Training Your Havanese Puppy
New puppies are cute and loveable. They lick your face unabashedly. Whenever you enter the house they practically turn themselves inside out with excitement. If they are left without training in the basics of acceptable behavior in the home, however, the joy you experience over their ingenuousness will quickly evaporate. An ill behaved dog is a poorly trained dog. As the owner, it is your responsibility to provide the training necessary to ensure that your dog is the perfect family pet that you have always wanted. It takes time and patience, but it can be done relatively quickly with firm resolution and a gentle hand. As with young children, the training begins the day they first enter the house.
You probably brought your new Havanese puppy home when he was about eight weeks of age. At that age he is old enough to begin learning some basic rules of behavior. It’s up to you to be consistent when setting and enforcing these rules. The dog will become confused if you’re not consistent in your demands upon him.
The first things he needs to learn is where he is allowed to eat. This will be easily learned if his food and water dish are always the same and located in the same place for each meal. He can be assigned a place to retire to and groom himself or rest; a private secure area which he can reliably call his own. He can be learn to eat, walk outside, and play according to a dependable routine. He can be taught to understand the word “NO.” He can quickly learn that you, not he, is the boss. This is the period when he can be most effectively crate trained.
At about three months you can begin to teach him simple commands like sit, stay, lie down. He can be trained to always come when called, not to run away, and to walk on a leash without pulling, and to permit you to remove anything from his mouth without reaction. He can now learn to become socialized with other family members and pets. Between four and six months it will be possible to begin training the dog to perform tricks, play games, and enjoy family activities like hide and seek.
Of course it’s easy to suggest what your dog can learn at which time; it’s another thing to actually accomplish the training. Remember that your Havanese is an intelligent dog with a delightful disposition. The most important component of successful training is your attitude.
• Never show anger when training.
• Give positive rewards when a training milestone is met.
• Always be affectionate to the dog and he will learn to trust and love you, and work very hard to please you.
• Always speak to the dog in a calming tone. Raising you voice will frighten him and distract him from the training activity.
• Always try to provide training in an area free from distractions.
• Learn to understand when the dog is tired, and don’t force him to train.
• Expect to repeat lesson over and over several times before the dog totally understands.
Training is a process that never ends. Once your dog has learned a certain behavior, you’ll need to reinforce it at all times. Your dog will become an important part of your family. Its behavior will affect all family activities in which the dog is a part. If your dog is well socialized and trained to exhibit acceptable behavior he will be welcomed wherever you go.
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