Dog training checklist (2024)

Pets Can Smile – 12 July 2024

If you don’t train and socialize your dog, the poor thing may:

• Suffer from anxiety & hyperactivity
• Bark excessively
• Become aggressive
• Chew on your shoes & furniture
• Treat your home as a toilet

Yes, you need to train your dog.

For this, you need a Dog Training Checklist.

This is why this article will tell you everything you need to know about:

• Dog training checklist (based on your dog’s age)
• Dog training (advanced methods)
• Dog training tips

Let’s do this.

Let’s ensure your dog becomes the best it can ever be!

Dog training checklist – by AGE

This dog training schedule is organized and based on a dog’s age.

This will help you determine the correct training stage for your dog specifically.

But don’t worry if you’re starting to train you dog a bit late – our dog training schedule will help your dog catch up, easily!

Also remember that each dog will learn at a slightly different speed.

This is exactly what happened in our case.

Our Doberman needed slightly more time at certain age stages, while our German Shepherd was able to move on to more advanced training quicker.

But we didn’t rush our Doberman – and our pup got there at its own pace.

Your dog will get there at its own pace too. And it’ll be totally worth it!

8-10 weeks is around the age that most puppies are brought to their new homes.

How exciting!

During this stage, you should teach your puppy the basics such as:

• Potty training
• Crate training
• Name recognition
• Basic obedience commands
• Socialization skills
• Leash training
• Bite inhibition

Sound like a lot?

No worries.

Our dog training schedule will make the training really easy – and really effective.

POTTY TRAINING

Potty training is one of the most important skills to teach your new puppy.

This is why you should start potty training as soon as you bring your new dog home.

Start the training by showing your puppy where is the toilet (potty spot).

Choosing a potty spot

Consider these factors when choosing a potty spot for your dog:

• How much space your dog needs. Give your dog a space that’s as long and wide as 5 times the dog’s length. This will allow your doggy to sniff around and comfortably do the business (even if you don’t manage to scoop after each potty break).
• The type of surface. Most dogs prefer soft and absorbent surfaces (gravel, grass, mulch). If you don’t have such surfaces available, choose any area where your doggy can do its business.
• Space your dog is already using. If possible, use an area which your pup is already using quite frequently (this will make training easier).
• Privacy. Choose a potty spot outside of the high traffic areas of your yard.

Potty training steps

Training your new puppy to poop (and urinate) in a designated spot requires a bit of patience and consistency.

But the below steps will make it very easy (we followed these steps for our two dogs).

Follow these steps to teach your dog where it should do its business:

• Find your dog’s previous poop in the yard
• Move a scoop (or two) of the dog’s poop into the potty spot (clean up the rest of the yard).
• It’s best to also water the rest of the yard (this will rinse away urine and feces smells).
• Walk your dog to the potty spot and give it the command “go potty.” Once your doggy starts sniffing around, repeat the command “go potty” and reward it with a small treat (whether the dog does the business or not).

Potty spot TIPS

• Never play with your dog in the potty spot. Instead, encourage your pup to go potty before playtime in other areas of the yard. If your dog wants to play before pooping, take you pup to another area of the yard.
• When your dog poops or pees in the designated spot, give it lots of verbal praise (and a treat). If your doggy goes to a wrong place, don’t scold it. Just continue praising it for using the potty area.
• Always clean up (quickly) droppings outside of the potty spot. This is because dogs are all about scents. Your dog will more likely go where it can smell it has been doing its business before.
• While your dog is learning to use the potty spot, leave one recent dog poop pile in the spot. But remember that too much poop will discourage your doggy.
• During a potty training, try to always supervise your dog after meals, during walks, and after playtime. This will allow you to escort your pup to its potty spot. This will also encourage your pup to go to the correct area. Over time, your dog will use the potty spot on its own.

How often will my puppy need the toilet?

At first, your puppy will need the toilet a lot!

Yes, puppies have really small bladders.

But as your puppy gets older, it’ll be able to hold it for increasingly longer periods.

