We’ve put together some tips to consider when teaching your pup any form of obedience or our free puppy training commands.
Just remember that the free puppy training will take time and unfortunately our puppies don’t speak English, so be patient with them (maybe you could try learning puppy talk to speed things up, though we don’t give lessons).
Soon your puppy will learn that good behaviour means they will get your attention, praise and often a reward. They will also come to learn that bad behaviour has the exact opposite effect. No reward, praise and their least favourite, No Attention! In most cases this is enough to indicate bad behaviour but sometimes a stern simple “No!” is necessary to help your puppy to realise that they are doing something wrong.
The following free puppy training commands are to help you along with getting the most out of your puppy.
Sit Command
Using a treat hold it above your puppy’s nose and slowly bring it back above their head whilst using the command “Sit”. This should force the pup to put its bottom on the ground. When it does praise the puppy by saying “Good Sit!”
If your puppy just backs up without sitting try using a wall close behind your pup.
Repeat this command many times, trying not to consistently give your puppy a treat for sitting. This creates an expectation that if they sit they will receive a reward and will only sit when they get the reward. As you progress, you will no longer need to raise a treat above their head but just have your puppy sit by using the command.
It is important in your free puppy training to teach your puppy that food will not always be the reward for any training command you do. Therefore during the training do not always use food to persuade the pup.
Once your puppy has got the idea, try without the food but still offer praise in the form of patting and attention. This should avoid the problem in the future of the puppy only obeying your commands if you have food.
Sit and Stay Command
Start by getting your dog to sit through using the above command. Once your puppy has mastered this, it is time to extend the amount of time between your puppy sitting and when you give praise or a reward.
You want to give this waiting time the command of “Stay”. Whilst using the command it can help to use a hand signal (dogs are very good at recognizing hand signals). Often the stay command is holding an open palm facing the puppy, sort of like a stop gesture.
This first sit and stay command in your free puppy training is good to use in the instance of getting your puppy to sit and wait for their dinner.
When your pup has mastered the sit and stay, you praise them with “Good Stay”. Your pup will learn that the reward is dinner in this instance.
Secondly you want to teach your puppy to sit and stay whilst you are walking away from them. You begin this in the same way as before but now each time you do the command try slowly moving away from your pup.
Try not to turn your back to your puppy or they will more than likely move instantly. Just walk backwards, make sure you have room to move otherwise you may back up onto the dog bowl and trip over.
If your puppy moves with you, start again. If your puppy stays whilst you are moving away, praise your pup by saying “Good Stay!” and or giving them a reward.
Slowly each time you perform this command you should be able to get further and further away from your pup.
Come Command
In many circumstances there can be benefits to getting your dog to come to you on command. This could be to avoid dangers or just to have the convenience of being able to have your dog off lead at the park and being confident that they will return on your command.
Now that your pup knows how to sit and stay, you can you these free puppy training commands to help with getting your puppy to come to you.
Start by getting your puppy to sit and stay. Have your puppy’s lead attached and when you have moved away from the pup you should have a treat in one hand and the lead in the other.
This will encourage your puppy to come to you. Now instead of saying “good stay” this time use the command “Come”. It can help if you also use your puppy’s name to also encourage them.
Once your puppy has reached you, give the command “Sit”, then reward and praise your puppy.
The more you do this, the better your puppy will get. Once your puppy gets the idea, move to a longer lead and eventually no lead is the goal.
It is a good idea to practice these commands under different circumstances. For instance: when other animals or people are around, when going for walks or when in any crowded or different situation.
This will help you gain more control of your puppy and these free puppy training commands will help ensure your puppies grow up to be well mannered dogs.
With any command, repetition, consistency and time are the key.
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