How do you train a 8 week old puppy?
I just got a puppy around a month ago and she is now 8 weeks old. Is this a good time to start training. Currently I have gotten her to sit but thats it. Whats some good advice on housebreaking and chewing. She keeps biting my hand. Is ciniman spray ok to use if a puppy does something wrong?
The object to training a puppy is several-fold: To teach the puppy using positive reinforcement techniques and to teach the puppy to trust you. This eliminates the effectiveness of yelling, hitting, spraying cinnamon, etc.
Think of it this way: when you want your puppy to come, use the come command… when the puppy comes, give it ONE morsal of dog food (you will cut back dinners by an equal amount). The puppy then says, gee, when i actually go to my human it is a positive thing and i love getting a treat and a big ol hug! And they do. Now compare that to yelling at a dog… what dog wants to experience that? Negative reinforcement causes damage to the puppy and to your relationship with the puppy. Bad!
An 8 week old puppy is perfectly capable of learning their housetraining, but it depends a LOT on you. After you feed puppy, take puppy outside to do it’s biz. Take the puppy WHERE you want the pup to go (yes you can teach a dog to go ina specific area… and the sooner you start to teach this, the better!). When puppy goes, praise the puppy: good potty! (use the word good + the verb describing the action, in this case good potty!).
Puppies have to go a lot. Take puppy outside every hour or so, to the same spot, and do exactly the same thing every time.
With a pup this age (are you crating at night?… hope so), just like with an infant that potties at night, you will have to get up to take puppy out during the night. Don’t allow puppy to have the opportunity to soil its crate.
Puppies will usually go within just a few minutes of feeding, so pick puppy up after feeding and take to the area you want the puppy to go…
YOUR job is to NOT let the puppy make mistakes. This is the easiest way to potty train.
Best of luck to you!
How to Train Puppies : Puppy Dog Care Supplies