When is the right time to start training a puppy? The moment you bring it home.

If you’ve obtained your puppy from a good and reputable breeder, most likely he or she is about ten weeks old. Beware any breeder who gives you a puppy at six to eight weeks, as the pup has not had long enough time with its littermates and dam to reap all the benefits that those early relationships allow. Ten weeks is just about optimal; at twelve weeks a pup may be too bonded to its littermates to make new bonds easily. If you’ve obtained your puppy from a shelter, most likely he or she will be older than that but still very much a puppy in manner and development.

In either case, crate training is an ideal way to provide both a secure place the pup can identify as his or hers and a method to accelerate effective house training, and it can start the second your puppy trots through your apartment door. Some people are wary of crates because of the association with cages, but their uses are entirely different. Caging a dog (keeping him locked inside for extended periods of time without regard for his discomfort) is certainly inhumane. Crating a dog (teaching the dog to enjoy the security and peace of his own little space for no more than one hour for each month of age) is not.

Other behavior training that should begin immediately:

House-training: Teaching a puppy where and when to eliminate is paramount to a happy, long-lasting relationship. Puppies have very little control of their bladder and bowels, but they will be encouraged to hold on when confined to small spaces. The rule of thumb if you want to avoid soiling inside the apartment is this: if you are not directly supervising the puppy, then confinement (either to a crate or a small, cordoned off area in the kitchen or bathroom) is appropriate, but for no more than four hours. Frequent walks every few hours are necessary for a young puppy, and all puppies will need a walk when waking up in the morning, about twenty minutes after each meal, when being let out of their crate, when waking up from a nap, when getting excited, before bed, etc.

Bite Inhibition/Mouthing: All puppies use their mouths as part of their play behavior. A puppy that is mouthing, however, is not biting. Mouthing is an open-mouthed, relaxed form of play, while biting is the bearing down of teeth with an intention to hurt. Puppies learn the difference playing with their littermates. If one puppy mouths too hard, the other puppy will yelp and stop playing, which leads to the mouthy puppy learning that being too rough is unacceptable (this is called bite inhibition). After you bring your puppy home, you will have to replicate that relationship a bit until your puppy learns not to be rough with you. The best way to do this is when your puppy mouths you, make a high-pitched yelping sound and get up and walk away, ignoring the puppy for a while. Do this a few times in a row, and your puppy will get the picture: to play with you means to be careful!

Food Bowl Exercises: One common and very undesirable behavior in a mature dog is resource-guarding, which is when a dog growls (or worse) when you approach its food bowl while it’s eating, try to take a toy away or even try to recover an item that has been “stolen” by the dog (a sock, some tissue). Preventative measures are simple: when it’s time for your puppy to eat, sit there on the floor with your hand in its food bowl. As it’s eating, pick up some of the kibble/wet food, then drop it back into the bowl. After another ten seconds, pick up the bowl and play with the puppy, then give the bowl back. Another ten seconds later, pick up the bowl again and hand the puppy a favorite toy. Then exchange the toy for the food bowl, hand feeding your puppy for a bit. Then just leave the bowl down and pet the puppy while it’s eating. Your puppy will grow up not being fazed a bit when humans interrupt its mealtime.

When can you take your puppy outdoors?
There is a lot of bad information circulating out there about when a puppy is considered properly vaccinated so that she can hit the streets without the danger of picking of one of the serious, and potentially deadly, viruses dogs can pass to each other. The old rule of thumb was that owners should wait until their pup has had all three vaccination doses, which would take it to about sixteen weeks. However, the period between ten and sixteen weeks is absolutely critical in a puppy’s development — quarantining your dog during this time can lead to poor social skills (with both people and other dogs) and increased fear of the outdoors and new situations. Adult dogs that were poorly socialized are often fear-aggressive, cannot be off-leash with other dogs and must be carefully supervised around people. They certainly are not the well-adjusted urban dogs we’re all hoping for!

At the same time, diseases like parvovirus and parainfluenza are at best unpleasant and at worst lethal.

Many city veterinarians recognize the delicate balance between protecting a dog from disease while potentially creating a poorly adjusted dog and pursuing a well-adjusted dog to the exclusion of other health concerns. And they offer a middle ground: Feel free to take your dog to the streets as soon as you get it home, but limit its interaction with other dogs (unless you know those dogs have been vaccinated) until it has had its second shot in the series. Between the second shot and third, stay away from dog runs and stray dogs (not too many of these in Manhattan!). For the most part, Manhattan dogs are usually well-vaccinated and pose a relatively low risk to a developing puppy.

Please visit our Puppy Classes page for more information on attending group training classes.