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if you just adopt a puppy, let me start by congratulating you. Having a pet is one of the most beautiful experiences a person can have in this life. The love, affection and loyalty of a dog are unparalleled.
However, adopting a puppy also entails some responsibilities. It's not enough to feed it and give it a roof, because for your pet to be fully happy it must train him. A basic education is not just teaching you to do tricks, it is training you so that you can have a healthy and safe life.
Do not know where to start? Rest assured, in this PeritoAnimal article we will give you some tips for you to know what to teach a puppy in the first year.
5 things you must learn as an owner
It's not just the puppy that will learn, you will too. As a pet owner you may not be familiar with certain basic aspects of raising a dog, so let's explain some to you:
- establish routines: This is critical. Your pet does not know how to look at the clock or the calendar, so to ensure your peace of mind you should set a schedule for walks and meals. In fact, any change you intend to make in your puppy's life, should always be made little by little to ensure its well-being.
- Define what the dog can and cannot do: It is common for pet owners when they are puppies to allow them to do certain things. A typical example is the theme of climbing onto the bed or sofa. If you allow him to do this as a child, he will not understand later if you want to forbid him, he must always be consistent in his education.
- all equal: Especially if there are children at home. If one person sets certain rules for the dog, but another doesn't follow them, the dog won't understand what it can do. Don't confuse him and all follow the same rules.
- affective connection: Your pet likes you, you are the center of your life. You must also demonstrate to him that he is important to you. But be careful, showing him that you like him is not giving him all the goodies in the world. It's spending time with him, finding out what his favorite games are, and learning to communicate with him. Trust me when I tell you that you're going to get a lot from your dog.
- positive reinforcement: Do not hesitate to read our article on positive reinforcement. It is the basis for successfully training any dog. Including those who are already adults.
- walks and exercise: If you have decided to adopt a puppy and it has a great need to exercise or walk, you must comply with this. Walks are a fundamental part of the dog's relaxation and communication with the outside world. Some basic tricks are: let him cry (encourage relaxation), allow him freedom during the ride, and let him socialize with other pets. Find out in PeritoAnimal how many times you should walk the dog.
6 Things You Should Teach Your Puppy In Its First Year
- Socialization: Many behavior problems in dogs stem from poor socialization. Therefore, this step is very important. Socializing is the process of teaching your puppy to socialize with the outside world.
I'm not just talking about learning to socialize with other humans or other dogs, but with the other elements that exist in life. Cars, bicycles, motorbikes, baby carriages, people walking on the road... Your dog must learn to know all these elements.
This process ranges from from 3 weeks to 12 weeks of age. At PeritoAnimal we are aware of the importance of good socialization, that's why we created an article that talks in depth about how to socialize a puppy.
- recognize your name: although it may seem strange to you, your puppy can take between 5 and 10 days to recognize your name. Be patient, we are facing an important step that is often poorly taught.
A very common mistake is using the dog's name for everything. You should use your pet's name just to pay attention to it.
The system is very simple. First establish eye contact, say his name and give him an award. After repeating it several times, start experimenting without eye contact. Don't be frustrated if you see that you don't care, it's normal, it takes time.
It's no use calling him twenty times, because he might look at you for another reason and we'd be reinforcing it badly. Call him twice, if he doesn't look, wait a while and try again. If you never look at yourself, go back to step one.
Trick: a very common mistake of owners is calling the dog to scold. This will only make you link your name to something bad. To scold him, you should use another word, for example "No".
- be quiet and/or sit down: Another fundamental order. With this order we can control our dog if we see that it is performing some undesirable action or if it starts to run because something happened. As you can see, a good education is also important for safety of your dog.
Find out how to teach your puppy to sit step by step in our article. If you follow all the steps we explained, you'll get your pet to understand the order in a long time.
- teach the dog to go to the bathroom: As already mentioned, routines are essential in your puppy's life. That way you'll get peace of mind because you'll always know what to expect. Keep in mind that until your puppy is six months old, he does not begin to control his bladder. However, in this process you can teach him to do his needs on top of a sheet of newspaper.
You have to see when your puppy wants to take care of his needs ((usually half an hour after a meal). At that moment, take him to the papers area. By the smell you will relate this place as the place where he should do his chores. your needs.
- learn to bite: Your puppy should learn this before 4 or 5 months. But be careful, it's not about your dog not biting (in fact, it's healthy to bite for the good development of his teeth), but about learning not to bite hard.
So that you can bite and develop your teeth, you should use special toys or teethers. When you are playing with him with your hands, you should only scold him when you bite hard. Remember to use the word "No", never your name. Find out how to teach your dog not to bite in this article.
- learn to be alone: Separation anxiety is an unfortunately very common problem. Not only do we not teach our puppy to manage our absence, we also make him dependent on us. We usually spend a lot of time with our dog when we've just adopted him. With this we only make our pet see as normal the fact of seeing us all the time.
I insist on the idea that a dog doesn't know how to read a calendar or a clock, it only understands what it's used to.
Teaching your puppy to be alone is a must-do process. slowly, little by little. First start at home by making sure the dog is not with you all the time. Then leave him at home alone. First 2 minutes, then 5 and gradually increase.
