Dog and Puppy Training FAQs
Telephone: 020 8947 8721
Dog and Puppy Training in Wimbledon, Wandsworth, Kingston, Putney and New Malden FAQs
Our dog and puppy training is designed for owners who want to understand about their pet dog, and provide the best start in life. We’ll coach you in basic learning theory, avoiding problem behaviours, puppy and dog management, as well as basic obedience and trick clicker training.
If you have just joined our web site, we recommend you start at our home page.
Home Start Puppy Training Course FAQs
- Why the urgency for early training and behaviour management?
- What Makes Puppy Home Start training special?
- How does Puppy Home Start puppy training work?
- What will I learn with Puppy Home Start training?
- What are your dog and puppy training methods?
- Do you offer dog and puppy training in my area?
Why the urgency for early puppy training and behaviour management?
Puppy training needs to start within a few days of bringing your puppy home at 7 or 8 weeks. Behaviour development should to be tackled before you even bring your puppy home to ensure a behaviourally healthy dog. Your puppy has developmental deadlines which won’t wait until you can get to a dog training class for advice:
- One professional body reported that 67% of referred biting dogs experienced inadequacies during puppyhood. By five weeks puppies can be deficient in aspects of their development leading to serious problem behaviour in later life. You need to be aware of the pitfalls of puppy acquisition and how to avoid them.
Puppies already showing potential for aggression are common – avoid a bad choice with free pre-purchase advice, or you can begin remedial work with professional assistance to reduce the impact of the problem as soon as the puppy arrives - the problems won't go away by hoping the puppy will grow out of them.
- By 12 weeks puppies have formed a human-animal bond – the developing relationship needs to be proactively managed by the new puppy owner to set the foundations for future good behaviour – incorrectly managed, bad habits, loss of control, over excitement and a weak owner-animal bond are firmly established by this point.
- As early as 3 or 4 weeks a puppy can learn new behaviours with positive reinforcement. EEG measurements reveal that puppy brain waves show adult patterns by 7 to 8 weeks – you puppy is wired to learn at this stage, make the most of it by beginning training at 8 weeks!
- An unpublished survey found that 52% of owners reported that their dog had an “annoying habit” mainly barking and obedience problems. 21% of people seeking help with their dogs had problems with obedience and control. Another survey identified a higher rate of relinquishment among dogs with no obedience training. A poor start with your puppy turns into a lifelong bad habit.
- Location preferences for elimination form at 8.5 weeks. If you don’t manage your puppy’s house training correctly when it first arrives, you could be one of around 10% of owners actively seeking professional help with house soiling issues outside puppyhood when it is much harder to rectify.
- Primary early learning occurs between 3 to 13/16 weeks. Your puppy is like a sponge - absorbing and processing information. Your puppy learns more during this time than during the course of its life. Capitalise on it, start training and puppy management with professional advice as soon as you bring the puppy home.
- Fear responses begin to emerge in puppies at 5 to 7 weeks. The trauma of moving from the breeder’s known environment to a new home should be carefully managed to avoid distress to the puppy – good advice on proactive intervention during the countdown to your puppy’s arrival can make a significant difference to your puppy's lifelong behavioural well-being.
What Makes Puppy Home Start training special?
The Puppy Home Start training course is designed to reduce the puppy’s trauma when settling into its new home and capitalise on the puppy’s high early learning rate, which research suggests slows down when the puppy reaches 13 to 16 weeks of age. It is best to start as early as possible (preferably within days of first bringing the puppy home). This also allows us to spot some potential behaviour problems and deal with them before they escalate.
How does Puppy Home Start puppy training work?
Begin with us as soon as you start looking for a puppy with our pre-purchase advice. Once you’ve made your choice, we will advise you during the countdown to bringing the puppy home.
You first session will take place within a day or two of the puppy arriving at your home. To capitalise on the puppy’s early learning abilities, our Puppy Home Start programme features four sessions on a weekly basis. Your total training time will be around 8 hours. It’s intensive, with longer sessions at the beginning when you most need education - both training and theory, the latter are shorter as the content is mostly pet obedience training.