This is how long a puppy can hold it:

Age	Maximum puppy can hold it during DAY	Maximum puppy can hold it during NIGHT
8 weeks	2 hours	5 hours
12 weeks	3 hours	7 hours
16 weeks	4 hours	8 hours

If your puppy needs the toilet more frequently than the above numbers, don’t panic!

There will always be some differences between different puppies.

For example, toy breeds usually need the toilet more frequently.

The signs your puppy needs a toilet break:

• Obvious signs (standing by the back door or sitting and whining in front of you until you)
• Subtle signs (sniffing and circling around)

Don’t worry, you’ll quickly learn the signs.

To be on the safe side, take your puppy to their potty spot right after naps, meals, and play sessions.

CRATE TRAINING

Crate training is as essential as potty training.

Here is why:

• Helps protect your dog (and avoid trouble) when you’re away
• Creates a save zone and chill spot for your dog
• Protects your items from your naughty dog (without crate training, your dog may chew on anything from shoes to carpets to furniture)
• Teaches your dog to hold it in a crate (which goes hand in hand with potty training)
• Solves separation anxiety (a dog can be trained to associate its crate with happiness)
• Makes your dog more comfortable being alone
• Makes it easier to manage your dog around guests
• Helps your dog adjust faster and better to overnight stays at the vet
• Helps your dog better handle travel

We started crate training from day one for our two dogs (we recommend that you do the same for your pup).

Let’s focus on just one of our puppies (Doberman).

We started by giving our puppy all its meals in its crate (we let our puppy out as soon as it finished its meals).

We then gradually increased the amount of time our puppy stayed in its crate.

Overall, our job was to make the crate a safe and fun place where our puppy could always relax.

This is why we also gave our puppy its favorite treats (and praise it too) whenever the dog was in its crate.

Important: Never use the crate as punishment!

BASIC OBEDIENCE COMMANDS

Basic commands are the foundation of all the other training.

This is where your puppy training schedule will get really exciting.

It’s best to start teaching your puppy as soon as you bring the dog home.

Puppies learn basic command best at the age of 8-9 weeks.

At this stage (8-10 weeks), we recommend that you focus on:

• Sit
• Come

These 2 commands (sit & come) are the most useful commands that you’ll probably use every day for the rest of your dog’s life.

For our dogs, we introduced these two commands during our dogs’ mealtimes.

Important: You should teach your dog all the basic commands indoors, away from distractions (you’ll start training your dog outside your home at a later stage).

“Come” training steps

• Let your dog smell a piece of food in your hand
• Start taking backward steps away from your doggy
• As you move backwards, start saying “come”, with your hand extended out to lure your dog toward you
• When your dog comes to you, reward it with a praise “good” and the food
• Also say the command “come” when your dog is following your for its food and water bowl.

“Sit” training steps

• Hold a piece of food in your hand
• Arch the hand up over your dog’s nose and past the top if its head… and say “sit”
• When the dog’s butt hits the ground, say “good” and give the good dog food

START SOCIALIZATION

Your dog will need to get along with other dogs – and with other humans (children and adults).

It’s important that you’re present during all interactions, especially at the beginning.

You should start socializing your puppy with your family members and close friends first.

These initial interactions are very important – your doggy will quickly learn to positively associate meeting new people.

LEASH TRAINING

Your puppy will dart in all possible directions on your first leash walks.

But worry not, this will soon change.

We recommend that your puppy wears its collar (or harness) from day one in your home.

Allow your puppy to play and run around with its leash on.

Let your puppy drag the leash, until the dog doesn’t mind it anymore.

When your doggy no longer minds the leash, take your pup on short walks around your house (or in the yard).

If you hold the leash and your pup starts following you, your dog is ready for walks in the neighborhood.

But if your doggy doesn’t follow you, gently pull on the leash or try some basic commands like ‘come’.

Soon, a leash in your hand will mean “walk with me” to your dog.

Important: Never leave the leash on your doggy without supervision. And always remove the leash before your dog enters its crate.

NAME RECOGNITION

Every dog needs to recognize its name as soon as possible.

This is how to speed up the name recognition training.

