How to train puppies

Trainig puppies is a lot like building a sandcastle while the tide is coming in. You might as well have a sense of humor about what you're doing, because chances are it's all going to be wiped away in the next big wave. Seriously, puppies have lots of energy and short attention spans, so plan your training sessions to be short, sweet, and full of fun and treats. Your puppy will learn what you want him to learn as he grows more mature. With a regular feeding schedule, your puppy will learn a daily routine, which will help tremendously when you start with housetraining your puppy. Add obedience training in with lots of exercise, play and outdoor activities and both you and your puppy will enjoy the time you spend together. Read on to learn more about how to train puppies.

Instructions

1. You can start training your puppy as soon as you bring him home at eight to 10 weeks.The biggest thing you'll want to train is to go to the bathroom outside. This is fairly easy. Feed your puppy twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. About 20 minutes after they are done eating, they'll need to go outside. Talk in an upbeat way and show them the way out to the yard to do their business. Praise them when they are done.

2. A puppy can only hold their bladder for a few hours at time, so every time your puppy gets up from a nap, or from a game of tug of war, take him outside to go to the bathroom. He'll start figuring out that every time he gets up, he should probably go out to pee. Keeping your puppy with you or confined in a smaller area while in the house will help you keep an eye on him and cut down on the accidents.

3. If you follow your routine pretty regularly, it won't take long for a puppy to understand housetraining. It's even easier with a doggy door. If you tape the doggy door open at first, and go outside, calling your puppy, he will figure out to come out the hole in the door. If you repeat the same action each time, he will learn to let himself in and out whenever he needs to go to the bathroom.

4. Training puppies with basic obedience commands is the same for teaching an adult dog. You just limit your training sessions to short sessions, like five or 10 minutes, and enjoy your puppy's enthusiasm and lack of attention span. Take one command, like 'sit' and focus on that for a week's worth of training sessions. Try to do at least one session a day. Your puppy should catch on quickly, and will enjoy being rewarded. With "sit," you tell the dog to sit, and hold a treat up above his head until he has to crane his neck back to see it, forcing his bottom down. When his bottom touches down, you give him the treat and praise him.

5. Teaching a puppy to lay down is fairly easy, since they are naturally playful. Once you have him in a "sit" tap a treat on the floor and say "down." The puppy will leap down to get the treat. Praise him. To teach "heel," walk your dog on a leash. Every time he gets in front of you, change directions. When he catches up right to your leg, say "heel." When he passes you (and he will!) change directions again. Work on this every time you go out on a walk.