How Does a Puppy Learn?
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Newborn Puppies Learn From the Mother
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Puppies are born with a certain amount of instinctual intellect, as are all animals and humans. For the first several weeks of life a puppy learns everything by copying the actions of the mother dog. A mother dog teaches a litter of puppies about hygiene by cleaning them herself. She teaches them safety by reacting to dangerous situations instinctually. A puppy can become fearful of thunderstorms if the mother dog is afraid during them. A mother dog may snarl or even snap at one of her own puppies to teach the puppy that its behavior is unacceptable. The puppy learns that it can correct another animal in this manner without having to attack.
How a Puppy Learns Manners
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A puppy continues to learn into adulthood, and gets better at understanding the trainer as it grows up. Once the mother dog is no longer part of the teaching process, it is up to the human owners to teach acceptable behaviors. A puppy will learn from a person's body language and voice inflections what each behavior evokes. Puppies can feel happiness in a home as well as stress. If a home is chaotic with little or no routine, the dog will often assume there needs to be a leader and will try to step into the role. Teaching a dog its place in the family hierarchy is essential in bringing peace to the relationship.
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How a Puppy Learns Tricks
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Using calm authoritative tones when training a puppy will help the dog understand that this is important business that needs attention. The puppy will keep its attention on the trainer as long as it is being addressed in training tones. It also helps to use tiny pieces of treats or dog kibble as a reward for good learning behavior. A dog will pick up on stress in a trainer's voice and think something is wrong. Instead of learning a new task the dog will often run around trying to figure out a cure for the stress. Training should be stopped when it gets stressful.
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- Photo Credit Christine Cameron
