What age should we start training a puppy?

[Bella Bulldog]

What age should we train our puppy simple commands like sit, lie down, and stay? She’s 8 weeks old now and we’re working on potty training.

 

[EllieMay]

I have always believed from day 1.. you just have to remember that puppies are like children. Short attention spans. Keep your sessions short. 5-10 minutes or longer if they are interested.. but if you see them loosing interest, stop. I brought my puppy home at the end of October. I used training methods by Zack George (free on utube) and it has worked wonderfully. Now, two months later, she knows sit, come, no, and toy... she is potty trained.. we have not had any accidents in three weeks... ( I hope I don’t jinx myself) All that being said, I’m also in a position in life to keep her with me most all day every day ( with a few exceptions ) so that helps ALOT... I WISH YOU LOTS OF LUCK... Stick with it though because it’s so rewarding to have a dog that you enjoy and trust and get the same in return...

 

[mer55]

Absolutely agree with [MENTION=19271]EllieMay[/MENTION]. The short attention span will limit how fast she picks it up, so I would pick one time of the day after she is rested to start. Also, use a special treat for training- something really yummy like cheese or frozen green beans ( yes I said that, but my pup loves them!). They learn quickly but need constant positive reinforcement and repetition. It's so much fun when they actually do the command!!

Side note: I posted a video of my 10 week old Jackson, responding to come, sit, shake- all in one session. A "friend" of mine, who is a "dog trainer" ( supposedly has the credentials and I used her for Bogey 7 years ago and she was horrible) emailed me and told me not to combine the commands as I might get unwanted behavior. SERIOUSLY???? She has a dog that is hand aggressive- she can't fix it. Tells you the kind of trainer she is.
HAVE FUN WITH YOUR PUP!!

 

[Jimbo K]

I think we started puppy classes at about 4 months old. We learned some things that were totally different from earlier classes with my past dogs. At the time it didn’t make sense to me but in hindsight it all makes sense. Bella was a food gobbler when we got her so I learned fo feed her meals by hand. I would sit at the kitchen table with her meal on a paper plate, when she sat and made eye contact, I’d give her some food. Dinner took a little longer but she has no food aggression and eye contact is very important, she now is constantly looking at me for direction. I would leash her in the house and make her sit with me in the kitchen, no pressure on the leash. She learned patience and now I can take her out to any outdoor patio for a beer!

 

[2BullyMama]

At home you can start as soon as you bring her into the family.... for classes wait till after you get all vaccines completed, usually around 14-16 weks


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