Puppy Training - The Beginning

Congratulations! You have just experienced the joy of bringing new puppy home, and she is the cutest one in the litter. You decided right away, though, that you want to do the absolute best for this four-legged, furry member of the family as you can. You want to have a smooth and easy time with this puppy, and a wonderful life with her. So you want to conduct her puppy training correctly from the start.
Being a professional yourself, you know two things. One, you don't have a lot of spare time on your hands, to be wasted, anyway. Two, a professional really knows what they are doing in their area of expertise, and puppy training is not yours.
You do some research promptly to find a straight-forward and knowledgeable dog trainer and dog behaviorist. The dog obedience trainer asks you several questions about the puppy's behavior when you got her, and how she has been acting since you brought her home. She corrects you on a few basic mistakes you have unintentionally made in your puppy training, and gives you a straight-forward routine for the little one.
The next morning, you take the puppy out as the dog trainer instructed ... not allowing her to go out the door first. You are surprised that after some minor resistance, she seems to like being told what to do. You have the leash up high on the sensitive part of her neck, as done in a dog show.
At first you are concerned about hurting her, but you quickly see how much easier she is to control... and how nice it is not to have your arm throbbing!
You begin teaching the puppy "Sit." You make it happen by pushing her rear end down. You repeat the exercise about five times. Then you add the challenge of "stay." You change the timing around, as the dog obedience trainer suggested to avoid "cheating" on the dog's part because you have become too predictable. She warns you not to jerk the dog in correction if she does not stay, but to bring her back to the spot where you asked her to stay and start over.
In the back of your mind, you secretly wonder if the dog trainer is overly strict. After all, it seems mean that a little puppy should begin the day having to listen so much. But this thought pattern only lasts a few days, because within a couple of weeks of this puppy training regimen, you cannot help but notice how attentive your dog is to you, and how eager she is to please.
You have been keeping up with the dog trainer's advice, four training sessions a day, five minutes a piece (minimum, no more than ten), always ending the session with the dog listening to you, and then playing with her for a few minutes. However, you do correct her immediately if she begins to play when he should be "working."
The puppy continues to make some basic mistakes. She occasionally touches the furniture with her mouth in exploration. Every once in a while, she does not come or stay exactly when told. But instead of standing there doing nothing about it, you take those few seconds to go over and address it ... those seconds that make a lifetime of a difference.
There are, of course, some frustrating days, but the dog obedience trainer is dedicated. She gives you encouragement to make it through this. She gives you parallel analogies that relate to your professional career, and somehow you make it through that day.
After a little over a year of consistency and dedication to the puppy training, it suddenly hits you on this average day that now you have the dog of which you have always dreamed. Good work! ( by Rena Murray )