What should we train our puppy to do?

Question

We have a 4 month old puppy. We trained him to sit and shake so far. I'm working on "down". What are some other things we should train him to do? I'm looking for sensible things and why you think it's important. I'm also looking for cute or funny things that you've trained your dog to do or you've seen. Any ideas?

Answer 1

First of all, I'll suggest going to a puppy training class at Petco or Petsmart or some place like that. My wife and I took our yellow lab to this, and it was fantastic. It's really affordable and you learn some great tricks.

My favorite is teaching "come" when called. The way we were shown is called "puppy ping pong". You'll need another person to help you out, and you each sit at opposite ends of a long hallway. You should each have a handful of training treats, which are tiny little nibbles of a treat that the dog can eat a hundred of without getting full or sick. Take turns calling the dog by name followed by the word "come", and show him the treat. He'll take off to you and wolf down the treat. Have your partner immediately call the dog the same way, and he'll take off to the other end of the hall. Keep going back and forth, and the dog begins to understand the "come" command. After a few sessions of puppy ping pong, you'll want to incorporate the sit command before giving the treat, especially if he's a large breed. You don't want him to get used to bull-charging into you at full speed expecting a treat. You'd like him to sprint to you when called, then stop and sit nicely waiting for your attention/reward/next command.

Good luck and enjoy the all-too-short puppy phase. My lab is 10 months and already 80 pounds and quickly growing out of his puppy phase. We miss our tiny cute puppy, but still love our big ole' dog!

Answer 2

After housebreaking of course, my first answer would be to walk and mind on a leash. This allows you to socialize your puppy much more easily and manage him as he gets larger. Further, the leash becomes a training tool to teach most anything else, uncluding the all important "drop it" mentioned earlier. Get the basics, sit stay, down, here etc out of the way before you go for the cute stuff. All of that training will make the cute things a snap

Best of luck with your new friend!

Answer 3

Hi, I understand that you are looking for some advice or resources to help fully train your dog or fix behavior problems. If a professional dog trainer is not an option at this time, or if you want to trt training your dog on your own (a great way to bond), I'd suggest you https://bitly.im/aMRWb

A friend recommened it to me a few years ago, and I was amazed how quickly it worked, which is why I recommend it to others. The dog training academy also has as an excellent home training course.

Answer 4

It's great you are working on training your puppy. Here is a list from a chow chow website on basic commands every dog should know by the time they reach adulthood.
sit
stay
lay
come
wait
no (of course)
leave it
drop it
heel
thier name (again of course)
go to bed
down
up
go lay down

Tricks are always fun also, but these are the basics in order to have a well mannered dog.

Answer 5

If you have a small dog train him to jump into a wicker basket with a handle on it. Then when you go somewhere and want to take him with you you can tell him to get in his basket and he can be carried to the car and also the basket makes a good place for your puppy to lay in when he is in the car. My mother in laws Yorkie about 15 years ago loved to get into his basket because he knew he was going bye bye.... He learned that he had to stay in the basket while riding in the car, that helped a lot so he wouldn't try and jump all over in the car.

Answer 6

Definitely teach him to come to you and stay on command. This can be a life saver for him. I l almost learned the hard way. Say he sees a cat across the street and a car is coming down the road. You want him to stay and come back to you instead of running. He is definitely at the age to learn, this is a good time for leash training too!! Good luck. I have 5 dogs now, one of them is 3 monthes old..

Answer 7

There are many many many tricks to teach doggies but more importantly teach the basics first. After you successfully teach the come command teach the word "koy". It is a word that is rarely, if never, heard and thus is perfect as the emergency come command. Dogs here come all the time and it gets old. Just look up "koy emergency come command for dogs" on google or your favorite search engine and something will pop up on directions for how to teach this (remember to use positive techniques). "Koy" is to be used in emergency situations only. The dog will know to drop everything and go directly to you when he hears it. It won't just mean "come", but come now and fast.
If you want a trick to teach, I saw the funniest dog on planet's funniest animals. The owner put a treat in front of the dog and said the words, "this one's from the dog catcher." and he wouldn't eat it. Then the owner, holding the same treat, says "this one's from uncle henry." and the dog snatches it up. Evidently it didn't matter what name he used for the dog to eat the treat. He just wouldn't eat it if it was from the dog catcher. It was hysterical and creative.

Answer 8

They need to know how to walk, heel, come on command. These commands are as much for their safety as it is to make going for walks pleasurable for you both. You will need a training lead, there are several varieties on the market so choose the one that suits him best, pet store assistant should help here.
Put the leash on your pup and let it get used to it before you actually start the training, don't 'play' with the leash otherwise it will be seen as a 'toy/game'. Once pup has got used to the leash have your pup on your left side and teach it to sit first of all, then as you step forward pull on leash and make the 'heel' command. This will take time and do not go any longer than 10 minutes at a time. Pup's are like human toddlers, attention span will wander.
As the pup responds readily to the 'sit, heel' commands you can then start walking your pup about 10-15 feet/3-4 metres turn, pup always on left side, say 'stay' clearly and walk back to where you started from and then call pup to you. Of course this will take time for the pup to understand and when it does well at learning these behaviours give it a little treat as a reward and of course lot's of fuss and pats.
Having a pup learn to heel keeps it close to you so it is not straining at the leash, less likely to be rushed at by other dogs or humans who may not like dogs from striking them. Being able to leave your pup/dog know ing it will not run off or go with another human is self protecting for the pup/dog. Having it respond to your matter of fact call will assist it to learn the difference between play and 'work'. Many a human has been saved because their dog was able to respond to this command.
It is always good to teach your pup 'road rules', this shows them how to cross a road and to recognise traffic lights. I used to take my pup's to a set of traffic lights that people were in the habit of crossing outside the pedestrian times so they would learn to cross when the sound of stopped engines would click in. It is easier now with the sound lights that indicate to sight impaired it is safe to cross.
Fun stuff, saying their prayers will get me every time, this works for a 'Hide and seek' game with them as well. Teach them to stay whilst you count to 10 and hide when you reach 10 you give signal for them to come and find you. Of course they find you quickly and easily as you have let them know where you are via the counting and signal.
Puppy school is really worthwhile if you want to learn the basics of safe dog handling/training. This is a time and financial decision.
Wish you well with your four footed wagging tail friend.

Answer 9

To come when he called this is protection for him as well as yourself. To go outside for obvious reasons. Teach him to stay when you tell him to . Teach him not to jump on people everyone appreciates that. Sounds like you have a smart puppy. Good Luck

Answer 10

since your working on training him to go down this is a great way to do it, put a treat in your hand (small) and have him sit them let him lick it (treat) just a little bit to where he get the teast and than but the treat in front of his noise and movin you hand downwards and going towards you slow not to fast and then poin to the ground , when he lays down say "LAY Down" after he does say good boy and give him a treat , alos you may want to train him to not run to the door when someone is there and to no try to get in the way when opening the door to let someone in , alos show him to go pee outside , when you take him out to pee say to him go "peepee " goo dog. Train him the basics before you start on cool stuff trust me on this i am a train dogs for people around my area. AND OH yes play alot with his paws so he gets use to you touching them so you wont have truble cutting his nails.GOOD LUCK.