The first three sessions are in the home, so we can manage practicalities such as house training, chewing, biting, jumping up, etc. It also has the added advantage of being in a low distraction environment, so the puppy is fairly focused. The latter sessions are held outside in your local park, Wimbledon Common or Richmond Park – wherever you normally walk the dog - so we can work around the hurdles of added distractions in your own environment.
You should have the time commitment to spend 30 to 60 minutes each day (in short spurts) playing, bonding, and training with the puppy. If you don’t have this level of commitment, then we are not the right people to help you with training your puppy.
Sessions are available weekdays, evenings and weekends. Book early we are often fully booked during peak puppy acquisition periods. Your puppy can start later than 8 weeks, but training is more effective with an early start.
What will I learn with Puppy Home Start training?
We aim to cover the following essentials:
- Pre-consultation advice. Hints and tips on making a wise selection, avoiding the most common pitfalls of puppy selection – you have to live with bad choices for at least 10 years. Countdown to your puppy’s arrival - reducing the transition trauma from breeder to your home, practical steps you can take in the weeks leading up to the new arrival.
- Early identification of potential problems, such as socialisation issues, lack of coping skills, shyness, aggression, possessiveness, etc., so they can be resolved or managed before they escalate.
- An introduction to learning theory (including use of a clicker, using rewards, motivation). A simple review so you and your puppy understand and enjoy the learning process.
- Puppy management - handling common puppy problems such as biting, jumping and house training.
- Pet obedience training includes sit, sit/stay, down, down/stay, simple tricks, walking on a slack lead, retrieve (dependent on progress), attention exercises, coming back when called – we can even show you how to teach your dog to ring a bell to alert you that it needs to go into the garden.
- Avoiding behavioural problems such as separation anxiety, resource guarding, handling issues, fear aggression.
Call us for an informal discussion about our 1-2-1 tailored puppy training programmes:
Telephone: 020 8947 8721
What about training for juvenile and wayward dogs?
At around 6 months your puppy enters the juvenile phase of its development. The once cute puppy has developed a mind of its own.
Without the benefit of early proactive training and management, it’s likely to be far more interested in the environment, leading to pulling, ignoring your requests to come back, and over excitement.
The problems you thought it would grow out of escalate – growling, biting, anxiety, house soiling, destruction, frustration, noise phobias, barking, and nuisance behaviours are common presentations.
We’ll take you back to basics, help you with behaviour modification, identify any management issues, and get you back on track with your obedience training.
Call us for an informal discussion about our 1-2-1 tailored programmes:
Telephone: 020 8947 8721
Can you help with training for lifestyle changes?
Any change in circumstances can traumatise your dog. We can advise you how to make the transition less overwhelming for the dog – returning to work, having a baby, moving house can all upset the balance and leave you with problem behaviours, so plan well ahead and take the dog into consideration.
Call us for an informal discussion about our 1-2-1 tailored programmes:
Telephone: 020 8947 8721
What are your dog training and puppy training methods?
We teach you to use positive reinforcement with your dog or puppy – that way your puppy wants to learn and respond by earning rewards. You’ll be encouraged to use a clicker, which allows the dog to learn at a faster rate. We do not use noise aversion, rattle cans, Pet Corrector, leash corrections, choke chains, water sprays, or other aversive methods – these merely frighten the dog, destroy the human/animal bond, and open the door for fear and anxiety problems later on.
Do you offer dog and puppy training in my area?
We are located in Wimbledon. Our clients are primarily based in:
- Coombe Hill
- Cottenham Park
- Earlsfield
- Kingston Hill
- Kingston upon Thames
- New Malden
- Merton Park
- Morden
- Putney
- Putney Heath
- Raynes Park
- Roehampton
- Southfields
- South Wimbledon
- Surbiton
- Tolworth
- Wandsworth
- Wandsworth Common
- West Barnes
- West Wimbledon
- Wimbledon
- Wimbledon Chase
- Wimbledon Park
- Wimbledon Village
For further information:
Call Rewarding Behaviour
Telephone:
020 8947 8721
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