Training a dog can be a rewarding experience for both you and your dog. If you are using positive reinforcement-based methods, puppies can begin learning simple cues such as “Sit” and “Down” as soon as they can eat solid foods. However, basic obedience training is just the beginning. Dogs of all ages can learn new tricks and behaviors. That saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, couldn’t be more wrong. The bond between you and your dog will only grow stronger as you continue to train together over the course of your lives together.

Building confidence in our dogs is overlooked. We believe that all dogs will be friendly, sociable, and happy-go-lucky. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Dogs of this nature are hard to come by these days. The odds are usually stack against us when we first get our puppy.

In today's world, we are used to instant gratification. We can have items shipped to us from across the world in mere days, we can download a new game in less than an hour, and we can have a fully cooked meal given to us through a drive-thru window within minutes.

However, there is nothing like living with an animal (especially a young animal) to teach you patience.

One of the most common questions I get as a professional dog trainer from students with puppies is about aggression and biting. We unfortunately have even had people email us inquiring about signing up for classes to have them reply back that they rehomed the puppy before class even started because the puppy was "aggressive".

True aggression in puppies is extremely rare. I have only seen one to two cases of true aggression in a puppy under four months of age in all my years of working with dogs.

So, what are puppy owners actually seeing then?

Puppies. They aren't for the faint of heart. Here at Faithfully Yours Dog Training, we get calls about "puppy problems" every day and it has come to our attention that people are usually calling about the same issues. The struggles of a puppy owner are real. Puppies will destroy your clothing and carpet in no-time flat. So, what is an new puppy owner to do? Here are our solutions for the three biggest puppy training issues we get calls about.

We are happy to announce that last night we were featured in a segment on therapy dog training (not to be confused with service dog training), on WLBT and FOX40. A news reporter got to see a day-and-a-life as a dog trainer, as we trained a Labradoodle puppy named Merlin and went with Faithfully Yours graduate, Misty the Therapy Dog's owner, Gloria Thompson to volunteer at a nursing home in Madison...