Teaching a dog their name.
23 Nov 2008
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This dog training tip will help you teach your new puppy their name.
We believe most folks think the first rule of obedience is housebreaking your puppy. Although it was mentioned before as a priority, there is more that goes along with housebreaking. At the same time you are training your puppy with this, you should also be training your puppy to know its name and its boundaries. In addition, as we mentioned before, working slowly and methodically with your puppy will help in the training periods. You need to devote short amounts of time several times throughout the day, starting with when your puppy wakes up in the morning; to be sure you are doing what you need right from the beginning to give you the obedient, well trained pet you want. Always remember in early obedience training to keep your commands to one or two words and always keep a positive, happy tone in your voice.
To get your puppy used to its name, this little game may come in handy. You and another member of the household, preferably another person of authority in the house, should sit face to face on the floor, six to eight feet apart, with the puppy in front of one of you on its leash. The puppy should be facing the person holding the loop end of the leash. That person should start calling the puppy by name, repeating its name slowly over and over again while slowly pulling on the leash toward them so your puppy understands when it hears its name it should be coming to the person calling it. Once the puppy reaches the caller they should praise it and reward it with pets, scratches and treats. This exercise should be repeated eight to ten times in a row over 10 to fifteen minutes at a time. Once your puppy gets comfortable with this, add other household member or frequent visitors to let your puppy know who they should be listening to. After a while you can try this exercise inside without a leash or take your puppy outside but keep it on a leash, at least until it is trained more on obedience commands such as come or here and stay.
Following this training tip will create a very strong bond with your puppy. Spending this time teaching your new puppy their name will have benefits that will payoff in the long run.
