You finally got your dream, now you are its owner. Of course, the place has been prepared for the puppy, all members of the household are waiting for him, and this is a welcome member of the family.
But emotions will calm down, and everyday life, though brighter and more intense now, will require you to think not only about timely and balanced nutrition, regular marathons with a leash in your hand and vaccinations, but also about education.
Often the concepts of "training" and "raising a puppy" are confused. And this is no wonder. These concepts are mutually reinforcing and are similar in one thing: the dog must understand in the process what it is “possible and impossible.” And all this is achieved by repeated repetitions with the use of punishments (not necessarily physical ones, by the way) and goodies (and sometimes just voice encouragement) .
Most dog handlers recommend to start professional training after six months, and to ZKS (let's call it protection) no earlier than a year.
Professional training consists of a series of courses, the beginning of which is obedience (obedience course, UGS, GS). This is comparable to learning the alphabet. Here, the dog masters the most basic commands: "place", "you can’t", "come to me", "give", next to him, etc. Moreover, both the dog and the guide are trained (talking about the skills of mastering gestures and voice).
And only after successfully completing this course, you can proceed to the next step. Specificity (the so-called profile) is already taken into account here: hunting dogs go through, for example, the so-called natask, service dogs go on guard duty. It all depends on the purpose of the dog.
But raising a puppy begins already from the moment it appears in your house. It is from the moment, and not at all from three, four or even six months.
Raising a puppy is a complex concept. This can also include getting used to the intonation of your voice, and the first "not," you said automatically, intuitively. Feeling the difference between an affectionate and displeased voice, the baby is already trying to please, wagging his tail and looking faithfully into his eyes. By the way, all training is based on this, by the way: a dog working "from under the stick", under the pressure of fear, is not very reliable and is capable of disobeying and even running away at any time.
Therefore, the upbringing of a puppy should always be based on positive emotions, moreover, reinforced by a treat. Do not forget: this is a child!
Home education usually begins with the commands "place" and "to me." In the future, these teams are polished at special courses, at the initial stage, when they call the baby, they show a bowl of food (or just a tasty piece) and affectionately repeat: "Come to me!"
Persistence is required with the "place" team: taking the puppy to his mat, lay it and stroking, repeat: "Place!" The kid will definitely try to get up. Hold it by repeating the command and pet again.
Dog punishments are undesirable, especially during puppyhood. Use a voice, the pupil subtly captures the shades of intonation, and, of course, “goodies”: pieces of cheese, sausage, biscuits - for the right action. Just do not overdo it: the pieces should be small. Your task is to interest, not feed.
Raising a puppy also includes accustoming to the toilet, and a calm attitude to a leash with a muzzle, and adequacy in relation to others. This is the second step following the development of the first teams.
Training for a collar begins with the choice of the collar itself. While the baby is still clumsy and literally feels every gram, stop at the choice of the lightest, nylon collars. This also applies to leashes. Dog ammunition at first should not cause the puppy any discomfort.
At first, the collar dresses for a few minutes. Then - for an hour, for two. Take the leash only for walks - the puppy should rejoice at the appearance of the leash in your hands, linking it with pleasant emotions, in a particular case, with the long-awaited walk. Violence is also unacceptable here: the puppy does not want to go on a leash - distract him, play, stroke.
It is easy to accustom a kid to the toilet only with constant observation: he wakes up - we take him out for a walk, ate - we take him out for a walk again. "walked" at home - scolding, on the street - always praise.
The breed is not important here, the regime and attitude are important here. The upbringing of a labrador puppy, for example, is no different in this respect from the upbringing of a puppy of a different breed. The main thing is constancy. If today you took a puppy to a warm bed, then do not scold him when he decides to jump under your own blanket. A taboo should always remain a taboo, and once allowed, it should always be allowed, and compliance with the rules applies to all your household members. If you think that the dog should sleep only in its place, then the rest should not allow it to sleep in bed.
Sometimes inexperienced owners of service dogs, having heard that training begins at half a year, believe that raising a dog begins at exactly six months. This position is fundamentally wrong. Permissiveness in the first months is then corrected by hard work, while the psyche of both the owner and the dog itself is often injured. Raising a German shepherd puppy, as well as a Rottweiler, Doberman and other service dogs, also begins with the appearance of the baby in the house. But when it gets stronger, you can start already and professional training. Who knows, maybe today's baby will become a champion in a year or two, winning a gold medal in trials or competitions?
Good luck to you!