The First Few Months Of Puppy Training—Focus On What Matters!

00:00 — Kati introduces Diamond Canine Dog Training and explains the show’s focus on practical dog…

Welcome to Off Leash and Unfiltered Trigger Warning. I'm Kati Peppe, delivering the Truth in Dog Training.

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Off Leash in Unfiltered. I'm Kati peppy, owner of Diamond Canine Dog training in Biddeford, Maine, where we specialize in eco training, both for getting that nice off leash reliable behavior, as well as helping people stop unwanted behaviors. Everything from simple stuff like jumping on people barking, digging holes, all the way to, um, the more severe, you know, separation, anxiety, resource guarding, uh, reactivity and all that sorts of of stuff. So that's who we are and what we do. We also do puppy training and it has been puppy crazy around here.

I have puppies coming out my ears and so I thought, heck, we need to talk about puppies. 'cause I have puppies on the brain. Uh, we actually just got done doing a puppy go home session today with one of our clients. And, um, it definitely left me with tons and tons of stuff just rolling around in my head. So, <laugh>, um, lots and lots of great talking points today came up during, during our session. The owners are fantastic and they had lots of great questions. Um, so it gave me a lot of stuff to think about and a lot of material to talk about today.

Um, and I think, you know, we go through long stretches where maybe we don't get a lot of puppies, um, and we primarily do eco training. Like that's mostly what we're doing. And I mean, when you think about it, eco training, generally speaking, we're doing for dogs that are six months and older. Most dogs are six months and older, right? We don't, we naturally just don't see as many dogs that are under six months old because they don't stay under six months very long <laugh>, right? Um, so we're doing tons of VCO work, uh, and tons of adult dogs.

And so people get used to seeing that and hearing that. And then when they have a puppy, they don't realize it's different. It's not completely different. It's not like they really learn differently, but it's different. Um, so we're not doing the same thing exactly with puppies that we're doing with dogs that are over six months.

And when I say puppy, I mean dogs under six months old. In fact, I'm usually talking about dogs that are under four and five months old. So I'm talking about the 2, 3, 4 month old puppy. Um, for the most part when I say the word puppy and you guys like, there's just, there's so much to teach your dog. Like there's so much we wanna teach them to do and so much we wanna teach them not to do. Um, that it's like don't rush it. Be proactive about it. Sure, be committed to it, but don't rush it.

03:00 — Puppy training here primarily means working with two-, three-, and four-month-old puppies.

Okay? So some of the things I hear people saying a lot of the time when they get puppies is that they, they don't come when called. They pull on the leash.

They, they're not getting the hang of like stay right, like the command stay. And I have to tell you, I wouldn't expect these things from a puppy. So I'm not saying don't work on them, I'm just saying if you make things like that your priority, depending on your puppy, you're probably gonna be really frustrated, um, because they're just not there yet. Some puppies, some puppies are, right? So they're all different. But for the most part, those things are a really tall order for a puppy. And when you consider how many other things we have to teach, why stress yourself out about it?

<laugh>. So number one, expecting your puppy to come when called off a leash is just stupid. 'cause I wouldn't even expect that from an adult dog because there's just not any reason for them to come back. Now a lot of puppies are naturally gravitating toward their handlers and following them around, but usually that's gonna start to change at some point. And once that starts to change, you're not gonna be able to trust your puppy. And that's just normal. So your puppy shouldn't be off leash. Guys, most of the dogs I see off leash shouldn't be off leash, but especially a young puppy because you need to control everything with a puppy.

Okay? Your training, this is a good line, I want you to remember this. Your training 100% depends on your ability to control the outcome. If you can't control the outcome, then you risk training your dog, not listen to you. And I understand the point in the training is so that you can finally stop worrying about controlling everything, but until you are done, you're not done until you're there, you're not there. Okay? So if I have a three, four, or five month old puppy and I don't have any way of holding them accountable, let's just say they do know it, right?

They understand how to come back when called, and we've practiced it a ton. I still can't pr trust them off a leash unless I have a way to hold them accountable. And I personally would never trust any dog off leash if I didn't have a way to influence their behavior reliably, right?

And usually we're doing that with an eco, it's just the most practical, efficient, magical tool that there is to influence your dog. You have that physical line of communication when they're off a leash, okay? If your puppy just decides all of a sudden one day screw you, I'm gonna go check out the neighbor across the street, okay? And there's a GMC coming down the road. What are you gonna do? Nothing, <laugh>, nothing. 'cause there is nothing you can do except hope and pray and scream and yell and bribe and hope for the best. Um, so it's just normal.

07:00 — Leash pulling persists when puppies feel pressure but still reach desired smells and destinations.

It's normal for, for your puppy to do that. Pulling on the leash is the same thing. You think about it, you know, they're 10 weeks old, 12 weeks old, 16 weeks old, everything is still really new, really exciting, all this novel stuff, all these sights and smells, and you want your puppy to just walk next to you in a straight line.

