Fluffy black Pomeranian sitting in a wire crate — If you look at any puppy training program, you’ll see that most of them have a list of behaviors your puppy will learn, like sit, down, come, and stay.
Your puppy already knows how to do all of these behaviors, though, so why do we need to “teach” them?
The answer is that we don’t. Not if you, the puppy’s person, have some grasp on how your puppy learns.

*Boo sits in a crate watching me because I toss a treat in there whenever he goes in and now he’s convinced that sitting in the crate is the absolute best place to sit.*

How Puppies Learn

You see, puppies learn through the consequences of their behaviors, just like all animals do. If they do a thing and something good happens for them, they are likely to do that thing again. If they do a thing and something bad happens to them, they are less likely to do that thing again.

The problem, and the reason so many people struggle to train their puppies, is that we’re a reactive bunch. We don’t usually notice all of our puppies' desirable behaviors; we only notice and react to their undesirable behaviors.

Puppies quickly learn that undesirable behaviors are the best behaviors because they get the puppy what it wants and needs: a connection with you.

Paying Attention to Behaviors You Want

The reality is that you could almost completely train your puppy just by making a big deal about the desirable behaviors they offer and preventing or managing the rest. For example, if you chase your puppy, screaming at them to “Drop it!” when they steal your sock, but completely ignore them when they grab a toy, which do you think your puppy is going to “steal” more often?

Unfortunately, for us, this is far more difficult than it sounds simply because we are wired to respond to things we don’t like and often fail to notice or respond to the things that we do. This is why things like jumping are so difficult to stop. We spend a lot of time reinforcing that behavior by telling our puppies “Off” or “Down” and pushing them off of us instead of preventing them from jumping in the first place and fussing over them when their feet are all on the floor.

The cool thing about noticing and responding to your puppy’s desirable behaviors is that the more you respond to those behaviors, the more your puppy will do them, which means they’ll have less time and opportunity to get into trouble and do the things you don’t want.

Putting It Into Practice

Try this out for yourself at home! Start with something simple, like Sit or Down. Whenever you see your puppy do either of these behaviors, praise them, give them a little treat, or invite them to engage with you for cuddles or play. Do this every time they offer a sit or down and see how much more frequently they offer these behaviors each day.