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When to Start Training Your New Puppy

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

I get this question a lot. “When should I start training my new puppy?” My answer is the same every time. “Now. Right now.”

It is never too early to start teaching a puppy how to make life in our crazy human world work for them. Notice I didn’t say how to obey our every fickle human whim. That’s not what training a puppy is about (or an adult dog, for that matter). Our responsibility is to help our fresh new puppies learn what’s what. And it is a responsibility.

Dogs live with us at our discretion. We decide what they eat, where they relieve themselves, where they sleep, who they meet, where they go, where they stay, and yes – if they live or die. That all adds up to huge responsibility. So, we’d better be ready to step up and teach our puppy, who by the way just got to the planet a few weeks ago.

So, let’s start now. Right now. We have two broad lessons to teach our puppy. The first one is time-sensitive. The second one will be a lifelong work in progress. Ready?

Lesson One: The world is a good and safe place for dogs. We need to make this abundantly clear to our dogs in the first 18 weeks (weeks) of their life. Our puppies are weighing curiosity against caution more in the first 4 1/2 months of their life than at any other time. We have a great opportunity to tip the scales in these early weeks by teaching them that the people, places, objects, sounds, and common experiences in their life are safe.

We have a lot to cover – lots of people of many shapes, sizes, and colors – lots of things to see – lots of experiences to take in. And the clock is ticking. Start now. Yes, now.

Introduce your puppy to as many people as you can in a thoughtful, calm, and joyful way. Each new person should give your dog a nice treat. Be mindful not to overwhelm your puppy. Give her a chance to take breaks when she needs to. Meet people outside the home and invite many many of them into the home.
Introduce common household sights and sounds – vacuums, lawn equipment, blenders and ice makers. Hook all that up with your calm smiles and encouragement. Associate each sound with a tasty treat as well.
Introduce your puppy to fully vaccinated socially savvy dogs. Let them sniff and play. Enroll your puppy in a puppy class for fun social activity after her second round of shots.
Think of all the experiences that your dog will have on a routine basis and teach her these are joyful experiences: trips to the vet (treats), trips to the groomer (treats), car rides to fun places, joyful walks and outings to coffee shops and restaurants (treats).

This is a very condensed description of what we commonly call “socialization.” We know without doubt that dogs who have lots of well-thought-0ut positive experiences early in their life mature into more stable adult dogs. Think: calm, confident, and non aggressive. We really can’t overdo socialization but there is a time limit. We begin to see diminishing returns on this work as early as 18 weeks. So, start now.

For a more thorough look at the socialization process, I highly recommend the book Life Skills for Puppies.

For more details about how to teach your puppy the world is safe for dogs, order this book right away.

Lesson Two: Here’s how life in the human world works. It’s all quid pro quo. This is the natural way dogs learn. If I do this – I get that. Or, If I do this – I can avoid that. Dogs don’t have to learn this part – it’s hard wired in. In fact, it’s how all animals learn, including us human animals.

The lesson we have to teach our puppies is which of their choices will earn them good stuff. How does the game of quid pro quo work for dogs in our human world? Maybe it’s better if we think of it like two lists: 1) things I want my puppies to do and 2) things my puppy would like to have.

My short list:

Poop and Pee Outside
Chew this instead of that
Come when I call you
Sit when I ask
Lie down quietly when I ask

Her short list:

Yummy bits of food
Interesting toys and chew items
Access to social encounters with other dogs
Play and exercise
Touch / social contact with us

All I need to do to teach my puppy the game. Trade things from my list in exchange for things on her list. If she pees outside (at the top of my list) I will give her a treat and engage her in some play (from her list). If she sits instead of jumping on me (my list), I’ll get down and pet her (her list). You see how it works?

Our constant exchange of this-for-that becomes a form of communication – a way to chat cross-species. And, when we start the process early (like, right now) we can actually influence our puppy’s physical brain development. Certainly we can and should train at home. But, again, early puppy classes are essential.

How far can we take this? We start with basic manners (sit, and down, and coming when called). But what about tricks? How about some complex tasks or maybe dog sports? Anything your dog can physically do – we can teach it. Use your imagination.

And, how long does this take? Well, we practice consistently well into our dog’s adolescence (up to age 2). Then we maintain learning through adulthood. But the truth is, we can teach new things (and should) throughout our dog’s entire life. Why not? It’s fun for the dog and us too.

All of this work adds structure and predictability to our young dog’s life. It’s comforting to know what do and when. It’s also very rewarding to know how the environment (specifically the people and other animals in our world) will respond to our actions. So, it’s clear that teaching our dogs how this process works is essential to their well being. Training (early training) is not a luxury or an add-on – it’s a core part of caring for our new puppy, like food, vet care, and exercise.

