Setting out on your journey to learn to train a puppy is all about being organized and taking lots of notes. As simple as it sounds don't glaze over and ignore it, as it's a very useful record of what has worked, and look to teach your puppy new tricks as he gets older. Taking notes is a means of recording what has worked well for your puppy, and anything that proved harder than expected. It's just the same as "normal life" - planning is time well spent to ensure hitting a home run otherwise you'll just be spinning your wheels - and getting nowhere.
Making a plan is one of the first things you need to consider when you start train a puppy, because it can only improve the process of relocating a young dog or puppy to his new strange new world from his comfy and secure home with his mother. It is a very stressful and worrying event for a puppy during the first few days of leaving his mother and playmates, and he is thrust into an entirely new environment with completely alien smells and faces to get used to.
Fully grown dogs are not immune to bouts of anxiety caused by the upheaval when moved to new homes. You need to be constantly reassuring your dog when you move him to a new home; all he'll see in his new home will be strange surroundings and no familiar faces.
If you can fit it in, take a few trips to meet your pup while he's still at his "old place". He'll get to recognize your face and smell and make his move a lot less stressful. When you start out, training a puppy tips he will already be used to you and better able to learn his new skills. If this is not practical, you can always take a piece of his current house to his new home, like a blanket or toy of some kind or any other item he recognizes that will help him settle down and get used to being in an alien environment without the familiar smells and faces.
Without doubt, the ideal time to bring home a new dog or puppy is when you will be available to set aside a block of time to spend with him. A summer vacation is perfect, but only if you can plan on being home for the summer. Please don't move you dog in, then home him in kennels while you go on vacation. Spending lots of time with him when he moves in will pay dividends in building your relationship, and help him overcome any separation anxiety he may experience.
When we bring a new baby home, we make heaps of preparations by creating a checklist of things to do and equipment to buy, training a puppy is a very similar process. Having a different number of legs shouldn't mean you get less priority.
A sectioned-off area in the kitchen or bathroom is the ideal place to start your puppy off, as this will help a lot come house training time as well because any accidents are easier to clean off hard floors. Kitchens are great places because there is normally a good deal of traffic and noise, which helps prevent your new dog from getting lonely.
Before you moved your new puppy in with you, he was used to lots of playmates. Without them, he will be lonely - so one of your new jobs is to make up for his loss of friends and keep him happy. At the same time, you can't let him get away with murder for a couple of days, then try to train him out of those habits once your training routine begins. House train a puppy realistically starts the same day that he becomes a member of your family.
Letting him doing his own thing at first is unfair, because it only confuses the puppy. Whatever works when you start training a puppy are equally effective when working with older dogs, in pretty much the same way. Young puppies are not the only ones that may suffer from loneliness. All dogs entering a new living arrangement will need discipline, patience, and comfort. But you'll get your just rewards with a happy and well behaved dog.
