While the puppy is very young you can do this in the house or a very small area in the yard. Remember you have to have complete control, so the smaller the area the better. Now, you and I both know or should, that a little puppy WILL NOT stay but for as very short period. No different than a young child told to stay in the corner. But what you are doing is laying a foundation for future training sessions. While you have the little one in the confined or defined area you get down on the ground or the floor to their level. Once there you pet them play a little but every once in awhile with a controlled voice you say, “Stay”. You will have to physically stop the pup holding your hand under the chin and your other hand under the belly. You will have to hold them there and the entire time saying in your controlled voice “Stay”. What you are doing, is not only teaching the pup to Stay but you are teaching the little one that you are in control and must obey commands. While the pup is a pup your reprimands must be very light. A simple “No, Stay” with your picking them up and putting them back a couple of steps is more than good while they are young. You are building trust here also so you will need to really think your training sessions through before you start.

While a pup your expectations should be open. What I mean is that you will need to look at all points of the pup, age, maturity and so on. In the above-mentioned training, your pup for all intents and purposes can be trained to stop whenever you tell them to and at any time. But of course that too depends on your dedication to the training. All dogs are different so to say your dog will be Stay broke in 2 weeks would only be a guess. Some will train faster and some slower. If after a week you are able to lie across the floor and tell your pup to Stay and they stop for a couple of seconds that is a good start on the training. Once you have identified that the pup does indeed understand the command then you have to be a little more forceful when you set them back (just a firmer “No, Stay” and a very soft tap on the end of the nose is more than sufficient).

Keep in mind that while your pup is a pup you will need to try and keep training fun, structured, consistent and short.