By Sarah Groves Dog Training - your puppy training specialist covering Neath, Port Talbot and Swansea
Congratulations on your new puppy - and welcome to the minefield which is dog training advice!
You will find a whole host of conflicting information everywhere you go - from dog owners in the park, strangers in the street and online.
And due to this information overload, unfortunately many owners take the wrong path when it comes to training and teaching their pup how the big wide world works!
Here the top 3 puppy training mistakes which I (and my colleagues) see on a regular basis!
1) Misunderstanding what socialisation means and how to socialise properly
Of course when we get a puppy we want to make sure that they are happy to be around other dogs - but allowing your pup to play and meet every dog and person you see is not socialisation.
Infact, if you go down the route of misunderstanding how to socialise properly and put your pup in situations where they are meeting and greeting EVERY dog and person they see, you are teaching your puppy that:
A) other dogs and people are MUCH more interesting than focussing on you, and hanging around with you.
This will cause problems for recall further down the line as your dog just wants to play with Fido in the distance. You will also have trouble with getting your pup to relax around dogs and walking in the park will not be a pleasurable one for you.
B) Your dog may become overwhelmed at meeting so many people and dogs and may start to withdraw. This can create a dog who is fearful who may lunge and bark at every dog they see to tell them to stay away.
C) As you are teaching your dog that every dog and person is just another friend they haven't met yet, your pup will soon become frustrated when on the lead when they spot a dog or person that they can't get to. This will cause a stress response which looks like a dog who is barking, lunging and having a temper tantrum every time they see a dog.
Want to know more about socialisation and how to socialise effectively? See my FREE socialisation budle here
2) Over using words
When training your dog and adding a cue word to behaviours you are teaching, you only need to use the cue word once - then if your pup isn't mastering the behaviour, make it easier for them to understand by adding in hand signals or changing up the distractions, distance and duration.
The more 'noisy' you become when teaching your dog new skills by repeating the word over again, the less your dog will listen as they will start to filter this noise out - it will essentially become background noise.
This is something which I see a lot - particularly during recall.
3) Over exercising/over stimulating a puppy
When we get a dog, obviously we know that they need exercise, but there is such thing as too much exercise!
You will find that taking your pup for a massive walk will unlikely tire them out - instead will cause a surge of adrenaline in the body, and your pup will come home seeminlgly more 'wired' than when they went out in the first place!
Certain types of play - such as throwing a ball for them to chase and catch over and over will have the same effect.
This will lead to a puppy who is over tired, over stimulated and is less likely to be able to think, listen and learn. You will see more puppy biting, jumping, digging, barking along with an inability to calm down and relax.
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