There is nothing more exciting than bringing home a new puppy. The warm snuggles, puppy breath, excitable kisses, and silly puppy antics bring joy to any home. However, after the puppy settles in, it becomes apparent that perhaps adding a new puppy will be a little more work than first anticipated. From going potty everywhere in the house, to biting hands and tearing clothes, to sleepless nights, and every troublesome behavior in between. There’s no denying puppies are hard work! It can be overwhelming to know where to begin your training journey. Here are five training tips to get you started so that your puppy can get a head start on becoming a well-behaved member of the family.

1. Puppy Potty Training

Puppy potty training deserves its own separate blog, but one tip that will take you far in reaching potty training success is to give your puppy a treat every time he or she goes potty in the correct place. For example, if you would like your puppy to go potty on the grass, provide a treat upon successful elimination on the grass. It’s already naturally reinforcing to release bladder and bowels when they are full, so no matter where they eliminate they will repeat the behavior because they felt better after doing it. However, if they get extra reinforcement, like a really tasty treat only when eliminating outdoors, that would be a much more valuable behavior to engage in than merely the relief of elimination. Since puppies don’t yet have the capacity to hold their potty for very long, it’s important to offer frequent trips to the appropriate potty area. If they feel the need to eliminate, you can be ready to throw a treat party! With consistency, your puppy will quickly learn that it’s far more reinforcing to eliminate in the appropriate potty area than anywhere else in the house.

2. Play Biting

Puppies provide all these warm fuzzy feelings…but then there’s those teeth! It can feel as though you brought a piranha into your home. Puppies explore everything with their mouths, and combined with teething and lots of energy, it makes for a very chompy creature! Puppies displace excitement, frustration, stress, and concern and often release it through open-mouth behaviors like mouthing, biting, or barking. Giving puppies attention through petting or play can be very exciting to them, so it’s helpful to always approach with a toy. You can redirect them to bite the toy instead of you or your clothes. To reduce confusion, it’s always best to have a house rule of never using hands during playtime. If hands are toys sometimes, then they are toys all the time in a puppy’s mind!

3. Hyperactivity

There’s nothing cuter than a sleeping puppy. Part of the charm is that you can fully appreciate how absolutely adorable they are because they aren’t getting into mischief at that moment. Especially in busy households, it can feel like a puppy never stops! It’s tempting to engage them in play constantly throughout the day, and when multiple people in the home have the same idea, it can actually have a negative effect on your puppy’s behavior. Growing puppies need about 18-20 hours of sleep a day, and without it, they can develop anxiety, hyperactivity, and a whole host of other unpleasant behavior problems. What puppies often need is actually more sleep instead of more activity. Short spurts of play are best, and around 5-10 minutes of interactive play at a time is plenty for a young dog. You can end the fun and help your puppy wind down for a nap with a quiet activity like a chew toy or scattering some food for your little fur baby to find. By providing a quiet area where your puppy won’t be disturbed, you can ensure that you have set the stage for a few Z’s.

4. Socialization

 

While it’s important to start working on potty training and everything else a puppy needs to know, the most important thing to focus on in the first few weeks after your puppy arrives home is socialization. Puppies are only young once, and the socialization window closes between 12-16 weeks of age. Since most people bring home their puppy at eight weeks of age, this leaves very little time to expose them to everything they will ex

perience in the future. It’s crucial for a young puppy to be exposed to a variety of different people, environments, and situations to prevent fear and aggression later in life. A dog who is well socialized is a pleasure to be around and experiences far better welfare because they can accompany their human on life’s adventures and enjoy doing so. Mere exposure is not enough, however. It’s important to, first off, go at your puppy’s pace. Secondly, we can pair each experience with something positive like treats or play. If your puppy isn’t having a good time, then the socialization experience may be doing more harm than good. For example, if you play the sound of fireworks on your phone and your puppy is cowering with a tucked tail, your puppy is only learning that fireworks are scary. If you play it softly in the background while your puppy is eating or playing, then it’s a good socialization experience because your puppy is learning that good things happen when the sound of fireworks occurs. The goal during each socialization experience is to get your puppy’s tail wagging so he or she makes a positive association with each new experience.

5. Household Destruction

As mentioned in tip two, puppies explore everything with their mouth. They have a need and desire to chew, and if they don’t have enough appropriate outlets, they will find ways to entertain themselves, even if it means chewing your furniture, digging through trash, or destroying your decorative pillows. Providing plenty of toys is important, but it’s equally important to rotate those toys so that they are always fun and interesting. Even if a puppy has 20 toys scattered around their play area, they will get bored of them quickly. Instead, keeping about 5-6 toys out and rotating out new ones daily can keep young minds occupied. Providing safe edible chews and food puzzle toys can also be a great way to provide appropriate enrichment to reduce boredom and household destruction.

Puppies are silly, smart, and lovable, and with supervision, consistency, and training, they can become happy and well-mannered members of the family.

Happy training!