1st Ask Yourself, Is This a Brand New Puppy or an Adopted Older Dog?
Depending on your answer to this question, your training strategies will vary a bit. With brand new puppies, under 4 months old, you should begin training as soon as you get home. Your top priorities are going to be potty training and crate training. To teach obedience, commands, and skills you can go in to directions. The first option is to try and train your puppy yourself and the second is to bring a professional dog trainer on board. Hiring a dog training company who has great dog training services is likely your fastest and easiest route to success!
Some prefer to go the DIY route, but often times struggle teaching certain more-complex behaviors or to get those behaviors to become reliable. This is why bringing in a professional can be the best choice in the long run. With a professional dog training company, you'll get the peace of mind that your pup is learning the most effective training methods that are backed by science and proven to be long-lasting.
When Training an Older Dog Consider This:
If you have adopted a young adult dog or an older dog, the training is still a crucial part of your early lives together, but it's not always going to be the first priority in these cases. When bringing an older dog into your home, it's important to consider what the emotional state of the dog is. Some dogs need a few weeks or even months to fully settle into their new home. This should be designated decompression time for your new dog. They should have the opportunity to get used to their new surroundings and their new routine, before training becomes your priority. This doesn't mean that you should have no rules with your new pup, that's certainly not the best route to go. But it does mean that your rules will take a backseat to the dog's sense of safety and emotional security.
While it's still important to set your expectations for certain boundaries in the home, you'll want to weigh the importance of sticking to your rules against the overall well being of the dog. For example, you may not allow barking in your home. However, a newly adopted dog who's just come from a loud shelter setting may have grown accustomed to barking in certain situations. Barking can also be triggered by fear in some situations so it's understandable that a new adopted dog could start barking when someone they've never met enters your home. In these types of situations, you'll want to try your best to understand the dog's point of view.
While they're still settling into your home it's vital to keep your interactions positive and avoid things like correcting bad or unwanted behaviors. Later on once the dog is fully comfortable in the home, you'll start teaching the behaviors you do want the dog to do and the behaviors that are not acceptable.
Training is ALWAYS Happening, Whether You Mean it or Not.
Keep in mind throughout your beginning days together that training is always happening, whether you mean it or not. Dog's are masters at deciphering our body language and they'll be quick to pick up on our emotions as well. Always be sure to keep a happy positive demeanor when interacting with your new puppy or dog in the beginning stages together. This is the stage where your bond with each other should grow and become strong so that the training you teach afterwards can be most effective. You'll always work harder for a boss that you get along with right? The same is true for dogs! The stronger your bond is, the easier training will be. Your dog should be your best friend and you should always treat them as such. Getting a dog training company involved early on will help improve that bond to a working partnership that will last a lifetime!
