Taking home a new puppy is going to be an exciting new quest that will also bring a lot of responsibility in rearing the puppy and providing it with proper training. The moment the dog comes home, training should start immediately although this is the time when the owner is still enjoying the cute little pup. The owner must just keep in mind that everything he does will create an impact on the behavior of the puppy and will carry this on even when he is already an adult.
Same with the other dog training, puppy training should have the consistency all throughout so that behaviors that are acceptable for you will also be acceptable for other people that will be coming into your home. Make sure that you do not confuse your dogs with the behaviors that he can or cant have with you and other people. Whatever behavior is unacceptable to other people should be the same with you.
Biting
One issue that is common with puppies that should be stopped through training is their biting. Puppies, while exploring their world would usually use their mouths and will likely bite, however this can be negatively thought of by other people.
The puppy should never be hit or slapped when training it to stop biting since this can lead to the puppy thinking that the owner is playing with it, roughhousing like dogs will do with each other.
Another way to train a pup to stop biting is by not playing any aggressive games such as chasing, wrestling or tug of war. Even though some of these games can be fun for you and your dog, it will encourage an aggressive behavior which should not be acceptable especially when you have guests coming to your house.
One of the greatest ways of training a puppy not to bite is by letting out a sharp Ouch whenever the puppy tries to nibble or bite and then removing eye contact and turning away from the pup. This is the same technique that dogs use with each other ” letting the other dog know and be aware that what it did hurt and will not continue to play that way.
This is one method that uses negative reinforcement in training the puppy so that he would know that when he bites, it will not be given the attention that its asking for. When the puppy calms down and does not bite, this is the time that the owner should praise him and give him the attention so that the appropriate behavior is reinforced.
If the puppy bites down on the hand, the owner should place one finger inside the mouth under the puppy’s tongue and hold onto the bottom of the jaw with the thumb for about ten seconds. The pressure should only be firm enough that the puppy cannot get away for that amount of time. The puppy will not be able to bite down and it will provide the negative reinforcement that the behavior is not acceptable to use.
