When should I start training my dog?

I usually get a lot of inquiries this time of year and some follow up and some decide to wait on training. I wanted to write this blog in hopes that some people who are deciding to get a dog, think long and hard about it beforehand.

Firstly, potty and crate training seem to be the headache of most new dog parents; It’s 100% acceptable to get frustrated but just realize it is not the fault of the dog; They do not have the maturity to figure this out on their own especially if they’ve never been taught where to relieve themselves. On a personal note, my own was 17 weeks old when she made the connection to go to the back door to tell me she had to potty; It wasn’t until a full 5/5 months when she was fully potty trained.

If you’ve rescued a dog, the process can take longer say you had an island rescue who only pottied whenever and wherever. Or if you’ve rescued a dog that was kept in a crate 24/7: the chances of using a crate to help with potty training may be difficult because there is a fear component now with being crated day in and day out.

I’ve worked with clients whos’ pups were as young as 6 weeks and I tell him to just focus on loving and touching until about 8 weeks of age; Maturity and comprehending are everything and at 6 weeks, it is a touch too young to get solid training in.

At 8-10 weeks, I would jump right in with the basics such as potty/crate along with basic cues such as name/sit and down. This sets up a nice foundation and connection to you and your fur baby.

I can’t stress enough how it’s usually a fault in our system if the puppy isn’t picking up potty training and we label them “stubborn.” Name calling doesn’t really help the situation and it makes us settle into the frustration a bit more which we don’t want.

So think of training also being potty training…They need to learn this skill and that after pottying, is playtime. After eating /drinking is potty time . After a play session, that’s an immediate potty session. So we have to not wait for our dogs to tell us but to get ahead and know when they’ll need to potty before it happens.

We’ve got this!