Once your puppy has settled into their new environment, start making a plan to train them some basic voice commands. These basic voice commands will be helpful when they grow into adults.

But remember that training doesn’t just happen during your dedicated sessions. Every interaction with your puppy is a training opportunity which teaches them what behaviour is OK, and what isn’t. Everything they learn as a puppy, as basic as it might seem, lays the foundation for future training and learning as they grow. As with any training, start in a low distraction, secure area indoors and reward success with either praise, positive reinforcement, or special treats.

Let's get into a few basic voice commands to train your puppy with:

Teach them the word 'yes'

To help your puppy learn commands, use the word "yes" when they do something right and reward with treat each time. The more confident your puppy becomes, the more you can combine the word "yes" after a correct voice command. For example, saying "sit" before they sit followed by acknowledging the sit with "yes, sit". As you progress training, you can combine food reward with praise, pats, and play time but always remember to "yes" before the reward to reinforce. You can also add in an addition of a clicker which can be used alongside "yes" to reinforce positive behaviour. read more on 'Clicker training with puppies'.

Teach your puppy their name

Whenever you interact with your puppy, always use their name. Reward them with a treat when your puppy reacts to you saying their name - this could be looking at you or moving towards you. Do this throughout the day and soon enough your puppy should respond to their name. From there, you can combine their name with other voice commands.

Teach them to sit

Grab their favourite treat and hold it above their nose, then slowly raise the treat while moving your hand over your puppy's head. Say their name and the command 'sit' at the same time. Your puppy's head will follow the treat and its backside should lower into a sitting position. As soon as your puppy bottom touches the floor, say 'yes, sit' and reward them with a treat and praise. Repeat this a few times at each training session until your puppy has mastered the voice command. You can then add in a hand movement using the same technique alongside the voice command. Then practice hand movement without voice command and vice versa so your puppy understands both ways to sit. Remember to always say 'yes' when your puppy successfully sits and reward them with positive reinforcement.

Teach them to come

This is a great command to start your puppy training. Firstly, find something your puppy loves like their favourite toy or treat. Crouch down with their favourite and say your puppy's name followed with the command "come". Your puppy should come running over. When they reach you, say "yes, come" and reward with a treat and praise. Practice this indoors a few times before taking the training outside in a secure area like your fenced backyard where there are a few more distractions. The goal is to have your puppy come when you call even with more exciting distractions around.

Tip: Take a pack of treats or a treat pouch and their favourite squeaky toy when outdoors to ensure your puppy can be enticed back to you.

Teach them to stay

Once your puppy has mastered the "sit", you can move to teching them to stay. First ask your puppy to sit and reward them for sitting, then raise your hand to a stop signal and say 'stay'. Take a step backwards and reward them with a 'yes, stay' and a treat. Repeat a few times. Once your puppy seems to understand this, take an another step backwards. Repeat until you are over a metre away. If your puppy moves, reset to a sit and reduce your distance. When you are about a metre away, begin turning away from our puppy - this is the biggest challenge when your puppy knows you're not looking. Repeat these steps until you are able to ask them to stay while walking away. Practice indoors to build confidence and then move into a secure outdoor space like a fenced backyard.

Teach your puppy a release word

It's also important to tech your puppy a release word that breaks your pup's sit or stay. Recommended options are 'ok', 'go' or 'done'. Once your puppy has completed their stay, say 'yes, go' to break the stay, and encourage them to leave the stay position. Soon your puppy will associate this word with release from a voice command.

Teach your puppy to leave it

This voice command trains your puppy to leave things alone that you don't want them playing with and that could potentially be harmful to them.

1. To teach 'leave it', start with two different types of treats - their favourite and their not-so-fave treat - that is broken up into smaller pieces. One should be less appealing to the dog, but the other type should be a high-value treat that they'll find pretty delicious.
2. Put one type of treat in each hand and make a fist, and place both of your hands behind your back. Present the less appealing treat to your dog, letting them sniff.
3. Say “leave it” and wait until they finish sniffing your fist. As soon as your dog is done sniffing, say “yes, leave it”, then reward with the higher-value treat in your other hand.
4. Repeat until your dog immediately stops sniffing your hand when you say “leave it.”
5. Once your puppy has mastered “leave it” and stops sniffing right away, put a lead on your puppy and then toss the low-value treat outside of their reach.
6. Wait until they stop sniffing and pulling toward the treat. As soon as they do, say “yes, leave it” and reward with high-value treat from your hand.
7. Practice this exercise a number of times in a secure space before building up distractions and using different items.

We hope this has helped with training your puppy. If you need any further help or have a question we haven’t answered, contact our friendly Pet Direct Customer Care team on 0800 200 240 or email support@petdirect.co.nz.