You have decided to get a puppy; you have brought her home…now what? You don’t know how to train a puppy, no worries; we’ll help you get through this. We will help you handle the chewing, digging, house breaking and so on. The first thing we are going to go over is the very first week; this is when the biggest adjustments will occur for both you and the puppy.
The first week is critical to future endeavours of training your puppy. You must stick to prearranged schedules and rules set forth. This is going to be tough. You decided to put the puppy in a crate at night but after a little whining she is now on the bed. You all discussed keeping her calm and off people but she is so excited because everyone else is excited she is jumping up on people. The following morning you see she has gone to the washroom on the bed and now she has been banned to her crate, no one wants to get up at the appointed time to feed her, so far…the schedule has gone to pot. Remember, you must stick to the schedules, and rules you have set forth, being a puppy does not give her free reign to rule the roost.
Play with her using the toys and praise her when she uses them. Never hit or reprimand harshly, remember a puppy only does what comes naturally and until taught otherwise has no idea of their boundaries. Keep the excitement level low the first week, friends and family are all going to want to visit…they can wait, she will be here next week. If she is going to be alone you might as well get her used to that as well, if she wakes up and whines, don’t go rushing to her. You will also want to schedule her first veterinary appointment so you can determine with the vet when she will be ready to socialize with other dogs, once you have determined this, set up training and dog socialization classes.
For your puppy to grow into a healthy well adjusted adult dog you must set the tone and decide how to train a puppy early on, before you even have her home you should make the decisions on scheduling and house breaking. You must set the tone in the first week of how the rest or your relationship with your puppy will be.