How to Start Training a Puppy – Puppy Classes at Kingsford

How to Start Training a Puppy – Puppy Classes at Kingsford

Did you just bring home a new puppy and it’s all so new you don’t even know how to start training your puppy? That’s ok, a puppy is a huge undertaking and even I, the owner of Eazy Dog Training Sydney, find puppies to be a lot of work. In fact, I don’t really enjoy puppyhood, I’m glad when my dogs have grown up. But there’s an easier way to raise a puppy – and that is to set them up for success from day one!

Management should be the first thing to focus on!

When you bring a puppy home it should be like bringing home a newborn baby. You need equipment, toys and treats for both chewing and training, so be prepared with everything you need before you bring the new family member home. These are the bare minimum you need:

• puppy pen
• crate
• puppy gate (yes, you need all these three for successful management and confinement early on to prevent unwanted behaviours)
• interactive toys (food puzzles, kong toys, snuffle mat, licky mat etc.)
• chews such as bully sticks, dehydrated bones, fresh beef marrow bones etc.
• puppy pee pads for accidents and urine off cleaning product
• high-value treats such as chicken, ham, Devon etc.
• collar and leash (light weight to start with)

So as you can see, it’s quite a few things. I always say, having a puppy is not cheap, you should never get one if you have a tight budget. Wait for a better time instead!

When you focus on preventing unwanted behaviours via managing the puppy’s access to things and offering plenty of appropriate things to focus on, you are half way there already!

Train daily manners first!

Instead of focusing on tricks and even basic obedience skills such as sit, down and stay, the best thing to focus on first would be important life skills such as leash walking, calm waiting, independence (staying calm when confined for example), being ok with handling (washing, brushing, health checks etc.) and associating a calm mental state with new things (observing the world, basically). Excitement is easy to create, it’s the calmness that can be tricky so start off with what you wish to achieve!

Socialisation before training!

Introducing your new puppy to the human world in a positive way should be the number one thing to focus on when you start stepping outside. Focus on quality over quantity! Introduce as many new environments, situations, dogs, animals, people, sounds, sights and smells as possible in a positive way within the first 16 weeks of age!

If you wish to start off right with your pup, join our Kingsford puppy classes here!