How soon is too soon to start training a puppy?

Question

I have a 6 week old pit bull puppy that I want to start training. I want her to walk beside me both on and off the leash as well as sittin calmly at the door instead of bolting out when the door is open. I also want to train her to protect me by taking a weapon away from an attacker and bring it to me then go back and attack and hold the attacker.

Answer 1

6 weeks is too young for a pup to be away from its mother. it will be more susceptable to socialisation problems. return it to the mother for another couple of weeks.

under ten weeks old, dont expect much response to training. theres no harm in starting however.

also, I would not try to train your dog in defense and attack unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing.

pitbull taken away from its mother too early, aggression training from an ametuer...... not a good combination.
.

Answer 2

well it's really young and there's no way it's had enough shots to be going everywhere with you, when a puppy is that young the training you sould be doing is getting her around people and other dogs to make sure she is well balanced, you can prevent her from rushing the door at any age. she souldn't be walking around alot until she has had enough shots to protect her from parvo, you can put a leash on her in the house and have her follow you around but for the most part puppies want to play so you're not going to be able to do any protection training until she is at least 6 or more months old, a dog doesn't have it's place in the pack until it is 6 to 8 months old, and that is the age when dogs reach puberty and unless submissive by nature they will challenge your commands, that's why alot of people wonder why there dog knew sit and stay at four months "forgets" it at 6 months, the dog is challenging your status in the "pack"
So for a dog to do any protective training it must know you are the alpha dog, and this isn't really set in stone until the animal is past it's puberty.
So you can start training for walking and staying at any time it's just going to be alot of repetition as a pup that young will only listen sometimes even if she knows what you want.

Answer 3

Six weeks is early to be away from the mother. Now you should be making sure the pup will allow you to handle her everywhere, in the ears and in the mouth, etc. You can work on "come", "sit" and "down". What you need to pay attention to is training your dog not to bite you or others, never to think about humans as playthings. You need to stick the basics now and think of the rest later.

Sitting while you open the door or answer the door is important. Have you thought of crate training your puppy? It is helpful for housebreaking and giving the dog a space of its own where it will not be bothered.

http://www.inch.com/~dogs/
http://www.southwiltonvet.com/id59.html

I suggest that you join the Yahoo Group called agbeh and read the past posts, links and keep reading. You will pick up so much
good information on positive training!

Here is a puppy group:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/spt/

Answer 4

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/aL41V

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 5

your puppy is awfully young(6 wks) but never to soon to start training. But where do you live that you need a dog to attack and then hold the attacker? This kind of training needs to be done by a trainer. Personally I would never train a pit bull to this, if i were you i would rethink the attack part. I have one and she is part of my family that's how it should be!

Answer 6

Wow that's an ambitious program!

You can start right away, but keep things simple. The most important and basic (& easy to teach!) command is "sit".

Use a treat. Hold it above your dog's nose, then keep holding it up but move it back slowly toward the dog's tail. Give th command (Fido, sit!) Your dog will try to follow the treat with his nose. When he lifts his nose backward past a certain point, he has no choice but to drop his butt on the floor. Give him the treat. Good dog!

Try to get the dog to do this without pressing the butt down with your hand. It might take a little more patience, but the dog will have learned to do it on his own. Never give him the treat if he doesn't sit.

Make it a habit right away to say the command the same way all the time. If you say Fido, sit! one day and the next you say, Come on boy, sit! and the next, Sit dog sit!, you'll just confuse the dog. I think the best is name-command (Fido, sit). That way he'll learn that when he hears his name, there's a command coming.

If your pup is a nipper, you also want to teach him the "out!" or "leave it!" command right away, by which he's supposed to let go of whatever is in his mouth. If he nips your hand, don't pull it out, it will only make him nip harder, and he will think it's a great game! Instead, try to make you hand go limp, because he will find it less interesting to hang on. As soon as he lets go, praise him. It's important that the dog learn that it is HE that's supposed to let go. (I know those puppy teeth hurt! but better do this now than when he has a mouthful of teeth).

Once your puppy has mastered the sit, you can move to "down", then the down-stay command, then sit-stay. Sit-stay is actually a lot harder than down-stay, because the dogs get anxious during a stay command, and they'll try to either lie down to calm themselves, or more likely they get up.

At about the same time you can work on the heeling command, first on leash, then off. This is much more difficult and will take a lot of patience and practice.

The door manners you want to teach your dog are great! You can start as soon as he knows Sit.

If you want to give him a good all-around foundation, make him sit for everything as soon as he knows Sit, kind of like you would want a kid to say "Please." Want to go outside? sit first. Want your dinner? sit. Want me to throw you a ball? Sit. Want me to pat you? sit. That way your dog learns that he gets nothing for free!

As for the other, more advanced skills you want him to learn, you shouldn't attempt that without professional guidance. There are some good clubs for that where you can take your dog and work with him.

All the best!

Answer 7

it is never too soon to start training your puppy. I got an american pittbull last december, and he is wonderful. He could sit and shake by 8 weeks old, and he has never just bolted out of the door. I taught him to go out by himself and come back by about 15 weeks old. he was completely potty trained by 4 months. I don't know about the protection training as I am not training mine to do that, but I do know that it is never too soon to start training your pitt they are extreamly smart dogs.

Answer 8

Pit bulls are not the ideal for what you want so be careful they are not able to be registered in parts of Australia and I think you can be sued big time if a trained dog attacks someone.To train it to discriminate on who is the bad guy is almost impossible.~~

Answer 9

You can start training calm now.bolting out the door.. Leash work is iffy, and the rest of it is going to have to wait..
How often do ya think she is going to be taking weapons away from attackers ?? :)

Answer 10

Just like babies, you start as soon as you can! The pup is old enough to learn but, you have to be vigilant in the training!! Always reward when the behavior is what you want! Likewise, when the pup does not do as it is told, you must scold the pup and help it to understand why it is being scolded!!

Best of luck to you!

Answer 11

The very 2d you get the domestic dog. The domestic dog's first night in a crate may be the 1st actual night. Be diligent, be certain you're taking the domestic dog outdoors a minimum of each and every 20 - 30 minutes, and don't use detrimental preparation for homestead-breaking.