©2010 Jerry D. Patillo, CPDT-KA
Phoenix Behavior Consulting
Your puppy should learn early on that when you say its name, it means pay attention because something important is going to happen. Your puppy was not born knowing its name. It knows nothing about our language until you teach it what these sounds or words mean. Your dog’s name is just a sound to its ears and nothing more. Several times a day, look at your puppy and say its name. As soon as your puppy looks at you, click! and then treat.* Do something rewarding that your puppy will find really exciting. Make sure you never use your pup’s name in conjunction with something unpleasant, like scolding or a swat on the snout. You want your puppy to love its name. You want it to expect good things when it hears its name.