By Kelly Marshall
When a dog owner looks down at their brand new, small and tender puppy quietly sleeping in its little bed, it's difficult to think that in just two to three months it may grow to be 40, 50, or even up to 100 pounds depending on the type of breed. Although your dog's behavior may cute at first, like jumping up and putting his front paws on your body, these actions will be far less pleasurable when your dog is all grown up and literally knocking you over.
The best thing to do is to start training your puppy from the first day so that he can learn good manners as he grows into adulthood. Dogs that are not trained in this manner usually wind up learning all of the wrong stuff and their owners wonder why they cannot seem to get their dogs to behave as they age.
In the past, when dog training methods used more punishment oriented (using harsh treatment to train puppies), dog trainers normally required all puppy trainees to be at least 6 months old. The reason was because to the fact that such physical correction protocols used could not be done with dogs that were considered too small or too young.
What is ironic about dog training in past decades is that by the time most puppies are six months old they are big enough and very stubborn enough to ignore commands and are altogether difficult to train.
Modern Times Bring Better Dog Training Methods
Over the last couple of decades, the dog training profession has accepted more friendly and loving training tactics for their puppy clients. Many dog trainers now accept puppies that are as young as eight to ten weeks old. They are normally enrolled in socialization classes and puppy kindergarten.
Good training is now used instead of the old-school methods of bad reinforcement. Many puppies are taught to walk calmly on the leash. They learn the essential commands of sit, stay, lie down, and come. Furthermore, other useful techniques are learned by puppies such as how to calm down, give and take their paw, and polite greeting.
Today Dog Owners Are More Involved With Training
Another interesting portion of raising dogs that has been noted over the last 10 years is that more and more dog owners have taken it upon themselves to train their own puppies.
This is because to the fact that so many dog training publications and manuals have been published. Today's dog training programs are based more and more on scientific principles and psychological studies of dog behavior and temperament.
Several puppy training programs have taught dog owners to utilize methods such as clicker training and luring.
Clicker training includes the use of a small mechanism that makes a clicking sound when pressed. When your dog hears the sound he will associate the click with whatever reward you give him. This actually tells the dog that something good is coming and he should repeat whatever behavior or action you taught him.
Luring dog training techniques involves using food such as a dog treat, or even a toy, to induce the dog to display a precise behavior in order to follow the lure in hopes of receiving the reward.
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