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Puppies For Dummies Cheat Sheet

By: 
Sarah Hodgson
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Updated:  
2025-06-02 19:43:52
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From The Book:  
Puppies For Dummies
Puppies For Dummies
Puppies For Dummies, 5th Edition
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Bringing a puppy into your life is exciting, but it’s also a big responsibility. Your job is to keep them safe, build their confidence, and help them navigate the world with ease. Puppies aren’t born knowing how to live alongside you, but they’re eager to learn. With clear guidance and positive reinforcement, they’ll grow into well-adjusted companions that others enjoy as much as you do.

Assigning words to actions

Think of training your puppy, like teaching English as a second language. It’s about assigning words to actions — labeling what they’re already doing, like “Come,” “Stay,” or “Place,” so they connect the word with the behavior. To get started, pair each cue with its corresponding direction and use it consistently. Reinforce with treats and attention and start early — young puppies are especially receptive to learning. Here are a few essential cues to introduce:

puppy-training
Source: ©Shutterstock/Art Studio
Jack Russell Terrier puppy in training.
  • Follow: This command says, “I’m the leader, so follow me!” Say it whenever you’re leading your puppy on leash.
  • Sit: This direction is the human equivalent of “Say please.” Direct your puppy to sit before giving anything positive, from meals and treats to toys, or when greeting strangers or friends.
  • Down: Directing “Down” helps your puppy calm down whenever you’re going to be stationary for a while.
  • Stay: This direction instills good impulse control. Direct your puppy to stay whenever you want them to be still.
  • Wait: Use this direction for sudden stops or at curbs. It says, “Stop and focus on me before proceeding.”
  • No: This direction is the human equivalent of “That’s a bad idea” instead of “You’re bad.” Use it if you catch your puppy thinking about misbehaving.
  • Everyday instructions: Assign a command to everyday actions, like going upstairs, going outside, coming inside, getting in the car, and so on.

Sample house-training schedule for puppies

This house-training schedule is based on the needs of a healthy 4-month-old puppy. Vary the schedule according to your schedule and the age needs of your pup. If you can’t take care of all your pup’s needs due to your work schedule or other conflicts, consider hiring a helper.

Period of Day/Time Action
Wake up (7 a.m.) Go to potty area (outside or papers) immediately and only for a
potty break.
Breakfast (7:30 a.m.) Fill the bowl and encourage your puppy to sit before placing it down.
Morning walk (8 a.m.) Play after breakfast and/or take a walk.
Late-morning walk (11 a.m.) Play, potty, and/or take a walk.
Lunch (11:15 a.m.) Young puppies must eat and then go to their potty area. Fill the bowl and encourage your puppy to sit before placing it down.
After-lunch outing (11:45 a.m.) Potty break.
Midafternoon walk (2:30 p.m.) Play, potty, and/or take a walk.
Pre-dinner outing Potty break.
Dinnertime (4:30 p.m.) Fill the bowl and encourage your puppy to sit before placing it down.
After-dinner outing (5 p.m.) Play, potty, and/or take a walk.
Evening (7:30 p.m.) Remove water.
Late evening (8:30 p.m.) Potty break.
Before bed (11 p.m.) Potty break.
Middle of the night Potty break if necessary.

Talking the talk

After you’re an official puppy parent, your eyes and ears will perk up to any nearby conversation, article, tip, or controversy about dogs. Sometimes, you'll hear unfamiliar terms — every field has its own jargon. To get you up to speed, here are some definitions of common terms used by dog professionals and dog lovers alike (for more examples or videos of these terms in action, visit my site, SarahHodgson.com:

