Learn Dog Training
Twelve chapters that take a puppy or an adopted adult from the first week at home to a dog that comes when called, walks on a loose leash and settles on cue, with a treat budget, a house-training timetable and a training binder built from your own answers.
Describe your dog. Say how old your dog is, how long you have been together, and what you want to work on. Every green box in this manual, the calculators and the calendar will then speak to your dog. It stays in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Find what you need
Open the manual at the chapter that fits what is in front of you.
- A new puppy or a newly adopted dog
- Describe your dogHouse trainingCrate, pen and alone timeThe puppy socialization window
- Accidents in the house
- House-training timetableCleaning up accidentsAdult dogs and markingWhen a trained dog starts soiling
- Pulling, not coming, or ignoring me outside
- Loose-leash walkingCome when calledWhy a known cue breaks in a new place
- Jumping, barking, chewing or mouthing
- Write a problem planPuppy mouthingBarkingProblem plan and help list
- Growling, fear or panic: when to call someone
- Stop and callPanic when left aloneWhom to call, and how to check credentials
- Treats, equipment and the first sessions
- Treat budget and sessionsEquipment that does not hurtCharge a markerTeach a hand target
How to use this manual
Open this manual at the chapter you need; nothing here has to be read in order. Every chapter opens with Start here, the few steps that are the minimum for a first week, and a Go deeper switch hides the optional depth until you want it. Fill in setup once and the green boxes, the treat calculator, the timetable and the socialization calendar speak to your dog. Where one chapter assumes another, such as a cue that uses the marker from How dogs learn, it says so at the foot of the page. We teach reward-based training only, as the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends, and where aggression, separation anxiety or another behavior disorder appears, the chapter says whom to call.
What each chapter has:
- Start here: the three to five steps that are the minimum for a first pass, fitted to your setup. Sections marked Go deeper are optional, and a switch on each chapter hides them.
- Understand: the concept and the judgment behind it, explained from fundamentals outward.
- See it: a worked example, and free demonstrations chosen so you see it done well before you try it.
- Practice: an exercise you can run with what you have, usually producing something you keep.
- Your dog: a green box that translates the chapter to the dog you described in setup.
- Check your work: criteria, a worked example, common mistakes, and what is still unresolved.
- A short knowledge check and a scenario with feedback on each path.
Mark it up as you read. Beside every heading there is a flag to bookmark the section and a Note button; select any passage to highlight it or attach a note. Everything you mark collects on My notes & bookmarks, grouped by chapter and printable, saved only in this browser and carried in your training binder export.
Contents
Foundations
- How dogs learn: rewards, timing and managementHow reinforcement works in dog training: timing, charging a clicker or marker word, management, and why veterinary bodies recommend reward-based methods only.
- Read your dog: body language, stress and thresholdsRead your dog's body language from relaxed to over threshold, find the distance where a worry is manageable, supervise children, and know when to call a pro.
- Set up to train: treats, equipment, sessions and the householdSet up to train your dog: treat size and a calorie budget, equipment that does not hurt, short sessions, and household rules everyone uses the same way.
The first weeks at home
- House training for puppies and adult dogsHouse train a puppy or adopted adult dog: a break timetable built from age, supervision and confinement, accident cleanup without punishment, and a potty log.
- Crate, pen and alone timeCrate train a puppy or dog with voluntary entry, build alone time as a logged ladder, know the hour limits by age, and spot the signs that need a veterinarian.
- Socialization and confidence for puppies and adult dogsSocialize a puppy inside the window alongside the vaccine series, or build an adult dog's confidence at its pace, with an exposure checklist and handling.
Cues
- First behaviors: hand target, sit and downTeach your dog a hand target, sit and down with lure and capture, fade the lure within a few repetitions, add the cue word last, and track each cue's stage.
- Walk on a loose leashTeach loose-leash walking with equipment that does not hurt, the position game, stop-when-tight and change of direction, sniff rewards and measured progress.
