Puppy training at home: what to teach first

Priorities for the first weeks

A new puppy can feel like a list of a hundred things to teach. In practice, four matter most early on: toilet habits, gentle mouths, comfort with being alone, and confidence in the world. Everything else can come a little later.

House training

House training is about prevention and timing. Take your puppy outside:

• as soon as it wakes up;
• shortly after eating or drinking;
• after play or excitement;
• and at regular intervals in between, often every hour or two for young puppies.

1. Go to the same spot

   Carry or walk your puppy to the same place outside and wait quietly. Familiar smells help.

2. Reward right away

   The moment your puppy finishes, praise and give a treat right there, within a couple of seconds. Rewarding back inside the house comes too late.

3. Supervise or confine

   Inside, keep your puppy where you can see it, or in a crate or pen for short periods. Most accidents happen when no one is watching.

4. Handle accidents calmly

   If you catch your puppy in the act, calmly take it outside. Never scold or rub its nose in it: that teaches a puppy to hide from you to go. Clean with an enzymatic cleaner so the smell does not invite a repeat.

Biting and mouthing

Puppies explore with their mouths, and mouthing is normal. Your job is to teach them how gentle to be and what to bite instead.

• Redirect to a toy every time teeth touch skin. Keep tug toys and chews within reach.
• Pause play if the biting gets hard: stop, go still for a few seconds, then resume gently.
• Watch for tiredness. Puppies need a great deal of sleep, and an overtired puppy bites much more. A "crazy" puppy often needs a nap in a quiet place.
• Avoid rough hand play that teaches hands are toys.

Crate and alone time

Teach your puppy that being alone is normal and safe, before it ever has to be. Make the crate or pen a pleasant place: meals inside, a chew, a comfortable bed. Start with the door open, then close it for a few seconds while you are nearby, and build up slowly. Short, calm periods alone each day help prevent separation problems later.

Puppies cannot hold their bladder for long. Plan for night-time toilet trips and don't leave a young puppy crated for long stretches.

Socialization: the window that closes

Puppies go through a sensitive period, roughly from 3 to 14 weeks of age, when they learn most easily what is safe. Experiences in this window have a lasting effect on how confident they are as adults.

• Aim for variety, gently: different people, surfaces, sounds, car rides, the vet's waiting room, calm vaccinated dogs.
• Quality over quantity. Let your puppy watch from a distance and approach in its own time. A frightening experience is worse than none.
• Talk to your vet about puppy classes. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends that puppies start socialization classes before they are fully vaccinated, once they have had their first vaccines, in a clean and well-run class.

The first cues to teach

Use short sessions of a few minutes and lots of small rewards. Start with:

• Name: say it once, reward when your puppy looks at you.
• Sit: the polite default for greetings, doors and meals.
• Come: practice indoors and always make coming to you wonderful. Never call your puppy to something it dislikes.
• Settle on a mat: reward calm lying down. It is the foundation for a relaxed adult dog.

Mistakes to avoid

If you want a full program

A structured course keeps you on track through the busy first months. Brain Training for Dogs includes a dedicated puppy section and uses the same reward-based methods as this guide. If you would rather have a broad reference manual on a budget, Secrets to Dog Training covers house training and many common puppy problems.