Training Your New Puppy

Training

Why is training important?

Why did you choose to bring a dog into your family? You probably wanted a companion, a friend, a confidante and a protector. Someone to have a cuddle with on the sofa in the evening. You may have wanted a dog that could do things with you, run along the beach, play ball with the children and walk in the park. To do these things your dog will need training.

Training helps build a relationship between you and your dog. This relationship is built on trust, affection and mutual respect.

Training can help your dog become your best friend, a well-mannered companion who is a joy to spend time with and one who won't send your blood pressure sky-high!

There are many different ways to train your dog, but here at Highcroft we prefer the reward and praise method.

You should always praise your dog for being good, even if he is just sitting beside you quietly. You would be quick enough to tell him off for playing up and making a nuisance of himself, so always praise him when you are happy with him.

Social Handling is an important part of your puppy's training. Your puppy cannot care for himself so you must be able to brush him, pull burrs and grass seeds out of his coat, check for fleas and ticks, clean his ears, check his teeth, wipe his eyes and trim his nails.

Unfortunately, your puppy doesn't understand that cleaning his ears is necessary and he may struggle and fight when you try to do these things. The social handling exercise will help teach your puppy to accept your care.

• Sit on the floor and have your puppy lie down between your legs. This way if he struggles there is nowhere for him to fall.
• Once he is comfortable start by giving him a tummy rub, gently and slowly, the idea is to relax him.
• You can offer him a treat for being a good boy.
• If he starts to wriggle or struggle, gently restrain him with one hand as you stroke him with the other. But the chances are that if he feels safe and is being fed nice treats he will be quite happy to stay put and for you to stroke him.
• When the puppy is relaxed start to gently stroke his neck and ears.
• Work down his neck to his shoulders, down each front leg to the paw.
• Touch the paw gently but firmly (some dogs are ticklish) and touch each toenail.
• Go back to the body and stroke the back, the ribcage and the hips.
• Work down the back legs just like you did his front legs. And then give his tail a little stroke as well.

Once your puppy has learned to enjoy being handled, you and your Vet, will be able to check your dog's health without causing him any unnecessary stress. It will also help if your dog is one that will have to pay regular visits to the grooming parlour.