Good age to train a puppy?

Question

I just bought a Boston Terrier a few weeks ago. He's about 7 weeks old now, and he's very smart. When is a good age to take classes at a pet store and work on teaching him some tricks?

Answer 1

I would wait for a little while ( a month or 2 , but on longer) until he has had all of his shots.
You can start teaching them the very basics right now. By the basics, I mean , SIT, STAY, DOWN, AND COME.
It is not all that hard to teach any of these commands. They are all very important to your puppies well-being.
I usually start with the command COME. I call the puppy by its name and everytime the puppy comes I praise it and give it lots and lots of love. Just keep this up. DO NOT EVER HIT THE PUPPY AFTER IT HAS COME TO YOU. THAT WILL CONFUSE THE PUPPY AND HE/SHE WILL NOT WANT TO COME.
My dogs are outside dogs, so there are times I don't want them in the house. I usually raise up my foot to their chest level and when they try to come inside . I push them backwards - all the time saying the command STAY. This too takes practice and most importantly being consistent!!!! My dogs know when they are invited in and when I don't want them in.
Now my dogs know when I say STAY, I don't want them in the house or in a particular area.
To get the puppy to SIT, get something that is really smelly ( for example a goodie - a hot dog) and put your fingers completely around it ( make a fist so that the puppy can't eat it). Then raise your hand above their head - what generally happens their bottom will have to sit down in order to get the food. All the time tell the puppy SIT. Make sure that there is a lot of praise . I like to make my dogs SIT before I put their food down in front of them. This simple thing reinforces that you are the one in charge!!!!
Next is the DOWN command. Get the puppy to SIT first. Then take a piece of hot dog and making a fist around the hot dog - after the puppy is sitting - lower your hand to the ground. The puppy will follow it's nose and go into a DOWN position.
Also make sure that you walk the puppy on a leash, so that it associates the leash with something good. My dogs know that when they see the leash they are going for a walk. They get really excited.
Be sure to expose your puppy to all age levels of people, very young children to older people. They need to realize that there is a great big world out there.
Good luck with your puppy and keep up the training. You and your puppy will be better off for it.
One more thought, you might want to get the puppy microchipped, so that if it gets lost a shelter or a vet can scan the dog and the microchip will have your information on the microchip. You will have a better chance of getting your dog back should it get lost.

Answer 2

We started training our dog from the second he came home. At 8 - 10 weeks most vets/ large pet stores run puppy classes that teach the basics and a lot of councils run obedience classes that start a little older about 16 - 20 weeks. Call your vet/pet store and find out what they offer.

Answer 3

You can start training him at home now.
As for classes, call and ask what age the pups need to be for their classes, and what shots they need to have. As some shots depend on age as well.

You can begin working on sit, stay, down, and off; now before your classes begin. Try to stay with one lesson repetitively for a few days. After a couple of days of the same thing then the pup should have it down pat. Then you can move on to the next one.

Your big ones are going to be potty training, walking on leash, stay, staying without you in sight, walking without leash, and off or no jump.

Have fun!! Taking classes in a pet store, make sure to leave your wallet in the car!! You'll buy so many things you won't know what to do.

Oh, that reminds me. Find a small easy treat to swallow. So that you can treat quickly and move on. Like Choc drops or something similar. You have to be quick to keep her on task and keep moving.

Answer 4

The best age is about 5-6 months.. This is about when they can start remembering information better.. My dog is about 7 months & she is getting to be better at paying attention & learning & remembering the tricks we teach her..

Answer 5

puppies can be trained at any age. when you start training him make sure you are using the right kind of treats. go to the local petstore and look for treat that say "perfect for training" or something of the sort. or ask for help. you could also use dry food for a treat and just act as if it was a treat.

Answer 6

i got a chocolate lab at 7 weeks...we took him to training classes at petsmart at around one year so he could have some time go get used to other animals and people. But i think it all depends on your puppy, whenever you think he is ready to learn new things.

Answer 7

You can train him now. I taught my dog to sit, stay, give paw, take it and leave it all at 7 weeks to 9 weeks old. There smarter then you think ;]

Answer 8

I think you can train him now but if you have a feeling that you shouldn't how about in 1 more month?

Answer 9

You want to teach him basic commands first, before he starts learning "tricks". He has to know how to sit, lay down, and has to understand the word "no" otherwise, he will go nowhere.

Answer 10

I took my dog to a puppy kindergarten once she turned 1 b/c they said she had to be potty trained first