Say your dog’s name during every interaction – try to get your pup’s attention on you, while saying its name.

We recommend using food for this.

Every time your doggy looks at you (or comes to you), reward it with praise and food.

To help encourage eye contact, bring a piece of your dog’s favorite treat up to your eyes, and reward the dog when it looks at you. This technique worked great for our dogs. Today, our dogs always seek eye contact when in our presence – such a lovely feeling!

BITE INHIBITION

Your puppy will be exploring the new world with its nose, mouth, and… teeth.

Puppies have sharp teeth. Tiny but sharp.

And it really hurts when a puppy bites!

So you want to make sure your dog knows the difference between your hands and the chew toys.

This is how we trained our dogs to stop (accidently) biting us.

• When our puppy bit our hand or feet, we yelped in pain to signal that the bite really hurt you.
• By the way, this is how puppies learn bite inhibition from other dogs – the bitten dog will yelp too.
• If our puppy bit us during playtime, we just left the area. This taught our dog that biting meant no playtime. Our puppy soon got the message.

At this point, you will begin to expand on your pup’s commands, socialization, and impulse control.

BASIC OBEDIENCE COMMANDS

It’s time to introduce more basic obedience commands such as:

• Place
• Down
• Heel

You should work on those commands inside your home.

And don’t forget to use food rewards during the training.

CONTINUE SOCIALIZATION

Continue the socialization training by introducing new people to your puppy.

At this stage, you should also start letting your puppy meet other dogs (calm dogs who are post-vaccinations).

You should also start getting your puppy used to common noises such as traffic, garbage trucks, construction, loud motorcycles, and car honking. Start by playing recordings of such sounds (from YouTube videos).

IMPULSE CONTROL

Yes, it’s time to teach your puppy wait for its food and water bowls.

Do this by commanding your dog to “sit” just before setting down food and water bowls.

After placing the bowls – and once your puppy is calm and sitting – release your dog from sitting with a command “break” (or “okay”).

THRESHOLD TRAINING

The threshold training involves asking your puppy to “sit” at doorways, open doors, crosswalks, and so on – after which the dog will walk through them calmly.

The threshold training will discourage your doggy from lunging and pulling each time it sees an open doorway (or something similar).

At this age, your dog is ready for more complex training routines, using the commands your pup has already learned.

BASIC OBEDIENCE COMMANDS

It’s time to introduce these commands:

• Stay
• Leave it

COMMANDS COMBINATIONS

After teaching your dog “stay” and “leave it”, it’s time to combine basic commands.

This is always such fun!

Our puppies loved (and obeyed) this combination:

Sit > Down > Stay > Come

But make sure to try different combinations too!

PRACTICE “HEEL” OUTDOORS

Until now, you were teaching commands to your dog inside your home.

But it’s time to go outside (though not too far).

So start practicing the “heel” command outdoors.

Do this in your driveway or on a sidewalk in front of your house. This will ease your dog into some of the outside distractions.

Speaking of distractions, one of our puppies (Doberman) needed a higher-value treat (more tasty), because the normal food wasn’t attractive enough to keep our dog focused when outdoors.

CONTINUE SOCIALIZATION

Continue to socialize your dog with other puppies (make sure your puppy received all its vaccinations).

And remember that it’s not the quantity of interactions, but the quality that really matters.

Also, make sure your puppy enjoys the interactions.

Don’t force your dog to interact with other dogs (or people) if your pup doesn’t like them.

And no, it’s not a good idea to let dogs “work it out” among themselves. If an interaction is not working, step in and end the socialization session.

STRUCTURED PLAY SESSIONS

It’s time to introduce structured play sessions, such as fetch and tug.

This will help improve your dog’s reaction to commands such as “drop it”, “come”, and “stay”.

It’s time to go outside, properly!

At this stage, you should start working on your dog’s commands outside your home, including in public spaces.

And don’t forget to continue the socializing training.

OBEDIENCE COMMANDS – OUTDOORS

Continue perfecting all the obedience commands… but move outside your home.

