Puppy Dog Training – Effective Training For Puppies
Dogs have lived in packs or social groups for centuries and each dog grows up knowing that it has to find its place in the group. The minute a puppy is able to interact with the rest of the litter, he has to find his position in the pack. Usually the bigger and more aggressive member of the litter becomes the leader of the pack. This is the puppy who can push other pups around to get to the food, because he is a lot bigger than the rest of them.
When a puppy is adopted by a human family, he has to discover his rank in this new pack again. If he has been used to being the boss with his litter, then he may try being the same thing with his human pack. If he has been a follower, then he will continue to be a submissive puppy with his new owners. It is up to his human family to give him proper puppy training where he will understand his rank better. His rank may change, depending on how his human family treats or trains him.
Usually, when a puppy is brought home by his human family for the first time, he is submissive and tries to blend in. But as he becomes familiar with his environment, and if his human family allows him a lot of freedom, he may grow up to be a bully or an aggressive dog.
If for example, a puppy shows some aggression towards a child in the family and was not trained early enough to curb this aggression, he may grow up thinking that his position in the family is higher than the child’s. He may growl at the child if the child wants to take away his toy, for example. If not corrected, this aggression may worsen and later on he may start attacking other people. The family should then put the puppy in its right place by giving him a stern warning every time he growls at other humans. This is why training a puppy should be a family effort and should be started at the earliest time possible.
The puppy has to understand his place in the pack hierarchy as early as possible, so that as he grows older, he will not longer have problems interacting. One of the best ways to make your puppy understand his position in the family is to make him earn everything he receives, starting at an early age. Make him sit and obey before giving him food, compliments or allowing him to go outside to play. This idea that you are his master and that he has to work for food, attention and love will be reinforced in his mind and will help him grow into the obedient dog that you want him to be.
