From what age can you train a puppy?
Many new owners of dogs are convinced that you should not start training until the dog is at least 6 months old. It is often thought that the dog is “intelligent enough” only from 6 months of age to understand what is meant by the commands to be learned.
This is complete nonsense! The training (upbringing) of the dog must start as soon as the puppy steps his first leg through the door of his new home.
The same applies to dogs as for children. They need boundaries, routines and have to learn (good) manners. When an owner waits with raising the puppy until the age of 6 months, the owner will face a difficult time with wrong and unwanted behavior of the dog. This unwanted behavior could have been prevented if the puppy had immediately learned his “rules” from the moment he entered the house.
For competitive dog sport, such as agility training or police dog training, it is recommended to start the dog with 2 years of age. This is related to the development of the joints, muscles and tendons that are not yet fully grown and strong enough for a young dog to perform “heavy work”.
Age phases of the dog;
The dog goes through various stages in his life. The first important phase is the period of the first 14 days of the puppy. In this phase he already learns his first ranking in relation to his littermates. The puppy also does an enormous amount of impressions, despite the fact that the animal is (probably) still deaf and blind. In the meantime tests have already been carried out that show that puppies are not born deaf. More information about this in a next article.
It has also been shown, for example, that wolf cubs in captivity can learn social behavior towards people, when the cubs from the 10th to the 12th day of life can have received many and positive impressions from people.
It is therefore extremely important that the breeder of the dog spends a lot of time socializing the puppies until they leave the nest for good at the age of 8 weeks. The puppies up to 8 weeks must be positively confronted with adults and children and any other pets. It is also important to let them get used to strange noises in the house at this age, such as vacuum cleaners, slamming doors and kitchen machines etc.
The age of 7-8 weeks is the best time to let the pup transfer to his new environment (owners). This age is in fact the crossroad between the nesting instinct and the research drive of the puppy.
The first obedience training:
Good dog schools provide specialized puppy courses. This first training session of the puppies starts at the age of 7/8 weeks until the age of 12/13 weeks.
It is important that these lessons are given in groups, preferably 7 to 10 puppies. The instructor must be very experienced and must have a very good knowledge of dog behavior.
During these first trainings it is important to get the puppies used to all kinds of different circumstances, such as opening an umbrella, walking next to a bicycle, the sound of mopeds etc.etc. The puppies also learn to socialize with other dogs during training.
At this age can also be made a first start with, among other things, the HERE (come back to the boss) command. When at this age the puppy learns to come directly to his owner on (friendly) command, the dog will return the rest of his life to his owner, when called.
Again: These most important training sessions have to be provided by a very experienced instructor.
Puppy health;
Often (including by veterinarians) is advised not to train puppies in a group at this young age, because they are not fully vaccinated yet. One would run a risk that the puppy becomes ill due to contact with other dogs. However, if the puppy is checked by the vet before the training and the puppy has received his first vaccination, there is absolutely no obstacle to following such a training.
This check and vaccinations obviously apply to all puppies participating in the course !!! The instructor must at all times supervise the owners to take part in such a course the vaccination certificates of the dogs.
Remember that this puppy training for the dog is decisive for the rest of his life and can only be performed during this period of his life !!!
Adult training;
The next step is to transfer the dogs from the age of 14 weeks to a training together with other dogs from 3 to 8 months of age. During this training you can playfully start with the first real obedience exercises for the dog.
Dogs that are well supervised and trained in this way from 8 weeks of age will be well-behaved and social dogs at the age of one year to one and a half years old.
If you have questions and / or remarks about this article, please let me know!
