At what age can I start training my puppy?

Puppies have the ability to learn from the age of four weeks, and moreover, four to 10 weeks is the deemed to be the crucial socialisation period.  A good breeder will start to introduce puppies to new people, animals and objects prior to going to their new home.  Behaviours learned at this stage through playing with littermates include dominant or submissive behaviour relating to their rank status within the pack.

From the age of eight weeks upwards, puppies are ready to be released to their new homes where they will learn to bond with new owners and to live in a new environment.  In most cases a puppy is given a new name and that must add to the strangeness of this whole new experience.  Personally I believe that life experience and bonding are all part of training so, in effect, training starts from square one and by rewarding good behaviour, a puppy learns remarkable quickly what is acceptable.  

Once bonded with your pup a little formal training can be introduced such as ‘come’, ‘sit’ and ‘down’, however do remember that your puppy’s brain is not fully developed at this stage and his ability to concentrate is very limited. 

Formal training can be introduced as part of the play session.  Start by calling his name and each time he responds by looking at you give him praise and a reward, then you can introduce ‘come’, 'sit' or ‘down’ using the same method.  If he doesn’t ‘catch on’ immediately, don’t worry, you can always try again later.  Always keep training to a maximum of a few minutes at this stage and try to finish on a positive note.  Couple training with praise, reward and follow with a game and he will learn that school time is fun.

Puppies are eligible to attend puppy classes between the ages of 12 weeks to 20 weeks. London Dog Forum would highly recommend any owner to attend one, regardless of previous experience, as it provides the puppy with the perfect opportunity to socialise and have many new experiences under safe supervision. 

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