Puppy Imprinting

Yesterday I wrote about when you should start training your dog, at what age. I told you that the perfect age was 16 weeks or four months old, but actually, I fibbed a little bit. There’s another time that you can start training your dog, and that’s any time after eight weeks old. It’s called puppy imprinting.

Puppy printing is all motivational and all fun. It’s not considered formal training. At eight weeks of age your puppy’s mind is like a little sponge, he wants to learn new things. We use treats or even pieces of his kibble to teach him some different exercises that include the sit, the down and coming when you call. Keep in mind that this is fun and there are never any corrections. If your puppy does it wrong, we do it again till he does it right.

At my dog training facility Canine Behavior Specialists in Brentwood, Tennessee we actually offer a program called Surviving Your Puppy. In that program, we discuss all types of things the new puppy owners should know. One of the things we discuss is puppy imprinting. We actually show our clients how to implement the puppy imprinting program. Over the years I’m always amazed when it’s time for formal training at the difference between the dogs that did the imprinting and the dogs that didn’t do the imprinting. The difference is amazing.

When you get your next puppy, find a good trainer in your area to teach you how to do puppy imprinting, you won’t be sorry.

Brain Training For Your Dog