Sequence and duration of training.

[CherylHampton]

Got a couple of questions. One for a ten week old pup how many sessions and how long for each do I need to do? Also the sequence in the Obedience training. Can I concentrate on the leash, heel and attention heel first?(He already knew sit and down before I got the course) he's working on stay and doing fair but I think its going to take extra on the leash and healing. I realize he's still very young but he's a trip hazard and I don't want him or me to get hurt. He's quite stubborn. Does not like the leash and will pull or sit or lie down when trying to walk. Using the treats makes him want to jump for them rather than follow. Need help if I can't get him leash trained and obedient I won't be able to keep him and I absolutely DONT want that. Thanks for the response.

[CherylHampton]

Also and so sorry for all the questions,  but Shiloh has been great at looking me since he came to me at six weeks. He will actually sit at my feet look into my eyes for long periods last count I got to 15. When he does come to me he will sit right in front of me and look up. When he's not jumping or eating his leash he will work his way around to my front and do the same. How do I build on this so that its meaningful. He nailed the airplane game, he started by looming at the treat then with my "smacking" turned his eyes to me, consistently. I think he knows he's too smart for me and is dying to stay one step ahead. He won't even consider cooperating with his leash unless he's in front and He's going to be a large dog so can't have him pulling. If it weren't for that I'd let him lead.. Worry for the diatribe I !I've my little guy and He's quite happy curled at my feet after playtime such good company.

[Adrienne]

Great questions!

Firstly, here's a big fact:  From the day you bring your puppy home, your puppy will be constantly learning, and that includes both good behaviors and bad. If you keep your mind focused on this very important fact, you will be more likely to provide guidance so that your puppy will often make good choices. Puppies are therefore learning with every interaction so they are perpetually in "training."

Play is training. Resting is training. Walking is training and even learning to be away from you is training.

Now, I am not too much a fan of giving exact set timeframes for how long a puppy should be trained due to the fact that every puppy is different. With more than 200 dog breeds out there, they all develop differently and even within a litter of the same breed, there are variances, so I mostly pay attention to the individual puppy. just like us (think students who can sit in class concentrating on lessons while others are glancing out of the window daydreaming), some dogs can tolerate more training than others.

You can generally train your pup as many times as you like as long as you pup is enjoying it and isn't getting bored. Nothing is worse for a puppy than a tedious training session that is getting boring or too difficult.

So you can start with 1 minute training and see how it goes. Does your puppy seem focused and eager to learn? Then we can extend to it minute more and so forth. As a general, very general guideline, a young puppy under the age of 12 weeks may do well with 5 to 6 brief sessions a day lasting about 2-3 mins each session. The aim should be doing about 10-15 minutes of training every day in brief sessions spread throughout the day. This would be a good place to start, making sure you end the session on a positive note and always when the pup is still interested. This builds a strong desire to learn.

In regards to the sequence:  you can follow the whole sequence of obedience 101 as it's displayed (therefore starting with sit and following through) but if you have something you need to work on urgently (for example, in the case of a puppy who grabs everything and swallows them down like there is no tomorrow, you may start with leave its and drop its).

Since your pup knows already sit and down (make sure it's fluent enough so that you have faded the food lure, added a verbal cue/ simplified the hand gesture into something more convenient and increased the challenge) you can certainly move on to the leash training since it sounds like that's what he needs the most work on. 

The pulling or sitting down when on leash is due to him perceiving it as a foreign item and it feels weird which triggers the "opposition reflex" in other words, the more you tug, the more he'll pull back or give up trying and fall into learned helplessness. You will need to be patient on this and work on baby steps with lots of praise and encouragement. Pups can sense if we get frustrated and this can make them stall. Start indoors practicing in a hallway. 

If he is jumping when you are trying to make him follow you, this often happen when you are holding the treat too high. Try holding it low next to you knee or as soon as he's catching up and is close to your knee, drop the treat/kibble before he even has a chance to jump up.