So yes! Start now. Start right now and keep going. And don’t forget to take pictures along the way. They grow up so fast.

Michael Baugh teaches dog and puppy training in Houston, TX. Click this link to his Instagram to share your puppy pics.

How to Treat Your Dog

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

Many of us have noticed, when we’re training our dog he seems to be more worried over the treat bag than the task at hand. He can’t take his eyes off the bag, as if staring at it will cause the food to magically leap out of the bag.

There’s a reason this happens.

Many of us, when we are training, are more worried over the treat bag than the actual task of training our dog. We are busy fussing with the bag or digging in it. My guess is that we’ve been programmed to think we have to be lightening fast with the food or the training won’t stick.

That’s not true. And, our preoccupation with the treat bag is actually derailing our training efforts. It’s distracting the dog and causing him to focus on it rather than on the stuff we are trying to teach him.

How we use food and how we deliver that food in training matters. I hope these step-by-step instructions help.

1. Keep your hands at “home position.” When you are teaching your dog, let your hands relax at your side – at home position. Notice where your hands are are and keep them there. Definitely keep them out of the treat back. You may use one of your hands (usually the one not holding the clicker) to give your dog a visual cue – but really, most of the time your hand will just be hanging there.

2. Click when your dog performs the task. Your treat hand remains still and at your side when you click. Stay out of the back. Count 1-one-thousand to yourself after the click.

3. Reach in the bag and get a treat. This happens after the click (not at the same time), and after that brief 1-one-thousand pause.

4. Give your dog the treat.

These events to not overlap. They are three separate and distinct steps.

Click –> Reach –> Feed.

Michael Baugh Teaches dog training in Houston TX. He lives with his husband and two dogs, Stella and Stewie (pictured above).

What Dog Training Really Is

Michael Baugh CDBC CPDT-KSA

A trainer friend, Ginger Alpine, said this years ago, and it’s stuck with me. “Training isn’t something we do to our dogs. It’s something we do with them.” I love Ginger’s wisdom. And, I love how clearly and succinctly these two sentences define training as a process in which we and our dogs are full and equal participants. It’s not me versus him; it’s both of us working together.

Training–Teaching–Learning. It “isn’t something we do to our dogs” Here’s what else I love about this saying. There’s no time limit implied. We don’t do it and we’re done. It frees us from the finality of time-based questions about dog training. How long does it take? How much time will I have to spend? When will it end? These are not the kinds of questions we ask about other things we enjoy, like hiking or dancing or playing a musical instrument. I, for example, enjoy running (I know not everyone does). How long does it take? Well, as long as I want, a long time if I’m lucky and long into my old age if I’m really lucky and take care of myself.

Dog training, specifically reinforcement-based training, is how we learn to communicate with our dogs. Strip the goals away for now. Sit, down, jump through a hoop. Yes, all that will come. But look with me for a moment at this as “something we do with” our dogs. When we are training, we are in partnership, connected, and engaged with each other in problem solving and task building. We get to stop everything else and keenly observe our dog, see what it is she is actually about, what she actually does in this world. We guide her and provide feedback. And guess what? She’s observing us, paying attention to nothing else, noticing our moves, adjusting hers in kind, and giving us feedback as well. Give and take. It’s a process. It’s what we do with our dogs.

If we love our dogs, how can we not love doing things with them? I’m still grappling with that question, and may my whole life. Maybe it’s the “something we do to them” part that gets in our way. Maybe when we frame training as a chore that needs to get done, we freeze up. I can assure you, I’m no fan of chores either. And what if we can’t get the chore completed? How frustrating is that? I wonder what would happen if we kept stripping away the goals and set aside the are-we-done-yet part. What if training was like play, hiking, dancing or making music? What if we could think of this time with our dog not as a chore but as a fun conversation with her? I love a good chat, sometimes spirited, occasionally challenging, often just relaxed.

What if that’s what training is? What if it’s the time we get to spend with our dogs, not the time we have to spend? What if the goal isn’t the thing? What if the thing itself is the thing, the process, that conversation between two species? What if we’ve been missing the point all along? Yes, we will get our sits, and downs, and she’ll jump that hoop. But next time you join your dog in training (today I hope), watch how she moves. Look at her expression. My guess is you’ll see joy. And my further guess is that the joy has little to do with accomplishing goals. She’s happy to see you. She’s happy to be with you. She’s happy to have this time with you.

What are we doing? That doggy grin. What are we learning today? That full-butt tail wag. What does it matter? This is the best part of my day, the best part of my tomorrow and every day with you. Let’s do this.

Michael Baugh teaches dog training in Houston, TX.