- Come when calledTrain a recall with a fresh cue word, a back-and-forth game, a long line outside and a record of distance and distraction, and know where off leash is safe.
- Settle, stay, wait, leave it and drop itTeach a mat settle, stay and wait one D at a time, and leave it and drop it with food and toys, with the point where guarding means calling a professional.
Problems and next steps
- Everyday problems: jumping, barking, chewing, mouthing and stealingWrite a problem plan for jumping, barking, chewing, puppy mouthing or counter surfing: management, a replacement behavior, rewards, and when to call a pro.
- Proof it everywhere, fade the food and keep goingProof every cue in new places and around distractions, fade treats to life rewards, review your training log, and find a credentialed trainer or behaviorist.
Common questions
How do I train my dog to come when called?
Pick a new word the dog has never heard paired with anything unpleasant, pay it with the best food you have at a few feet indoors, then across a room, then outside on a long line. Never call the dog for something it dislikes. Come when called covers the steps and the record of distance and distraction; no recall is certain, so the line and the fence stay part of the plan.
How long can a puppy hold its bladder?
Veterinary behavior services at Ohio State and Penn give about one hour per month of age, give or take an hour, with adults taken out about every four hours when possible. While awake, a puppy needs a break every one to two hours. The timetable turns your puppy's age into clock times, and House training explains what the rule does not promise.
How do I stop my dog from pulling on the leash?
Pulling works because it gets the dog where it wants to go. Stop when the leash goes tight, move when it is loose, and pay the dog at your side, after a few sessions of the position game indoors. Loose-leash walking covers equipment that does not hurt, a second method, and what to do when the pulling is lunging at dogs or people.
When can my puppy go outside and meet other dogs?
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior says socialization before the vaccine series is complete should be the standard of care, and that classes can start at 7 to 8 weeks with at least one set of vaccines given at least 7 days before. Which places are safe before the series ends is your veterinarian's call. Socialization and confidence and the calendar lay out the dates.
Is it too late to train an older dog?
No. Older dogs learn with the same methods; hearing, vision, joints and pain change how you teach, so hand signals and softer surfaces help. A senior that stops responding to a cue it knew is a veterinary question first. How dogs learn covers what age changes, and First behaviors covers teaching a senior.
How many treats can I give my dog a day?
The AAHA and WSAVA guidelines keep treats and extras to about 10 percent of the day's calories, and part of the dog's own food can be the training reward. The treat calculator estimates the allowance from weight and life stage; your veterinarian sets the diet. Set up to train covers treat size and value.
Why does my dog ignore me outside?
A cue learned in the kitchen is not yet known in a park full of smells, and adolescent dogs often respond less for a few months. The fix is to proof each cue in new places with the distraction lowered, and to pay better outside. Proof it and keep going covers proofing; Come when called covers the recall.
Should I use a shock collar or a prong collar?
This manual does not use or teach them. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior recommends reward-based methods only, and a 2020 study found reward-trained dogs came when called at least as often as dogs trained with electronic collars. How dogs learn summarizes the position statements and the studies, with their stated limits.
When do I need a dog trainer or a behaviorist?
Any bite, snap, growling over food or things, fear that stops the dog eating, or panic when left alone is the point to call: a veterinarian first, then a veterinary behaviorist or a credentialed behavior consultant. Read your dog lists the signs, and Proof it and keep going explains what each credential requires and where to find one.
How do I crate train a puppy at night?
Put the crate where you sleep, size it so the puppy can stand, turn and lie down, and take a young puppy out once overnight if it wakes and stirs. Build daytime crate time first, with meals and treats inside and the door open. Crate, pen and alone time covers the sequence and the hour limits by age; House training covers overnight breaks.
If you want an order
Only a puppy brings a timetable. Its socialization window closes whether or not you are ready, so for the first weeks House training, Crate, pen and alone time and Socialization and confidence run side by side, before any cue. After that, First behaviors comes before the leash, the recall and the settle, which use its hand target and release word. An adult dog has no window to beat; start with whatever is hardest at home.