Immediately!
Training really just means education. Education can start anytime throughout a dog’s or person’s life.
We try to create a foundation of “learning how to learn” in each puppy as soon as possible. That way you can always add more concepts or skills later. Think of it like teaching a child to read and write. Those basics allow them to continue learning and building on top of those foundational skills.
When a dog understands food lures, leash pressure, body language, and has spatial awareness, teaching more complex things can be much easier.
A good breeder is exposing the puppies to all manner of things in a safe and effective manner before they even open their eyes. In this way, they start to learn about the world around them.
When you bring your puppy home at 8 weeks old, it is usually ready to play and investigate small areas. That is fundamental learning taking place, just like toddlers moving around and picking things up and feeling them, throwing them, and putting them in their mouths.
I mostly use food to create behaviors at the 8-16 week age. Sometimes I will put the dog on a leash during that time period, but I’m not really teaching much, just using it for safety purposes.
Around 16 weeks old I start to teach leash pressure. At that age, the dog can learn very quickly to walk nicely by your side and to respect the end of the leash
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If the dog is older, all is not lost. Imagine learning a new language though when you are 15, 30, or even 65. The older the dog is, the more ingrained their behavior. It takes more time to teach older dogs, but it can be done. You just start with the basics and move on as you master things.
Call us when you get a puppy! We’ll get it started the right way.
