I believe the best way to train is to not let bad habits develop, to reward good habits, and to set limits. Okay, so what does that mean?
Well, if I were starting with a little puppy, say 8 weeks old, I would treat it very much like a baby that is just beginning to crawl. It would always be with me or it would be in some kind of confinement (play pen) so it didn’t hurt itself and didn’t learn bad habits like chewing the furniture. If the puppy was able to chew on the furniture, it could think furniture is ‘oh so tasty, I think I’ll do it again’. When the puppy is with me, I would reward, reward, reward the behaviors that I like. As an example, if it were lying down or sitting next to me (rather than jumping on me), I would might it a little, tiny treat or verbally praise. Puppies up to 3 months old are learning a lot through trial and error. If their behavior experiment rewards them, they are likely to do it again. If their experiment isn’t rewarding, they are not as likely to do it again. However, once a pup/dog has gotten some bad habits (bad habits develop through repeatedly rewarded inappropriate behaviors – see furn
