Training your puppy is a very important thing. You may not think of everyday things as training, but it is. Teaching your dog to use the bathroom outside is training. Teaching your puppy to not destroy your home is also training. Training doesn’t have to be negative, in fact, if done appropriately, your dog will love you more and your relationship will flourish. I have been told many times, “I just want my dog to be a dog”. Those people are not thinking about destroyed furniture, shoes that have been chewed, or the vet bills required when your dog ingested something that it shouldn’t have. Training is a must, but make it fun!
We started doing some things to train your puppy when they were very young. Once they were able to hear, a sound effects CD played on a constant loop. Everything from phones, guns, sirens, wind, rain, chainsaws, vacuums, etc. played for weeks. This helps to desensitize your puppy if they encounter those things. We have been told that our puppies are “Bomb proof”. Other things included training your puppy to be confident on different surfaces. The bottle pool is a great example of this. The items in the pool constantly shift and can worry dogs in the beginning. After being exposed, you can see that they leap into the pool.
Our puppies love to train. Don’t be afraid to start as soon as you can!
