A general training guide, not veterinary advice. Ask your vet about vaccinations, when your puppy can safely meet other dogs and go out, and any health or behaviour concerns.
Set a daily routine
Puppies learn fastest with a predictable day: meals, toilet trips, play, training and naps at roughly the same times. Write the routine down so everyone in the house follows the same one.
Toilet training
Take your puppy out after waking, after eating, after play, and regularly in between, to the same spot. Praise and reward as soon as they go. Accidents happen; clean them up without fuss and take them out more often. Keeping a simple log shows the pattern quickly.
Crate and sleep
If you use a crate, make it a comfortable, safe place, never a punishment. Introduce it gradually with treats and short stays. Puppies need a lot of sleep, and a tired, overstimulated puppy is harder to train.
Teach the basics with rewards
Start with their name, then sit, down and come. Reward the behaviour you want the moment it happens, with a treat or praise. Keep sessions to a few minutes, several times a day, and finish on a success.
Socialise gently
Calm, positive experiences with new people, sounds, surfaces and places help a puppy grow into a confident dog. Go at the puppy's pace, and follow your vet's advice on when it is safe to meet other dogs.
When to get help
If a behaviour worries you, such as persistent biting, fear or guarding, ask your vet or a qualified reward-based trainer early. Problems are much easier to change in a young puppy than in an adult dog.
Puppy-proof the home first
Before the puppy arrives, move cables, shoes, medicines, cleaning products and anything chewable out of reach, and decide which rooms the puppy can use. Preventing problems is far easier than correcting them, and keeps the puppy safe.
An eight-week plan with the logs to match. The Puppy Training Program is a 40-page fillable PDF with an eight-week, reward-based plan covering name, potty routine and crate time through sit, down, come, stay, leave it, loose-lead walking and polite greetings, plus a daily routine, potty chart, vaccination and vet record and a 47-item socialization checklist. The free 6-page starter has the profile, routine, potty chart, vet record and first socialization checklist.
View in the StoreFrom the Stelaah Store
- ✓Puppy Training Program. A 40-page fillable PDF with an eight-week, reward-based puppy training plan and the care logs a new puppy needs.
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