When you bring home a puppy for the first time, it is a thrilling and exciting experience. You have this cute and innocent puppy that is trying to adapt to his new environment.
As excited as you feel about bringing the puppy home, you can be sure the puppy is even more excited.
It’s possible that they have spent some time in a crate or pen, so they are eager to run around and explore their environment.
But like any young child, a puppy must learn the ground rules of the home. You need to train them on everything, such as where to go potty and what they are not allowed to chew.
That way, you can save yourself a lot of time and aggravation from having to clean up after your puppy.
Below are eight tips to help new puppy owners get started with training their puppies to be healthy and obedient.
Table of Contents
1) Choose the Right Puppy Food
Puppies are like growing children. They need a well-balanced diet consisting of nutrient-dense foods.
That is how they will grow to become strong and healthy adults later in their lives. But unlike children, puppies only take 12 months to grow into adult size.
Therefore, you must choose the right puppy food to feed your young dog. Puppies need to eat foods with calcium, protein, omega oils, phosphorus, vitamins and minerals.
The easiest way to find this food is to purchase a grain-free or premium puppy food from a pet store. The food is formulated with the right balance of nutrients for a growing puppy.
2) Find a Potty Location
The next important task is to train your puppy to go potty in a designated location. Try to establish a potty location outside because that is where your puppy will eventually go as an adult too.
That means you need to let your dog outside periodically throughout the day. If your puppy is too young to control his bodily functions, place a tarp down somewhere inside your home and train your dog to go potty onto it.
As time goes on, you can bring the tarp outside and have your dog go potty there. Soon, you can remove the tarp and let your dog become accustomed to always going potty outside.
3) Buy Chew Toys
Puppies love to chew on things. To prevent them from chewing on your walls and furniture, buy some chew toys for your puppy.
And if they ever try chewing on anything else, tell them “No!” Then present a chew toy and direct them to chew on it – rewarding them when they do
Keep the chew toys in every room to persuade your puppy not to chew on anything else. Depending on the size of your dog, they should adapt quickly to chew toys.
4) Let the Dog Sleep in Your Room
It is better to keep a close eye on your puppy during the first few months they are in your home. Set up a little doggie bed or pillow on the floor in the corner of your room.
Train your puppy to sleep on it at nighttime. Since your puppy will be comfortable there, they will not want to sleep on anything else.
Then you can move the bed or pillow to another room after your puppy is trained to sleep on it.
5) Veterinarian Visits
Regular veterinarian visits are essential for a puppy. It will ensure they grow healthy and do not have any underlying health problems or conditions.
And if signs of disease are present, you can have your puppy treated before the symptoms get worse.
6) Take Your Puppy on Walks
Puppies need to move around and exercise frequently. Do not keep your puppy in the house all day because it will negatively affect their attitude and growth.
Walk your puppy around the block regularly or let them run around outside in your backyard if you have one.
7) Have Patience
Puppies have the most behavioural issues because they have not learned good behaviour yet. Do not bring your puppy home and assume they will understand your rules immediately.
You need to have patience with your puppy. Give them time to adapt to your rules as you train them to act appropriately.
And, of course, avoid abusing them if they make a mistake. That will only lead them to fear you rather than to respect you.
8) Spend Time with Your Puppy
Your puppy must trust and respect you. It can only happen if you spend a lot of quality time with your puppy.
Meanwhile, you can teach your puppy new commands for things like walking, running, sitting, sleeping, and eating.
After enough time passes, you will have the ability to get them to do almost anything.