WHEN TO BEGIN TRAINING

WHEN TO BEGIN TRAINING
Whether your dog is a puppy, an adolescent, or an adult dog, start training him now. There is no truth in the saying “Old dogs can’t learn new tricks”—it just takes longer. For a puppy, the ideal time to begin training is at 7 weeks of age. Your puppy is most receptive to training during an 8-week window from 7 to 16 weeks.
You will be amazed at the ease and speed with which a puppy learns. The longer you wait, the harder the job will become. Make the most of the available time now!
During this period your puppy is capable of learning far more than you will teach him. What the puppy learns now he will remember for the rest of his life.
His brain is the same size as that of an adult dog; he lacks only the experience and motor coordination of an adult dog.
We know what you’re thinking: “I have plenty of time. I can wait until he’s 6 months to a year old. Let him enjoy his puppyhood.” While you may have the best of intentions, your thinking is flawed. Why? There are three reasons:
1. Your puppy is going to learn many things while he is growing up, with or without your involvement. Some of the behaviors he will probably learn are the very ones you don’t want him to do as an adult dog; for example, dashing outside, pulling on the leash, not coming when called, and jumping on people. The more ingrained these behaviors become, the greater the
difficulty in eliminating them.
2. Learning at this stage is perhaps even more important than any specific commands you want to teach Felix. Future lessons you want your dog to learn are easier to teach to a dog who had some training as a puppy.
Besides, puppies like to learn, and your puppy will look forward to his training sessions.
3. Puppies are physically easier to manipulate than grown dogs. Again, you don’t have much time—at 7 months of age dogs reach about 70 percent of their full size.