How Long Can It Take A Puppy To Learn Its Name?
When you bring a new puppy home, it’s one of the first things you’ll want to teach them. Luckily, these intelligent animals usually learn their name fairly quickly. In fact, your little dog may start recognizing its own name in just a few days. Some can catch up with this within one to three days. However, each pet learns at its own pace so if yours doesn’t understand when called don’t be too hard on yourself.
Why Is It Important?
To begin with, your puppy’s name will be how it is recognized for the rest of its life and what it listens out for when you call it. Moreover, a name serves as an initiation point for teaching basic or advanced skills and tricks. Imagine having a dog that does not respond to his/her own name; especially when you need them back at you! Teaching your puppy their name is key to a happy relationship together and generally one of the first few things we train them on.
How to Teach Your Puppy Its Name
Firstly there needs to be positive association between your dog’s name and something good happening. For most dogs food is always a good reward because they are very motivated by it. Start by calling your pup to come frequently by standing in front of her or him with some treats then clearly saying his or her name “Stetson” say “OK” then give her/him the treat that was cooked last night which he/she has been crying over all day long. Lastly repeat this again after about 60 seconds before doing this another two times at different hours throughout today whereby every time will make sure she/he runs towards me upon my utterance of his/her tag.
A clicker might be another tool to consider using alongside treats during dog training sessions too! When your pooch is not looking at you speak up his or her name and give him a give him a treat after he turns to look at you. Keep the positive reinforcement going and don’t give up.
If your puppy won’t budge, it could be that it’s easily distracted by things in its environment. It may also be necessary to change the type of treats you use if they do not seem interested in working for them. In due course, you might want to try intermittent treating but remember to always praise your dog verbally. Stick with consistency as part of your program. Be ready to continually practice and repeat one particular action if you want to reinforce it.
What Should I Do When My Puppy Ignores Its Name?
Sometimes dogs know their names already but they just choose not to respond because there’s no incentive. Therefore, if your pup knows what its name is yet refuses even when shouted on, don’t be too surprised as this can happen sometimes since the animal doesn’t care enough to acknowledge or respond towards it. At such times continue training by giving them food rewards like delicious treats and verbal praises among others
HOW TO MAINTAIN POSITIVE ASSOCIATIONS
The name of your dog should be avoided as much as possible from carrying a negative association. For example, in case it misbehaves you can physically stop it saying its name. This is because you do not want your puppy’s mind to associate its own name with something unpleasant.
BOTTOM LINE
Remember that one cannot teach their puppies many things at once. This is because they learn at their pace; therefore, they should be patient. It can take time to train even the simplest thing like knowing how to call them by their names.in addition dogs have short attention span so training sessions must be kept brief. Within few days, you will begin seeing progress provided it done the right way. However, if you find that getting only the basic skills like getting your dog familiar with its identification is difficult, just hire a professional dog trainer for help and guidance on this process. Teaching your puppy how to respond when called by his/her name is an important first step towards having a happy and trained companion.