Try to get your puppy to different locations, such as:

• In front of your house
• In the backyard
• In a park

As your dog gets better and better at obeying the commands, start adding the Three Ds of dog training:

• Distance
• Duration
• Distractions

Distance

“Distance” is how far away you are from your pup when it’s performing a given behavior.

The farther away you get from your dog, the less reliable your dog will become at holding the behavior.

When you’re training the “distance”, start small and build slowly.

Duration

“Duration” is the length of time your doggy maintains a given behavior.

Some behaviors don’t have a “duration” element (spinning in a circle, jumping over a bar, etc.).

But for those behaviors that require your dog to hold a position (“sit”, “down”, etc.), the longer your dog has to hold it, the harder the task is for a dog.

Distraction

“Distraction” is all about what’s going on around your dog when it performs a given behavior. This can be a squirrel running across the yard or the sound of a passing-by motorcycle.

Make sure your pup can handle “distance” and “duration” before you start adding distractions.

SOCIALIZATION OUTDOORS

As mentioned earlier, your pup will need to get along with other dogs and humans (children and adults).

It’s important that you’re present during all interactions, especially at the beginning.

And it’s at the beginning (first interactions) that you’ll introduce commands such as bite inhibition (more on this later).

For best results, take your puppy to varied places, so that your dog can interact with more (and different) people and animals.

Your puppy will also need to get used to strange and often loud sounds such as motorcycles.

We also took our puppies for car rides – this helped our puppies experience and get used to many different sounds.

NOISE EXPOSURE

This is similar to the socialization training.

During their first few months, we made sure our puppies were exposed to a wide range of noises and experiences.

This helped our dogs get used to… everyday life.

For this, we took our dogs outside – streets, parks, car rides.

But if you’re stuck at home, you can expose your dog to various noises with the help of YouTube videos or… household items.

When we were stuck at home, we tried almost everything with our puppies – a vacuum, hairdryer, doorbell, ringing phone.

The idea is to expose your puppy to every noise your dog will have to hear sooner or later.

EXTEND YOUR WALKS

Yes, start showing your dog more and more of your neighborhood.

During the walks, continue working on the leash (or harness) training and on the “heel” command.

LIMIT FOOD REWARDS

It’s time to start limiting food rewards for your dog obeying commands.

Give several commands – and only then reward with food.

Also, start rewarding your dog with praise only (rather than food).

At this stage, your dog knows (most likely) all the basic commands.

Your doggy is also getting very good at potty training, crate training, and socialization.

If not, continue the training – you’ll both get there very soon!

REINFORCE ALL COMMANDS

Continue practicing all the commands.

And increase the intensity of the Three Ds of dog training (as discussed earlier):

• Distance
• Duration
• Distractions

Just introduce more distance between you and your dog as you practice the commands (distance).

Also, have your dog hold the commands for longer periods of time (duration).

And practice the commands in places with more distractions (distractions).

For our dogs, we used a long line when practicing commands outdoors. It worked great. We recommend that you do the same.

MAINTAIN STRUCTURE AT HOME

At 6 months, your dog is in an adolescent phase.

This means that your pup can still misbehave if left to its own devices.

This may include potty accidents, nipping, chewing your valuables, and more.

Yes, you may see some regression in your dog’s training during this time.

But worry not, the regression won’t last long.

Just stick to the daily training sessions and your dog will soon behave at its best.

Dog training (advanced)

Here are our advanced dog training tips.

TRAINING FOR VET APPOINTMENTS

Many puppies (and older dogs) have a difficult time during veterinarian visits.

But you can train your dog for vet appointments.

To prepare your dog for vet examinations, pretend to examine your dog’s teeth and ears at home. This will help your pup adapt to other people (vets) touching its ears and teeth.

To prepare our puppies for vet appointments, we also frequently lifted our dogs’ lips when serving treats. Our vet had later easier time when examining our dogs’ mouths.

We also asked our veterinarian to show us how to give pills to a dog. After this, we practiced giving pills to our dogs at home (we used treats for this). By the way, our veterinarian is also a qualified dog trainer.

ALONE TIME

You want to train your puppy to be comfortable spending time alone.

