Training! Old School Or New School?

Question

Old school = no training for dog until six moths old.
New school= training dog as soon as possible.
Which would you say is the most effective?

Answer 1

New School!

Answer 2

The first six months after puppy comes home are critical in shaping the relationship between puppy and family. Lapses and mistakes here can take months to fix, and families often do not have the time, persistence, or inclination to repair companionship-gone-wrong. Thus a trip to the shelter or rescue group with a tale of woe and a plea to find this "good dog but he . . . " a new home, a trip often followed a week or month or year later with purchase or adoption of another dog and a new beginning on the same path.

It's easy to blame the puppy or the breed - Labs are really too energetic or terriers are too nippy or "We only took this puppy because he was free," but the truth is that almost any dog can be suitable for almost any family if the family is willing and able to spend the time and energy on the first six months.

Many of the early problems in puppy training occur because of the persistence of an old belief that dogs are not ready for training until they are six months old. Other problems occur because owners excuse puppy behavior that is likely to become unacceptable dog behavior.

Wrong!

Puppies are ready to learn when they are born. Training merely formalizes the learning so that the family and the puppy can get along and build a bond that lasts a lifetime. The trick is to teach and reward appropriate behaviors and squelch inappropriate behaviors so that Sassy or Tiger becomes the dog of your dreams - faithful, well-mannered, playful, obedient, a joy to live with and brag about.

If you have a puppy -- don't wait! Enroll in a kindergarten puppy class once its up on its shots. Don't wait until the pup is 6 months old to start anything.

Training before "six months of age" is fine if you see the puppy having fun with these lessons. Just remember to keep the lessons short, don't loose patience when your puppy suddenly forgets everything it ever knew, and give it plenty of time just to be a puppy. In the long term, the time you spend with your puppy exploring, playing together and meeting new people is probably more important than your short "training" sessions, but both activities are very helpful.

Answer 3

That depends. What dogs are we talking about? And what behaviours? With my dogs, positive reinforcement worked just fine -- and it was easy. They haven't done anything serious enough to *need* **true** discipline. They're well-behaved dogs in themselves, and I'm *very* thankful for that fact. Yet, positive reinforcement doesn't work with all dogs and all things. You're teaching a dog a trick; positive reinforcement. You're keeping those tricks in check; positive reinforcement. You're breaking a dog of bad habits; compulsion training. You get a dog that thinks children are pests, cats are food, and biting is the best thing in the world -- you don't just give that dog a few pieces of chicken and a pat on the head when it does something you like. It needs more than a reward, it needs *clear* boundaries and *clear* discipline. [Comparing dogs to humans; as many people seem to love doing. So let's get *that* out of the way.] You wouldn't give a child a cookie for getting a good grade, and then ignore the child while it beats up it's little sister.

Answer 4

New school. Dogs can start learning before they are fully weaned. one exception- don't use electronic training collars until the dog is at least six months old. Puppies younger than that often over react to the shock.

Answer 5

New school! Learning should begin at day one. It just has to be kept short and light hearted for young puppies as they have very little attention span. But house training, leash and collar training and all of the basics of early socialization should begin before they even leave to go to their new homes!
~Tyed~

Answer 6

I dont know. We started training our pup as soon as we brought him home.

The plus...he is completely house trained at 6mo.

The neg...Seems like all of the manners we tought him have gone out the window recently as he has become more mischevious.

Obviously it is good to potty train them from day one.

The puppy obedience school we took him to however, a complete waste of time and money. None of it stuck and we work very hard with him.

I agree to wait for obedience school until at least 6 mo of age.

Answer 7

Combination - There are a lot of things that you can teach a puppy but I would stay away from trying to teach the puppy anything that involves a collar and leash until they are 6 months old - prior to that they are cutting teeth and the collar and leash can add to their discomfort.

Answer 8

Hey vet tech wondered where you have been.....I agree with vettech, must train as soon as possible, or dog will be out of control by the time is 6mos, and will be harder to train.....start it now, and save yourself some headaches

Answer 9

Training as soon as possible.

Answer 10

New school, but start gently and keep the sessions short. Plenty of positive reinforcement of desired behaviours.