6 Puppy Training Mistakes That Could Put You in the Doghouse

Puppy training can be challenging. Not only are puppies excitable and easily distracted, but a lot can go wrong accidentally.

For that reason, sometimes it helps to have an outsider, like Snowy Pines White Labradors (https://www.snowypineswhitelabs.com/), help train your new puppy. Not only will it speed up how quickly your puppy develops healthy disciplines, but you can pick up pointers about how to continue your new dog’s training at home.

Not socializing puppies

When you first acquire a puppy, it can be tempting to keep them to yourself. That’s especially true of an untrained puppy, whose reactions around strangers and strange dogs are unpredictable.

As puppy training mistakes go, this one is prevalent. It can also be detrimental to your puppy’s long-term development.

Socializing puppies is crucial because it teaches them how to react around other dogs.

It also improves your dog’s emotional health by reducing the chances of developing separation anxiety, irrational fear, and aggressive tendencies.

If you can’t walk or socialize your dog regularly, arranging for a dog walker can help ensure your puppy socializes and mature properly.

Forgetting to touch paws and gums

A failure to routinely touch your dog’s paws and gums is another puppy training mistake many owners fall prey to.

Being able to touch your dog in unlikely places not only helps build your relationship but can also help manage health conditions.

Dogs who don’t have their paws routinely touched often resist basic procedures like nail trimming, which reduces the risk of ingrown nails. Likewise, a dog that lets you touch its gums is more receptive to teeth brushing.

That is especially important for long-mouthed dogs like dachshunds, prone to dental issues.

As you play with your puppy, take time to handle their paws or run a finger around their gums. It can save you from expensive medical bills down the line.

Training puppies to use pee pads

Another common puppy training mistake is using a pee pad to speed up training. They’re a tempting fix to a notoriously tricky problem.

But many people find them detrimental in the long run because once your puppy learns to pee on the pad, it is challenging to teach them to go elsewhere.

Instead, trainers advise crate or newspaper training to housebreak your new family member effectively.

Conflicting or inconsistent command words

Command words play a crucial role in dog training. But one of the classic puppy training mistakes people make is using too many words to train their puppy.

Dogs have a limited working vocabulary, so precision is essential when trying to make them understand what you want from them.

That means that if, for instance, you use “Down” to discourage a dog from leaping at people in greeting, you cannot use any permutation of it to teach a dog to lie down.

Negatively conditioning command words

Not only does the command word you choose for ordering your dog to do something matter, but so does the context. 

Negatively conditioning a command word happens when a particular comment develops a strong negative association with your dog. 

For instance, you might be trying to teach a basic puppy recall by using the command “Come” or “Come here.” In and of itself, there’s nothing wrong with this. The word is easily understood, and you may even be consistent about the application.

The problem occurs if you consistently order your dog to come and do something they object to, like have a bath. If your puppy is opposed to baths, and many are, they start associating “Come here” with bath time. Since they don’t want to be bathed, they start resisting the command.

That makes it imperative that you make sure to use your set of command words in a variety of different contexts. For instance, you might order your dog to “Come” not only for bath time but also for dinner, playtime, and walks.

You can also use it to end a play session and order the puppy back inside the house. Your puppy will still learn the command in question.

Don’t reward unwanted behavior

Finally, puppies arrive with no set boundaries. They get into all kinds of trouble and do many things people would instead they didn’t.

Perhaps the most common puppy training mistake people make is that they unwittingly reward unwanted behavior. For instance, you might naturally cuddle whining puppies, greet excited dogs, or diver your dog with treats.

All these things teach the puppy that by chewing your carpet or licking your face, they can get attention.

The best thing to do is to be as unresponsive as possible. If you need to distract your puppy or discourage destructive behavior, chew toys make a neutral diversion that won’t reinforce the belief that you approve of gnawing the furniture.

Wrap-up  

Effectively training a puppy takes time, effort, and tremendous patience. But it’s not impossible, either.

And if you do struggle to train your puppy, don’t hesitate to invest in a trainer. As long as you learn the command words and cues with your dog, it doesn’t matter who invents them. All that matters is consistency and that you and your puppy develop a healthy, affectionate relationship.