Most dog owners like the idea of enjoying the best of both worlds with their pup: fun and silly play time balanced out with calmer more relaxed time together. Can you have it all in puppyhood? You certainly can if you can teach your pooch the value of staying still.
A young canine that can't be swayed from playing with its puppy toys or running around your home like a madman will require some training. Thankfully, this doesn't mean you need to right away find a trainer near you or devote all your free time to disciplining your dog.
Hillary Ratcliff Pini, Owner & Trainer at Good Wellesley Dogs, has shared on the Good Wellesley Dog Training Instagram page a stupidly easy hack for calming a puppy down and encouraging them to focus their attention on you. You can watch her demonstrate this below...
Pini wrote in the caption of her video, "Here’s a simple daily drill that anyone can and should do!". If you took a moment to watch the video you will have seen for yourself just how easy this training solution is to try at home.
All you need to do is put a leash on your puppy and be a 'human tether'. A leash isn't just for outdoor use so don't feel silly clipping your pup into one at home when it's for training purposes.
Next, "Act like a fence post, don't move, just use the leash and draw the puppy back into you," explains Pino, "Have patience. You'll be amazed at the result when you limit your puppy's space and simply don't let them go everywhere."
At the end of the video you can see a nice and calm puppy sitting at Pino's feet and Pino says any puppy owner can experience this too. Her Instagram followers clearly agreed with the simplicity of this training method, sharing praise in the comments section of the post. One commented, "So so overlooked, 90% of the work is taught in the home with little basic things just like this," and another said, "Perfect example of rewarding STATE OF MIND".
While this leash training hack might not be the answer to all your puppy training hurdles it's a starting point for showing your new dog who's in charge. Stick around if you'd like to read more helpful advice like, how to teach a puppy to sit.
