While it is true that puppies are the epitome of happiness and that we always think about the joys of owning a dog, things often don’t work out as well as we’d hoped.

Puppies are delightful furry bundles of energy, curiosity and love, but they can also be exasperating. Just like human babies, it’s the same!

However, if you respond properly to the challenges of bringing a new puppy into your home, the adjustment period will be shorter and much less stressful for both you and your pooch. Here are a few things you should definitely make sure to teach your puppy as soon as possible.

The first thing you need to teach your puppy is that there are certain daily routines that they simply have to follow. They have to know where their food and water dishes are located, what time of the day they will eat, where their bed is, what time they go to bed, where they go to the bathroom, where their toys are kept, everything.

Don’t make the common mistake of thinking that it doesn’t matter HOW you teach each and every one of these routines because it most certainly matters. If you train your dog the way it’s supposed to be done, your puppy will be well-behaved and willing to listen to your future commands.

On the other hand, if you use the wrong teaching methods, you will end up with a disobedient puppy that will begin making decisions instead of you. This will lead to behavior problems that could have easily been avoided.

Once you have established the basic routines, it is time to teach your puppy the most important words you will use when talking to them. These words are “No,” which is a demand to your puppy to stop doing whatever it is they are doing at the moment, and “Good,” which implies that you like what they are doing and that they should keep at it. These correction and praise words should be started at 2-3 months of age.

Praise and correction words will be used later on to teach them other words. You must, and we cannot stress this enough, you must teach them these words properly, with the right tone of voice and the right body language, or they won’t be of any help in teaching other words. If your puppy is older than 2-3 months and hasn’t learned “No” and “Good,” start with those words before you try any other ones.
Some people think that everything you teach your puppy has to be done with treats. Well, relying only on treats to teach your puppy is a big mistake. What’s wrong with “biscuit training”? It’s based on your puppy deciding whether they are hungry enough to do what you want, which is not the point of what you’re trying to teach them.

Just imagine this – your puppy runs out the front door. You try calling them back with treat offerings, but they would much rather chase a squirrel than eat a treat because they aren’t hungry. Not only is it dangerous for them to run out like that, they will also learn that they don’t have to listen to you, thinking that they are in charge.

You have to teach your puppy to respect you as the leader in your home and the alpha in the pack. Without the proper respect, your training schedule doesn’t really matter that much – they may have learned the words and the routines but that doesn’t mean they will listen to you.

You might hear some people saying that their dogs are so smart they have their humans trained, but this isn’t intelligence, it’s pure disrespect. This type of behavior can easily be traced to improper training from the first time your puppy stepped into your home.