Dog obedience training helps your dog learn his role in your family and in the world. It will teach him the skills he needs to interact with other dogs and with the people inside and outside your home. Puppy training is the first step to teaching healthy behaviours and avoiding negative ones

You should start dog obedience training as soon as you get your dog. Young puppies have short attention spans but you can expect them to begin to learn simple cues such as “sit,” “down,” and “stay,” as young as 7 to 8 weeks of age.  Puppy training should alway be set up so that your dog has fun, everything should be about learning new experiences in a positive way.

Whatever your dog's age or breed, if he doesn't have good manners you should think about enrolling him in a dog training class.

It's never too late to train a dog. Whether you are bringing home an older dog from a shelter (or rescue), or you'd like to work with your own older dog, there's no reason to delay doing some training with an older dog. 

Recall or “come back” is one of the hardest things to teach a dog along with loose lead walking. This is because it takes consistency, time and patience on the part of the handler.  Both of these dog behaviours cannot be learnt overnight. 

Signs You and Your Dog Needs Obedience Training

1. Doesn't listen to you.

2. Doesn't understand you.

3. Doesn't Know Basic Cues. 

4. Jumping up.

5. Pulling on the lead. 

6. Won't come back when called.

Dog training involves you and your dog.  Both of you need to get involved.   Training is a great way to establish a life long bond with your dog and build trust.  Sending your dog away to be trained means you will miss out on that.  Also, the dog training industry is an unregulated industry so before embarking on this type of training, do your homework and see if the training offered aligns with your values. Some  training methods can be emotionally harmful for your dog and the damage done can last a lifetime.  

Two weeks is just barely enough time for a dog to adjust to the new routine and start understanding the cues.   They are just becoming ready to practice their learned skill set in various environments (such as dog parks and around town).  Foundation level dog training classes run from 5 to 8 weeks.  You should be able to learn how to train your dog in this time but it is then up to you to keep up and build on that training with your dog.  

For pet dogs, training once or twice a day, a couple of days a week in 5-15 minute training intervals is probably more than enough to achieve good results. If you take your dog to one hour training classes, make sure you give the dog several breaks during the class.