Many dog owners dive right into puppy training with the command “sit”, but this may not be the best course of action, shares one expert.
Kim Paciotti, Puppy Training Specialist at Empowered Puppy Program has revealed what should be taught to puppies first.
Sharing to Instagram, Paciotti said “Everyone teaches sit first because that’s what they were taught.
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“But here’s what nobody tells you: your eight-week-old puppy doesn’t know what their body is doing.”
When new owners command their puppies to “sit”, they don’t understand anything except that their owners seem happy when they put their behinds on the ground.
However, because they can’t see themselves doing the action, this seems like an abstract concept.
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Instead, Paciotti recommends teach them “place”, ordering the pup to sit in a specific place.
“‘Place’ gives them something concrete. The mat is right there. They can see it, they walk to it, they stay on it. Success is obvious,” she shared.
“The second they understand, ‘Go to this spot and wait here,’ you’ve taught them the foundation of other behaviors.
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“The order you teach things matters. Visual first, abstract later. That’s how dogs learn,” she said, adding the puppies she trains understand by week 10 what “waiting’ means and have impulse control.
Puppy owners shared their thoughts in the comments, with one saying, “I wish I had seen this before I started training my puppy!”
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One asked, “Can there be more than one ‘place’ if it’s the same mat?”, to which Paciotti advised, “Yes, have a place in every room. I use a yoga mat and cut it into thirds. Three places and they all look the same.”
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