If not trained, your dog may develop separation anxiety when you leave home for work.

We recommend that you practice the “alone time” with your puppy every day.

This is how we did it with our puppies.

We gave our puppies delicious chews and left the dogs to it for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can leave your doggy in a separate room or in a crate for this.

Over time, we increased the “alone time” duration.

HYGIENE TRAINING

This part is similar to training for a visit to your veterinarian.

The goal is to teach your dog let you (and others) access and examine its body parts.

As with training for a vet visit, the trick is to start the training very early.

We recommend that you cover at least:

• Toothbrushing
• Nail clipping
• Brushing & bathing

Start brushing your dog’s teeth very early. Yes, it may become difficult to introduce an older dog to toothbrushing. It helps to set a toothbrushing schedule. We had plenty of success with our puppies just before or after playtime, while excitement was at its peak.

You should also start very early the nail clipping fun. Note that a puppy can react strongly (even aggressively) if you decide to clip its nails without nail clipping training. When preparing our puppies for nail clipping, we started by touching their nails and examining them. We did this for around 3 weeks. We watched very closely how our puppies reacted to our interest in their nails. Once our puppies paid no attention to what was going on with their nails, we started to gently trim their nails. Soon, we were able to clip our puppies’ nails with zero complaints from the dogs.

Start getting used your puppy to brushing and bathing as soon as the dog arrives to your home. If you postpone the brushing and bathing for too long, you’ll have to deal later with an irritated and defiant doggy.

Key takeaway: Start early and slowly.

TRAINING FOR CAR RIDES

Many dogs experience motion sickness.

And some dogs need to get used to a car before they can settle during a car ride.

So yes, don’t wait until you have to drive to a veterinarian, only to realize that your dog can’t tolerate a trip in a car.

This is how we did it for our dogs.

We started by sitting with our dogs in a stationary car – we did three sitting sessions (15 minutes each session).

Next, we did about 20 short trips in the neighborhood (2-3 trips a day).

After that, we did a longer trip and found that our dogs were calm and happy throughout the whole journey.

And yes, our first car trip to a veterinarian was just as easy.

Just don’t forget to use a quality dog seat cover.

PUPPY FEEDING SCHEDULE

A Puppy needs a feeding schedule to get its metabolism in tune with predictable meal times.

A feeding schedule is also the foundation for all the other daily activities and training.

So, how often should you feed your puppy?

It depends on your puppy’s age.

Puppy Age	Meals Per Day
8 – 16 weeks	4 meals per day
16 weeks – 6 months	3 meals per day
6 months and more	2 meals per day

NAPS & BEDTIME SCHEDULE

So, how much should your puppy sleep?

A lot!

Your puppy will need to sleep between 16 and 20 hours a day.

Why so much sleep?

Your puppy needs to sleep so much because it is:

• Growing fast (physically & mentally)
• Taking in tons of information
• Doing everything at a crazy speed, compared to older dogs

When should my puppy sleep?

Your puppy will sleep many times throughout the day.

Here is a typical sleeping schedule for a puppy:

• At night (obviously)
• Mid-morning (after a meal and play)
• After lunch (to digest food)
• After dinner (to digest food)

Why does my puppy need a sleep schedule?

A sleep schedule will ensure your dog is:

• Well-rested and energetic and always keen to learn something new
• Relaxed and not easy to irritate
• Less likely to bite you during training
• Able to process all the new training information

Pro Tip: When your dog is sleeping, you can get some rest too.

Will your puppy need less sleep as it gets older?

Oh yes!

Your puppy will need way less sleep as it gets older.

Should you wake your puppy up for bathroom breaks?

No, there is no need to wake up your puppy during the day – your doggy is resting after all the day’s learning and excitement.

But at night, your puppy will probably wake up for a bathroom break.

We recommend that you set the alarm for around 5:00 am to assist your puppy to a potty spot. This should save you from a fresh wee surprise in the morning.

Dog training tips

Follow these dog training tips for best results.

