Puppy Training Made Gentle: A 12-Week Guide That Actually Works

Most puppy training advice is either 50 years out of date or selling you something. This is the 12-week plan I give every new puppy owner — positive, evidence-led, and short enough to actually follow while you're also housetraining at 6am in the rain.

Week 1-2: Name, recall, and the four-on-the-floor rule

Teach the name first: say it, when the puppy looks at you, pay with a piece of kibble. Do it fifty times a day for three days and you have a puppy who checks in with you for life. The 'four-on-the-floor' rule means: attention only when all four paws are on the ground. Jumping up gets ignored; sitting gets a treat. You'll never have to train 'don't jump' again.

Week 3-4: Sit, down, and the marker word

Pick a marker word ('yes!' or a clicker) and charge it: marker, then treat, twenty times. Now the marker means 'that thing you just did is what I'm paying for.' Sit and down follow naturally within a week.

Week 5-8: Recall, leave it, and loose-leash walking

Recall is the life-saving behaviour, so practise it daily in low-distraction environments and reward with a high-value treat. 'Leave it' is the second life-saver — teach it with a covered fist and graduate to food on the floor. A front-clip harness makes loose-leash walking dramatically easier by turning pulling into a pivot, not a fight.

Week 9-12: Proofing and the 80% rule

Take every behaviour on the road: the park, the vet's waiting room, a friend's house. A behaviour that works at home and nowhere else isn't a behaviour yet. Aim for 80% reliability in 80% of environments — perfection is for sport dogs, not pets.

What to avoid

Shock collars, alpha rolls, 'dominance' theory, and any trainer who uses the word 'pack leader'. Modern canine science is settled on this: positive reinforcement is faster, kinder and more durable than coercion.