I mean, give me a break, <laugh>, right? Like, no, like, don't even waste your time. I'm serious. Don't waste your time on that. Now, it is true that if your puppy is tugging on the leash and you're just following along behind them, that you are kind of cementing the wrong behavior, right? You're letting them rehearse, just pulling you down the road, right? And they're feeling that pressure and that tugging and you're coming with 'em and they're getting to go where they wanna go and smell what they wanna smell. And, and that's not great. Um, it's also not really the end of the world if I am to be honest, but it's not great and it, it wouldn't be what I would wanna do if I had a puppy.

Um, so there are ways to avoid that, right? So put your puppy on a 20 foot leash, assuming you're in a safe enough area to do that, and just let 'em kind of run around and explore while you're walking, right?

If you have to go for a walk, then do that. And you can practice calling them back to you now and again, right? Because you've got them on a leash, you can control the outcome. So practice your training, bring some food with you and let 'em run around and explore, right? Because just walking next to you in a long, straight line, like most puppies, most young puppies are not gonna be able to do that, guys. Um, and then what I recommend instead is, is when you put 'em on a short leash, don't go anywhere. Just take a few steps and practice getting your puppy to follow you and stop with you and turn with you and watch you and move with you and be clicking and feeding when they're walking next to you, when they stop, when you stop, right?

And that's gonna start to get your puppy to go, oh, when, when I'm on a short leash like this, like we're doing an exercise together and it's fun and it's engaging, right? And then you can start stretching it out into a few more steps in between all of your stops and your turns or asking them to sit, um, and start gradually turning that into a walk.

And you know, by the time your puppy gets to be four or five months old, we're usually gonna want to introduce them to a prone collar. And then you can start giving them a little more leash information, right? And getting their attention back on you when they start to kind of drift away or tug on the leash. You can ask them not to do that, um, through physical communication, right? But don't stress about that the first few months of their lives. It's like, let your puppy explore the environment, work in some fun training, do some, do some walking drills, but don't just walk in a long straight line, right?

And even the drills that I just talked about where we're doing turns and stops, most people when I show them how to do that, they're doing too many steps in between the commands, the stops turns and the puppy gets bored, right? So you're not gonna do this forever, right? But it's, it's a great exercise that's kind of fun and it gives you a chance to bond with your puppy and it really starts to wire them to just pay attention to you and follow you and, um, that will absolutely bleed over into your walk when you start walking with your puppy.

11:00 — Rehearse recall on a fifteen-, twenty-, or thirty-foot leash so you can control the…

So don't worry about your puppy pulling on the leash. Don't worry about your puppy not coming back when called. Practice it on a fifteen, twenty, thirty foot leash. You call your puppy, they come to you, you reward them, you can control that outcome because you've got a a leash on. That's so important. Just cement that right now. Don't worry about anything else.

It's funny because people expect so much from a puppy. Um, I suppose because they think there's like <laugh> not to be flippant, but like some kind of magic. Like they think there's some kind of training that will just make the puppy reliable and there isn't. They're just gonna do what comes naturally and what they feel like doing. 'cause that's normal. That's just normal. Um, so your goal shouldn't be, this really sums it up. Your goal should not be to get your puppy to be off leash reliable. That shouldn't even be your goal. That's not a puppy thing.

We don't do that with puppies.

Don't expect your puppy to come when called off a leash pretty much ever. Don't expect your puppy to tell you when they need to go outside. Don't expect your puppy to do any of that stuff. Don't expect your puppy to walk next to you on a leash. Instead, work on teaching them the foundational skills that they will need for later when we do start expecting it and have a safety net, have a leash on because you don't know what they're gonna do. And you need to be able to control that outcome. <laugh>. Okay? So rehearsing recall on a 20 foot line, you know, and if your puppy's not super food driven, bring out something high value.

Bring out some cheese or some chicken or you know, whatever you're comfortable feeding your puppy that they really, really love. And do it when they're hungriest. Do it first thing in the morning or, you know, take advantage of all the things that naturally will make your puppy more motivated.

Um, and just rehearse. So your job as a, as an owner of a puppy is not to make their behavior off leash reliable. It's to control outcomes and repeat, repeat repeats so you can cement the skills and then later on there will be time for accountability and off-leash reliability. But man, those first few months are just gold. Total gold. I mean, if you have a young puppy, you need to take advantage of those first few months. They're sponges. They're learning so much, so fast and they're developing so quickly. Um, and you controlling outcomes is going to really shape how your puppy feels and navigates through the world and what your relationship is like and how they view you control everything when you have a puppy shape.

Things when you have a puppy. So the other thing I was talking about is like, people are surprised 'cause things look different when it's a puppy. It's like if you give me a dog that's six months a year old and they pull me on the leash, I just correct them and we go for a walk, right? Because you need to be able to just go for a walk and you can't pull the leash.

