Training your puppy early is essential to ensuring that you have an adult dog that’s obedient and mild-mannered. Dogs are incredibly smart, and training can begin as young as seven to eight weeks old. While it’s fun to teach your dog a variety of commands like how to fetch or play dead, several commands need to be prioritized with your puppy. At BCK-9 Services, we specialize in dog obedience training in Texas and can help you get your puppy started with these basic commands.

Sit

Teaching your dog to sit is one of the first steps to conditioning obedience. It’s a basic command that paves the way to teaching more behaviors as learning to stay and get down. Learning to sit will also help prevent your dog from bolting out an open door or jumping on house guests.

Stay

Teaching your dog to stay is the natural progression after it’s mastered sitting. It’s common for dogs to wait for a command or reward after being told to sit. If your dog understands what it means to sit, it’ll be much more likely to stay in place when you give this command. A dog that stays on command is much easier to deal with when you have to leave the house or get into the pantry.

Come

A dog that likes to wander can be a problem. You might be at risk of your dog getting into an altercation with another dog or person, and getting hit by a car is always a significant risk. Teaching your dog to come back to you on command is a great way to ensure that it’s not at risk of injury by wandering too far from you. Teaching your dog to be obedient is about more than simply having a dog that behaves; it could save its life.

Down

Dogs are social and can get excited when they meet someone new, which means that it’s not unusual for them to jump up to show affection. It doesn’t matter how much you love the dog, nobody likes to get dirty paw prints on their clothes. Not only can dirty paws ruin a nice outfit, but dogs that like to jump will also sometimes stand up next to kitchen countertops to see what you’re eating. This can introduce germs from their paws to your food and make you sick. Teach your dog to get down, so you’re not inconveniencing house guests or contaminating food.

Drop it

Dogs love to chew. It’s their way of exploring the world around them, maintaining a strong jaw, and keeping their teeth clean. Puppies will especially chew to relieve pain from incoming teeth. However, you never want your dog to chew personal items like shoes or other things around the house. Not only will this destroy your belongings, but plastics can break and turn into a choking hazard. Teach your dog to drop an item, so you don’t have to fight to get back a shoe or child’s toy.

Heel

Based on local laws or ordinances, keeping your dog on a leash is often required. Although, you can still teach your dog to walk next to you without running off or pulling you on the leash. Walking with a tight leash can choke or strangle your dog. Learning to heel can make an enjoyable experience for both you and your dog during daily walks.

Contact us to get started

You can start training your dog today by getting in touch with us at BCK-9 Services. We offer dog obedience training in Texas so you can feel confident in your puppy’s ability to listen to you when it’s important. Give us a call at 817-771-0008 or 253-444-8089. You can also send a message with any questions using our online contact form.