Basic obedience commands tips

• Start the basic obedience training as soon as possible (a puppy’s prime learning age is before 16 weeks of age, when the dog is the most eager and willing to learn).
• Make the training session short and fun
• Each training session should last between 5 and 10 minutes.
• Dog training should challenge your pup but never overwhelm
• Choose a training area with no distractions, especially at the beginning
• Ensure each training session is full of positive energy, praises, and rewards

Do you really need a training schedule?

Yes!

Puppies thrive when they have a routine – as do new puppy parents.

A routine helps make more sense of the world to a puppy (more predictable).

A routine also helps puppies gain more self-confidence.

A routine will also:

• Speed up the training progress
• Make you more relaxed about the whole dog training project

Best training methods for your dog

Best training methods are based on the Positive Reinforcement Training.

Positive Reinforcement Training uses a reward-based system.

A reward-based training will:

• Encourage the intended good behavior (correct behavior)
• Discourage bad behavior
• Give your dog the required confidence when entering a new situation
• Build your dog’s trust in you
• Help your puppy recognize you as the leader

We recommend the following rewards:

• Treats
• Toys
• Praise

Do we recommend punishments?

Definitely not.

Instead, we recommend positive reinforcement (see above).

Be patient (and consistent)

Yes, it’s easy to become frustrated when training a puppy.

Your puppy may:

• Make mistakes during training sessions
• Forget what it learned
• Get easily distracted
• Become defiant if a training session is too overwhelming

This is all normal!

The trick is to stay patient and consistent with the training – it’ll be totally worth it!

Make your dog work for its meals

Before each meal, give your doggy several commands.

Then reward your clever pup with a piece of the already waiting meal.

Then let your dog have the whole meal.

This technique will ensure your dog will always look forward to a new training session.

What’s the best time to train your puppy?

A great time for dog training is at your puppy’s mealtimes.

Simply make your puppy work for its breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

At what time should you train your puppy?

At the beginning, you’ll need to adjust your personal schedule to find time to train your puppy.

But soon, this will become second nature to you.

And you’ll love every second of it – watching your puppy grow and learn.

Here are the best (and easiest to most puppy owners) training times for your puppy:

• Around 7am (just after your puppy has been out to the bathroom). You can use some of the dog’s breakfast as food rewards.
• After your puppy had its post-breakfast wee
• After your puppy’s mid-morning nap
• Before brunch (around 11am). You can use some of your pup’s food as rewards.
• After your dog’s afternoon nap times
• Before dinner (around 3pm). Use some of your pup’s dinner as food rewards.
• Before supper (around 7pm). Use some of your pup’s supper as food rewards.

Training duration

Keep puppy training sessions short, fun, and motivating.

Also, you may only be able to hold attention of a very young puppy for 5-10 minutes at a time.

Older puppies can stay focused for about 10-15 minutes.

Push, Stick, Drop

This technique will help you to correctly raise the difficulty of each training session.

It’ll also ensure your puppy stays excited and motivated during each training session – rather than bored or overwhelmed.

This is how the push- stick-drop technique works.

It’s really easy.

Do 5 repetitions of a training exercise (for example, the “sit” command).

Note how many your puppy got right.

Based on how your puppy performed, choose one of the following actions:

• Push – go to the next level of difficulty
• Stick – stay at the current level of difficulty
• Drop – come back to the previous level of difficulty

Action	Score out of 5	What to do	Why
Push	5	Make it harder	Your puppy is proficient at the current level – you can push it!
Stick	3 or 4	Do another set of 5 at this difficulty	Your puppy is not quite ready to be pushed
Drop	0, 1, or 2	Make it easier	This level is still too hard for your puppy

Final word

You brought a new puppy home (or older dog).

How exciting!

And now… you have two choices.

Your new pup:

• Will dart like crazy in all directions during walks
• Or will calmy stroll beside you

Or:

• Will do its business on your new carpet, every time
• Or will politely let you know it needs to go to its potty spot

YES, you need a dog training checklist!

This is why this article told you everything you need to know about:

• Dog training checklist (based on your dog’s age)
• Dog training (advanced methods)
• Dog training tips

Our team wishes you and your dog tons of fun during all training sessions!