What should I teach my puppy first?
Puppies are a lot.
They’re adorable, but they’re a lot.
And sometimes that blank slate feels really blank.
With so much for your puppy to learn, and only so much time and energy, which things should you teach your puppy first??
Think in These Two Categories
Raising a puppy can be overwhelming. I recommend prioritizing puppy-initiated behaviors in your training and behavior plan.
When tackling this question, recognize that “all the things” can be basically divided into two categories:
Puppy-Initiated Behaviors: these are things like biting, chewing, toileting, and jumping that the puppy can do all on his own.
Human-Initiated Behaviors: these are things the puppy does with our help or enabling — things like getting a bath, putting a harness on, going on a field trip, practicing his basic obedience skills, etc.
Sometimes behaviors straddle the two categories: your puppy can lie Down on his own, but he can also learn to lie Down when asked.
My Recommendation
As a professional dog trainer with 10+ years of experience, I recommend owners focus on the puppy-initiated behaviors first.
Why?
Those are usually the behaviors we don’t like
Those behaviors become bad habits very easily because your puppy can practice them very easily.
If you do nothing about human-initiated behaviors, no habits are formed (either good or bad) because nothing’s being practiced. And that’s okay!
But if you do nothing about puppy-initiated behaviors, he can (and will) still practice them every day on his own.
When it comes to figuring out what to teach your puppy first, ensuring your puppy cannot practice the wrong behaviors independently is the first priority. [Read more about prevention here.]
“What about socialization?" Isn’t that time-sensitive?”
Depending on who you ask, yes, the ideal window for socialization closes when the puppy is 14-16 weeks old.
Socialization is important, but your puppy needs some prerequisites skills first.
But socialization is primarily human-initiated: your puppy cannot get out and experience new things on his own.
In an ideal world, puppy-initiated behaviors are priority #1 followed very closely by socialization and the prerequisites for socialization.
If you’re going to take your puppy out for socialization field trips, he needs to be familiar and comfortable with some human-initiated stuff first:
eating food from your hand
paying attention
putting on his harness
being carried
riding in a car
Puppies are a lot, and they have a lot to learn. But prioritizing the puppy-initiated behaviors will save you some work and frustration in the long-run. Prevention now means you don’t have bad habits to undo later.
Need professional one-on-one guidance for this puppy training thing?
Check out Koinonia’s in-home puppy training programs for the Austin, TX area.
Meet the Puppy Trainer & Blog Author
Leighann Hurley founded Koinonia Dogs in 2014 and has been a Certified Professional Dog Trainer in the Austin, TX area since 2019.
She's a problem-solver by nature and loves creating cooperation through conflict-free communication so both ends of the leash enjoy an easier life together.
