Training the Boxer Puppy

A solid education in obedience and leadership is essential to teach your Boxer the rules of his new human world.

Puppy’s Home Education
You are about to begin the puppy classes. There are two rules to consider. Rule No. 1: The puppy must learn that you are now the “alpha” dog and his new pack leader. Rule No. 2: You have to teach him in a manner he will understand (sorry, barking just won’t do it). Remember, always, that he knows nothing about human standards of behavior.

Word Association
Use the same word (command) for each behavior every time you teach it, adding food rewards and verbal praise to reinforce the positive. The puppy will make the connection and will be motivated to repeat the behavior when he hears those key words. For example, when teaching your puppy to potty outside, use the same potty command (”Go potty,” “Get busy” or “Hurry up” are commonly used) each time he eliminates, adding a “Good boy!” while he’s urinating or eliminating. Your puppy will soon learn what those trips outside are for.

Timing
All dogs learn their lessons in the present tense. You have to catch them in the act (good or bad) in order to dispense rewards or discipline. You have five seconds to connect with your dog or he will not understand what he did wrong. Thus, timing and consistency are your keys to success in teaching any new behavior or correcting bad

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Boxer Puppy Training

As you probably know, the point of obedience training is to  teach your boxer to respond to simple commands such as sit, stay, down, heel, and come. Now if you can afford It I would recommend that you take classes with your boxer puppy as this is the most effective training you can get. However there is a lot of training information you can get online that will put you way ahead of where you are right now when it comes to training your boxer puppy.

First thing is first. Training should start early, usually about 8 weeks. At this point your boxer is very much like a blank slate, that means you can train and mold him or her in to just the dog you want them to be.  Also start with the simplest commands and make them tougher as you work your way up. Sit and down are easiest and then I would say move to come and stay.

It is best if you can do two 5-10 minute sessions every other day or so. Boxers and especially puppies have a very short attention span. A 30 minute session will do almost nothing since you will have the dogs attention for a third of it. If you can, hold your training sessions when your boxer puppy is hunger or a bit tired. This will make him far more attentive and less hyper. If your boxer has a full stomach or is wound up I can guarantee that your training wont be very productive at all.

No matter what you are training the basic steps for training are the same. Get the dogs focus and say its name. then tell it the command and guide it into that command.  For instance if you were training your dog to sit then you would say your dog’s name and say sit. Then gently guide him into the sitting position. As soon as they are in position reward them with a treat and tell them good dog and maybe a nice pet for good measure. Then simply do it again.

Sooner or later they will recognize that sitting is the reason they are getting the treat and they will do it all on their own. Also make sure you use any opportunities throughout the day to practice. Training at odd times will definitely give you a grasp of how well they understand.

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