Email Question: 

I want you to train my eight week old puppy.  What are the next steps?

Answer:

Thank you for your interest in our professional dog training services.
You can read about all our training options at Dog Training

We do not routinely train puppies as young as yours.
From 8 weeks to 4 months, training is far less important than is very good  management.  The puppy is just a little baby.  Much like a human baby, we don't expect much of a 1-2 year old child in the way of reliable compliance to our expectations (training).  It is our job to supervise and protect the child from harming itself and to instill some basic routines that will provide a sense of comfort and security through those daily routines.  From 4-6 months, most puppies are losing their baby teeth as well as growing very  quickly.   It is a stressful time for them and not very conducive for formal training.  If they were to be members of a balanced pack of dogs, during the  4-6 month timeframe, the adult dogs would still tolerate their puppy ways  rather than expect a high standard of behavior.

I would recommend that you read my article on housebreaking and follow the recommendations.  At this time of your puppy's life, proper management is more important than formal training.

For puppies 8 weeks to 20 weeks old, we offer a New Puppy Consultation , if you would like additional information beyond what you will find in the housebreaking article.

We accept dogs 6 months or older into our Board/Train program.

We accept puppies under 6 months for Board/Train if that is the only option available to the owner  - but, we do not consider it optimal for the puppy's life stage.  What ever we implement with the puppy, you will be required to continue, so it would be more prudent, in our opinion, to wait until the puppy is psychologically old enough to get the most out of our standard Board/Train program that is designed for dogs over 6 months of age.  You can read about puppy training at the Board/Train page. 


You may find some of my other articles of assistance, as well.

If, after you review the options that we offer at my website you would like to schedule training for your puppy, please feel free to contact me.

© 2010  Tammie Rogers - all rights reserved.   For permission to reprint email Tammie.