Training tips:

When people first get their new pup home its natural to be excited and want to start teaching their new family member new things which is brilliant , however most mistakes are made with dogs when people rush through the basics and don’t set their dog up with a good foundation to build up from. Each dog is different, no two are the same, some will need reassurance before starting a new task or command while others will have no fear and can be a handful when out on your first walks.

All pups require patience, everything they do whether its good or bad for the most part are the first time and every experience you expose them to will determine what kind of dog you end up with. This is why when training we always make it clear and easy to understand commands and achieve whatever it is what we are asking the pup to do.

Once they have mastered the command we then make it a little harder and slowly build on this. Going slow and making sure everything is well understood and executed by the dog may seem tedious but trust me, training at the dogs pace rather than rushing really will show you why they are mans best friend! Take your time, make it clear what you are trying to achieve with each training session, have fun and remember loads of praise. If things don’t go to plan don’t lose your head and don’t be too proud to take a step back and make the activity easier for the dog, so long as each training exercise finishes in success then you’re on the right track.

After bringing your pup home the first thing you want to do is teach them their name. This along with the sit, stay/wait and recall commands are some of the fundamentals for any dog and are so easy to achieve, as I said earlier these are also the bottom foundation commands that we can build on.

Dogs name- so simple, say the dogs name and as soon as the pup turns to you or makes eye contact reward with a treat or praise. Dogs learn from repetition so after you’ve said the pups name and are praising them keep repeating their name eg ‘Charlie, good Charlie, Charlie ,good Charlie’.

Sit-I found the most effective way to teach your new pup to sit is to hold a treat under their nose to get their attention and slowly lift it up above their head. Once the pups head looks up at you the natural reaction is to fall back onto their back end. Again praise as soon as this happens but using their name in front of the new command eg ‘Charlie sit, good sit, Charlie sit, good sit’. We never push down on the dog’s back end as we don’t want to hurt them or cause strain.

Recall- tell the dog to come. Remember you need to be more fun than whatever distraction is around, getting low to the ground on bended knees and opening your arms gives the pup a clear none threatening target to run towards, always finish like the others with lots of fuss and praise. Eg ‘ Charlie come’.

Wait/stay- this command is slightly trickier than the others and may take a little longer to master. This, in my opinion is a must command to learn early on. Nobody wants a dog that barges past them when trying to get through a door or be jumped all over when you’re trying to feed them. Training with food for pup is the quickest and easiest way to let them know

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