Puppy Training

Training you puppy can be a lot of fun or it can be very frustrating.  I have found if I take my time and have patience I achieve more in the training sessions.  I don't spend a ton of time each day training my pit bull.  My first dog Boo Boo did great with her training.  I started to train her around 4 - 5 months old.  Bella was taught to sit and lay down first at about 5 months old.  I only spend about 10 - 20 min. max every time I do some training.  This time it is a little different as my older dog Boo Boo (Lab mix) is helping Bella with the training.  It gets a little overwhelming at times as I am telling Bella the commands and Boo is doing the tricks.  Sometimes she gets in the way but she is showing Bella what to do.  Bella is now six months old so I am starting to train her to roll over next.  She is getting part of it but has not mastered the whole trick yet.  I am going to teach Bella all the tricks that Boo knows how to do which is sit, lay down, shake, play dead ( I shoot her with my fake finger gun and she drops and puts her legs up in the air- this is my favorite trick), roll over, turn around, jump, dance, stay, and I am sure that I am forgetting a few that Boo does.  I expect Bella to learn each and every trick that I taught my other dog.

You have to have confidence in yourself to be able to get your dog to perform the tricks you are trying to teach them.  If you start to get frustrated then you need to stop and try again at another time.  You don't want you dog to get to the point that they do not want to try and understand what you are telling them to do.  There are many teaching aids available to help you if you do not want to go at it yourself.  I use my own technique that works for me with my dogs.  If you would like further explanations of how I train my dogs, just comment on my blog and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. It is so rewarding for you and your puppy to get a new trick down.  Bella is willing to learn so I am excited to get things going with her.  Having a dog is a nice distraction from the things going on in life.  It is a complete stress reliever if you have patience and time.  I think everyone should own a dog.  I am glad that my family decided to rescue a Pit Bull as  they are such a misunderstood breed.  Bella is turning out to be such a loving dog and I could not imagine life without her.