Beckman's Dog Training Blog

There have been many books written on how to raise a puppy and I could and may some day may write one my self. Right now however I am going to touch on some of the most important aspects to raising a social, confident & intelligent dog.
1) Play with your puppy.
I feel the most important aspect to raising a puppy right is to have fun and play with her. Just like human babies, at a young age, playing is learning. Chase them, let them chase you, role around on the ground, play hide-and-go-seek, you get the idea. This kind of play makes the dog want to be with you at a critical period of their life.

2) Feed her most of her food from your hand.

There is no rule that says that you have to feed 2-3 times a day. Put some of his food in your hand, when he is not paying attention say “come Rex” when he comes give him a big handful of food. doing this you will achieve two goals that feeding out of a bowl will not.
- Eating from you will improve your relationship (more specifically, paring yourself with a primary reinforcer like food will make him even more “happy” to smell, see and be in your presence. after a period of time fad out the feeding from your hand and that “feeling”he has while in your presence remains. See Classical Conditioning for more information)

3) Socialization.
Get them into puppy class, go to friends houses who have dogs of similar age, size or temperament. Get them around children, tile floors, stairs, fire works, water, cats, large men…

4) Crate/potty train
I could write a book on this subject alone. Make the crate a very positive, comfortable experience. Anticipate the need to go, and take them outside, reinforce them for going and I don’t mean “good boy” with a pat on the head. How reinforcing do you think that is to a dog. No, I mean give treats use high pitch noises. The more reinforcing you make it the less you will have to do it in the future.

5) Play tug-of-war.

I am a huge fan of this game. It teaches that a hand trying to grab that toy out of their mouth is not a threat, but an opportunity for a fun game. It teaches that another dog trying to grab that toy away from you is not a threat but a opportunity for a game. Now at the same time you have to teach a solid “leave-it”. Tug-of-war is no good if your dog doesn’t know how to stop playing.
My dog and many of the dogs that train at my facility love this game. Sometimes two dogs play for 10minutes straight and they can become very vocal but I have never once seen aggression before, during or after the game. The dog that wins will take off with their new prize while the other dog chases him looking for another try. Always be careful with puppy’s delicate teeth.

6) Chew toys
See my previous blog on Chew Toys.

And of course sign up for my puppy training classes at Kahoots and Camp-run-a-mutt, being held throughout San Diego county.

Thanks for reading.
Joel Beckman