Last month in Puppy Training Q&A – Part 1, we spoke to dog behaviourist, trainer and general dog guru, Simon Goodall about puppy training. This is the second part of our interview.

Do you believe that different breeds require different ways of teaching? I mean, have you had experiences with different breeds, and do they act differently?

They certainly act differently, but they don’t require different ways of teaching, they may take longer though. For example, a Beagle may take longer than a Labrador, but it can still do things that a Labrador can, it just might take a little longer. Some dogs are easier than others, but they’re all at the same level in the end. It doesn’t seem to make a major difference.

So, it’s more based on personality than the actual breed itself?

Yeah absolutely.

So we hear the term ‘puppy graduation’ quite a lot. What does it mean once they’ve graduated?

It doesn’t mean they’re finished by any means, it means that they’ve started the first step, in terms of the owner getting on top of stuff. Usually, it means that the puppy knows what to do. They know a couple of commands, ‘sit’, ‘down’, ‘stay’, ‘come’. For a 14 week old puppy just to stay for more than 20 seconds is fantastic. If you had a puppy that wasn’t able to sit for most of the day, to be able to sit and stay, or lie down and stay – it’s brilliant!

What are the most common puppy behavioural challenges you see?

I guess with puppies you have three main general problems. Putting on a lead, not coming when called and jumping all over things when they come into the house. These are the three main things that people find really difficult.

The main reason is that if using the lead is unpleasant then walking becomes unpleasant and if the puppy doesn’t come when its called, it never gets any free time off the lead. If the puppy is jumping around the house then it just gets locked away when visitors come to the house. It’s very common to go to a person’s house and see the dog get locked away in the bathroom or outside because they just can’t sit down and relax.

All these challenges can be addressed with training!

Thanks Simon!

Do you have a new puppy? Have you graduated from Puppy school yet? What’s been your biggest training or behavioural challenge and how did you tackle it? Share your experiences below!

Originally posted on masterpet.com