Training & Behavior

The first ten commands aren't really about commands. They're about a puppy learning that working with you is the best game in the house. Get that part right and the actual words, sit, down, come, stay, matter far less than the relationship underneath them.

Positive reinforcement is the easy label, but what it means in a living room is simple: the behavior that gets the treat and the praise is the behavior that shows up again. You're not dominating the puppy. You're making good choices worth repeating.

Start with the good stuff

Before any "command," teach the puppy that your pocket is a lottery he wants to investigate. Use his name, mark the moment he looks at you, and reward it. That habit, checking in with you without being told, is the foundation every other skill stands on.

Then come the basics, and the order matters less than the consistency. Sit before meals. Down while the tv plays. Come when you call across the yard. Keep sessions short, three to five minutes, because puppies have the attention span of a dropped biscuit.

Why punishment backfires

A puppy that's yelled at for an accident learns to hide the accident, not to stop having one. A puppy that's corrected for coming late learns that returning to you is risky, so he stops coming. The behaviors you're trying to stop often get worse, just quieter.

Reinforcement has the opposite effect. The dog repeats what pays off, and you end up with a partner who offers behaviors because they've been worth it before.

The ten, lightly

Name recognition, sit, down, stay, come, leave it, drop it, heel, wait, and a solid crate routine cover most of real life. You don't need them perfect at eight weeks. You need them practiced in dozens of boring little moments, on the kitchen floor, at the park, with the doorbell ringing.

Train in the easy place first, then add distraction slowly. A puppy that sits flawlessly in the quiet living room will forget everything at the busy intersection. That's not stubbornness, it's just how learning works.

Keep it light, keep it rewarded, and quit while he's winning. A puppy that ends a session successful wants the next one. That want is the whole trick.