I don't do that with a young puppy. We do walking drills like I just described, or we do long line work like I just described. It's different. I'm focused on cementing the basics and uh, shaping thing. Lots of guidance, lots of reward. I'm not saying you can't correct a puppy. I'm just saying you can't expect a puppy to be an adult. You can't say, okay, I've got a 10 week old puppy. They should walk next to me on the leash. They should always come back when called. Um, it's just a pipe dream and it's not fair.

15:00 — Early puppy training emphasizes basics, guidance, shaping, and rewards rather than expecting adult reliability.

That wouldn't be fair to the dog either.

Um, so focus on giving them guidance and heavily rewarding the things you want them to do. And then down the road, there's plenty of time to polish that up with a punishment for noncompliant. You don't have to do that stuff now. So we pick our battles with puppies. They're not allowed to bite <laugh>. And uh, I don't like 'em jumping all over us either. So interactions with humans are things that I'll go after. But, um, and then the stay, you know, we don't teach the stay command per se. We, um, you know, our stay is built into all of our commands and we do that with the puppies.

But some puppies are able, um, they're very mellow. They're like a sack of potatoes and they're able to do a long stay. And some puppies aren't. They're so high energy and so squirrely, it's just really, really difficult for them. Um, and so we do wanna push the boundary of what they're capable of and comfortable with.

So we will definitely find like what their tolerance level is and we'll spend some time trying to expand that, but it's not really the priority. Again, there's so much else. It's like, don't, if you focus on that too much and you're like, you have to learn to stay, you will get frustrated and so will your puppy. And once your puppy gets frustrated, they get tuned out, they're not motivated anymore, they're not paying attention. Um, and it's kind of counterproductive, right? So if the training is too hard for your puppy, they're just not gonna be interested in doing it.

And now everything just got harder <laugh>. So, um, most puppies can learn the implied stay, but it's highly individual and it's not our first line of, of, uh, it's not our first priority. It's not our first priority. So when they come back for an e-collar program at 6, 7, 8 months old, whatever, um, we raise the bar a lot, lot, right? But young puppies, we gotta meet them where they are. They're still developing and they're all different. Um, so again, so many things to teach your puppy. It's like, I'm not saying don't start teaching them how to stay, but don't,

Don't focus so much on that. You both get frustrated. And all this other productive stuff that you could be doing is just falling through the cracks. Teaching your puppy just to respond to their name is huge. Stopping at doors, you know, the least drill exercises we just talked about. All the basic commands like sit and lay down and go to place, right? And then if you do have a squirrely, high energy puppy, learning how to use some pressure to help them settle leash pressure, right? Leash pressure upwards to get them to sit leash pressure downwards, to get them to lay down, right?

And just saying, Hey, we're gonna take 10 minutes right now and we're gonna lay down with all this stuff going on around us. Maybe we're at the park or something. And like, I'm gonna ask you to just lay down like we're, I'm just gonna use the leash to guide you down and we're just gonna hang out there and if you stand up, I'm just gonna put you back down and just follow through, follow through, follow through. So guidance, right? And when your puppy does something naturally that you like, click feed, and you'd be surprised how quickly you'll start seeing more of it.

It's unbelievable. So if you can get your puppy to choose to do something naturally kind of on their own, and then you click and feed for that thing, you're gonna see that increase, that behavior is gonna increase really quickly.

So while I'm all about telling dogs what not to do, uh, and I talk about that all the time, and we do that in instances with puppies too, but man, we are way, way more heavily focused on guidance and reward, guidance and reward and just cementing by controlling the out. And then eventually we integrate correction to make everything reliable, right?

20:00 — Kati’s puppy approach heavily prioritizes guidance and reward, adding corrections as behaviors mature and…

So if there's one thing I want you to take away from this is that number one, you've got time. So don't get frustrated, don't get worried, you've got time. And two, it's all about controlling outcomes, using guidance and being really good at properly marking and rewarding the behaviors we want more of, right? So I'm very heavily focused on controlling, guiding, rewarding with young puppies. We save the corrections for things like biting <laugh>. Um, and then of course as they mature and they're more rehearsed at this stuff, we start to integrate a little more accountability for it.

We'll use a little more pressure, we'll use a leash pop, right? And when exactly that happens depends a lot on the puppy and depends a lot on how much practice they've had.

Um, but your puppy doesn't have to be an adult right now. They don't have to know how to stay, you know, especially for a long time. They don't have to know how to walk on a leash. So that's the one time I actually say, you know what, if your dog's on a harness, who cares is when they're, you know, you've got an eight to 12 week old puppy, fine. Put 'em on whatever. My preference, um, like I said, is usually to do long line stuff and do drills on a short leash. Um, I would never put a harness on a dog that's over four months old.

Never. Um, but that's, that's the difference guys. It's like your puppy is so young and impressionable, you can get so much mileage just out of shaping things. Um, and I think you'd be blown away. All right guys, that's it for today. I thank you for joining me today and I look forward to next time.