Basic Rules of Puppy Training

In this article, i will share how i trained my dog Tigger, so that you can train your puppy/dog.

However, some people do not like to train their puppies, except the basic toilet training. This approach is fine too. Let your dog be the way he is. Some basic things can be taught to your puppy/dog in a natural way, rather than following a daily training routine.

But if you are interested in training your puppy/dog, then read on.

Table of Contents

• Appropriate age of the puppy
• Time of the day of training
• Duration of training
• Order of training
• Treats to use

In this article i will share 4 rules with you that are most important rules for training. If you follow these rules, you will be able to train your dog/puppy very fast.

Rule 1: Appropriate age of the puppy

At what age can you start training your dog/puppy?

For puppies there is a minimum age of 2 months. So if your puppy is over 2 months, then you can train your puppy.

But if your puppy is under 2 months, he/she won’t be able to get trained as your puppy is still very young.

And if you have an adult dog, at what age can we still train him?

Well, there is no such rule for dogs. You can train a dog at any age. You might face some problems as your dog would have bad habits from earlier. It will take some time and efforts to train but you will eventually succeed.

Rule 2: Time of the day of training

At what time of the day can you train a puppy/dog?

So, this one has 2 rules as well.

If it’s the 1st time you are training your puppy/dog, then pick a time when your puppy/dog is tired and he is little hungry. Because if he is active, then he won’t listen to you at all. In fact he might start biting you during the training or get aggressive.

So what do we mean by tired? Suppose he just woke up. At that time he will be little lazy, right?

And hungry means, like about 2 hrs before his meal time.

For example, if he wakes up about 2 hrs before his meal time. That will be the best time to train, as he might be hungry and lazy. So at that time he will respond to your commands for the temptation of treats and he won’t bite you at all.

The 2nd part of this is, if you have already trained your puppy/dog and if you want to repeat the training, then there is no best time of day for this.

For this you can train whenever it’s possible through out the day. Like my dog Tigger already knows a lot of tricks. So, for my dog Tigger, we don’t wait anymore for him to wake up. We train him whenever we get a chance, like before giving him a treat, taking him on a walk or whenever it’s possible. So we can train him anytime during the day.

Also i would like to give you an important tip. If you train your puppy/dog at the same time and the same location, then after some time change the location. Otherwise your puppy will think this is my training time and my training location and he won’t train anywhere else.

For example, like if you train in the evening on your balcony, then he will respond to your training there only and won’t respond anywhere else. So after some time, change the position and time of training.

This is how my dog Tigger has learned a lot of tricks. We give him training outside the house, we train at the gate, in the garage etc.

It is said that your training is not complete until your dog/puppy follows your training in every situation. Sometimes your dog will break your training instructions, or won’t follow your training in a new situation and in front of new people. Till this happens keep training your dog/puppy.

Rule 3: Duration of training

Next rule is how long should you train in a day?

Well to start, if you are training for the first time, then you must train 15 minutes a day at least. Because at this age puppy’s mind is so young that they learn rapidly and forget rapidly. So, if you don’t continue your training every day then he will forget very soon.

This is why 15 minutes a day is necessary.

I have 2 more rules for you.

Rule 4: Order of training

Next rule is what order of training should you follow?

Well the first thing should be to teach your puppy (not to a dog) his name. Like if i say ‘hey Tigger’, then he should look at me.

But i don’t think you should work for it, because puppies learn that automatically within few weeks.

So, instead you should save that time and use it for next training item.

Our next training will be on Sit and Stay.

After that we will learn Drop it command, because many times you will be in a situation when your puppy/dog will be biting lot of your stuffs and you would want him to leave it, but he will not leave it. That’s why we will teach him ‘Drop it command’.

After that we will go for more of a fancy training, like handshake and high five, or lying down on the floor, crawling or spinning.

Rule 5: Treats to use

What should you use for training so that your puppy/dog listens to you?

Well, you can use 2-3 things for this.

We can use training treats, the ones they like. Training treats are of various kind. You can check which ones your puppy/dog likes.

You can also use low value food like kibble. Sometime i give kibble to my dog Tigger for training. Kibble is his food that he eats every day, three times a day. That is a low value because he eats it every day. He won’t have much interest in it. He will eat it and will do the training but won’t like it a lot.

High value treat is something that your puppy likes a lot. He will respond more to that.

Also take note to avoid over feeding your puppy/dog. Take some portion of the meal out and use it for training, rather than feeding him entire meal. Otherwise, the extra calories from training treats will increase his calories intake per day and he can get obese.

So, make sure to feed him about the same calories per day as required. Training treats are low in calories but still have some calories. If you are using training treats then reduce the portion of his meal a little, so that his overall calories a day remains the same.

Winding Up

So, that’s it. I had all these tips for you in this article. Let us know in the comment section your training experience with your four-leg buddy, and if you use some other tricks to train your dog.