Puppy Training Guide
Welcome to our Puppy Training Guide, dedicated to helping you raise your puppy to be the best they can be. Hopefully your new addition will be part of your family for the next 10-14 years, so it’s well worth putting in the effort now to raise a happy, well-trained best mate who’s a joy to have in your life!
We thought it made sense to kick this guide off with everything you need to welcome a new puppy into your home, from the bare basics, to the things you may not have thought of.
Make them feel at home
Your puppy will be away from their mum & littermates for the first time in their short life. They’ll be in a strange place, with new people, new smells and possibly new animals, which can take a bit of getting used to! So you want to make this step as easy as possible by providing a few home comforts.
Feed them the same food. At least for the first week or so, then you can gradually transition to the food you want to feed them. This makes it easier for their wee tummy to adjust!
Ideally, the breeder will give you a blanket or towel which has been in with their mum & littermates, so your puppy has something that smells familiar. Smell is a very important sense for a dog, so this will help them settle in and feel comfortable.
Have a few toys already at home to give them something to chew on and play with.
Give them a cosy den
Dogs naturally feel safe in enclosed spaces, which represent the ‘den’ they would live in in the wild. We can easily provide a safe ‘den’ for our dogs by using a wire crate with cosy bedding. You’ll want a crate which has enough room for your puppy to comfortably lie down and move around in, but make sure it’s not too big. Puppies have a natural aversion to peeing on their bed, which helps with toilet training (we have an article on this). If the crate and/or bed is too big, they’ll assume part of it is for peeing on and use it like a toilet! There are two options for providing the right sized crate:
You can buy a small crate for when they’re young and buy a larger one later on.
You can buy a crate which will be big enough for your dog’s adult size, and make sure it comes with a divider, which is like a movable inner wall so you can adjust the size of the crate as your puppy grows.
Crates are brilliant for providing a ‘safe place’ for your puppy and should be somewhere they enjoy going, rather than a place for punishment. We have written an article with more details on crate training here, but for now just know that they are awesome for toilet training, and helping protect the contents of your house from unwanted puppy teeth when you can’t be watching your puppy.
Start as you mean to continue
Training your puppy should start from day one, and everyone in the household should be on the same page. It’s a great idea to come up with a list of “House Rules” that you’ll want your puppy to follow, including when they’re an adult. This means everyone in the house will be on the same page for what the puppy is and isn’t allowed to do (consistency is very important in dog training!). Some examples of what the “House Rules” could include are:
No jumping up or biting (if you wouldn’t want them to do it as an adult, don’t let them do it now)
Which rooms in the house they’re allowed in – are they allowed in the bedrooms, or the kitchen?
Are they allowed on the furniture? If so, do they have to wait for someone to invite them up with a certain word, or can they just jump up whenever they feel like it. Remember that the rules can’t change when guests come over, so if you wouldn’t want them leaping uninvited onto your guests’ laps, teaching them to wait for a command can be a good idea!
Which commands you’ll use and what they mean. For example, are you going to say “Drop” or “Give” to get something out of their mouth?
You can also make sure you have some of the tools you’ll use when they’re an adult so they can get used to them while they are young. It’s much easier to introduce things to your dog when they’re a puppy, so that it’s not a big deal when they encounter them later on.
A collar and lead – practice walking around the backyard with a nice loose lead – the lead should make a “J” shape, so it’s loose rather than tight. This will help make your first walk around the neighbourhood much easier if they’re already used to walking on a lead. Talk to your vet about when it’s safe to take them out for a walk in terms of their immunity.
Grooming tools. You want your puppy to have a positive experience with grooming, so introduce them to the tools that might be used when they’re an adult. Make it a happy experience. Things like brushes, baths and nail clippers should all be something you introduce your puppy to. We talk more about why having happy experiences with various things is so important for your puppy’s development in the socialisation article.
That’s it! Check out the rest of the guide for more info on raising a stellar best mate. If you want any more help or advice, check out our Best Start Puppy Training Programme for one-on-one help with everything from toilet training to stopping unwanted behaviours like jumping up and biting. Most of all, enjoy every moment with your new addition, they grow up fast!