  • Block: Blocking breaks the eye contact between your puppy and a distraction, be it a muffin on the counter or another dog. Place an object or your body in your puppy's line of vision to calm any reaction.
  • Condition: The idea here is to create an association between what's going on in the environment and your puppy’s reaction to it. Ideally, you’ll condition your puppy to stimulations they’ll experience throughout their life. Sometimes, your puppy will condition involuntarily (known as classical conditioning), as in their response to the sound of a treat or food bag, and at other times, you can condition voluntary responses, like teaching your puppy to sit when they see you holding a toy or food reward. Though you can use conditioning to establish chosen habits, like sitting instead of jumping, your puppy can also condition bad habits just as quickly.
  • Counter-condition: Dogs can be taught new behaviors and routines to counter another habit, like lying down or returning to your side when they see another dog on a leash or sitting or fetching a toy when they hear a doorbell.
  • Desensitize: Desensitization involves gradually exposing your puppy to stimulations, like a noise or another pet, that otherwise bring about a strong startle response until they’ve conditioned to its presence without reaction.
  • Extinguish: This references a way to bring an end to behavior by simply ignoring it. When a puppy barks for attention, you can ignore them until the behavior is extinguished.
  • Habituate: This term refers to the gradual exposure to a former overstimulating situation until your puppy can redirect or cope with the situation more calmly. A good example is a puppy that is reactive to vacuums and is gradually habituated to them.
  • Mimic: Recent studies show that dogs, like people and primates, are capable of mimicking both emotions and behaviors. You can use this copycat behavior to encourage calmness in your puppy during moments of excitement or to foster cheerfulness when they’re cautious around a new dog or person. Petting another dog in front of your puppy can also help signal that the other dog is trustworthy. Mimicking can also be used to teach your puppy the meaning of new words, like “Upstairs” or “Outside.”
  • Plan proactively: The real difference between a trainer and a person who needs to hire a trainer is that trainers are proactive planners who understand behavior problems without needing to see them in action. Proactive training involves teaching your puppy what to do rather than waiting until your puppy is misbehaving to call attention to the wrong behavior.
  • Punishment: Anything that discourages a behavior is known as a punishment. Positive punishment adds something that your puppy will want to avoid, like a shock or a shove (although most positive punishments scare your puppy and result in other undesirable behavior, like chewing self-mutilation or avoidance). Negative punishment removes something when an action happens, like lifting a treat out of reach when your puppy jumps.
  • Redirect: Redirection involves changing your puppy’s focus from one activity to another activity. By associating words such as their name and phrases like Go Get Your Toy or Can’t Catch Me with a fun activity, you can redirect your puppy when they’re feeling cautious, defensive, or excited, for example, when greeting or chasing.
  • Reactive responses: Reactive responses happen in response to bad behavior. Many people (including many ineffective trainers) wait until bad behavior occurs to direct or interfere with a puppy’s behavior. Instead of resulting in understanding, reactive responses create a negative behavior loop that strains the relationship between puppy and parent and leads to other annoying rituals like pacing, barking, and self-mutilation.

    Avoid anyone who tells you to use battery-operated collars that deliver shocks as a training strategy for your dog — and remember that these collars are illegal in many European countries.

  • Reinforce: Anything that encourages a behavior to occur is considered to be reinforcing the behavior. Certain positive reinforcements provide something rewarding to your puppy, like a reward for sitting for treats and toys — ensuring that they’ll repeat the response. On the other hand, negative reinforcements remove a positive aspect, such as covering your face each time your puppy jumps or paws for attention. (Puppies crave face-to-face contact and will adjust their behavior if it’s denied them.)
  • Socialization: This is the process of safely and supportively exposing your puppy to the various sights, sounds, and experiences they’ll encounter throughout their life. Puppies have a critical socialization window between 3 and 14 weeks of age, during which new sensory experiences are more easily wired in as normal. Beyond this window, dogs tend to be more wary of new experiences. A puppy who isn’t well-socialized may develop strong, often paralyzing reactions to unfamiliar things.
  • Trigger: Anything that causes a strong reaction in your puppy is commonly called a trigger. Any given sound, sight, or situation that causes a startle reflex will result in one of three responses: extreme fear, hyperreactivity, or defensiveness. Keep track of what triggers your puppy, and work to socialize them to the situation until they’re more comfortable with it.

Cross-training: going inside and outside to potty

You may wonder whether you can cross-train: Have your puppy pee inside when the paper is present but go outside when it’s not. This scenario is ideal for people who travel with their dogs, who may be out during normally scheduled potty runs, or who live in areas with extreme weather patterns. (House-training a husky in the middle of winter may not present problems, but getting your teacup Chihuahua to piddle in subzero temps may not happen.)

This cross-training option is slightly more challenging for your pup to comprehend, but any routine can be learned as long as you’re consistent. Just be clear about your expectations — that they potty on paper when you’re out of the house or during inclement weather and outside at all other times. Here are some suggestions for cross-training:

  • Establish a routine for going outside when you’re home.During rainstorms or other inclement weather, take your puppy to their indoor potty area first thing in the morning. Pre-plan by placing papers or a pad in the designated area ahead of time.
  • When you’re not home,secure your puppy in a small room or playpen with papers or pads. Upon returning, calmly remove the soiled pads, clean the area in your puppy's presence to reinforce proper potty behavior, and then return to your usual routine. Keep your puppy confined near you if they attempt to wander off and potty elsewhere in the house.
  • During inclement weather,place the papers in a distant part of your home. The preferred areas are the garage, mudroom, hallway, or near the exit door. As you approach the area, call out “Papers!” and lay them down to help your puppy associate the command with the action.

Conditioning paw-friendly handling

Not everyone is cut out to clip their puppy’s nails; it’s a tender operation that can get more difficult after one painful experience. The majority of touch neurons are located on the bottom of your dog’s feet. This helps them sense their surroundings and improves their footing. However, it also helps them avoid clippers. To avoid having a clipper-phobic dog, make paw handling a part of every positive interaction, from petting to treating, by following these steps:

  1. Just handle your puppy’s paws — nothing fancy. Throughout the day, touch and handle your puppy’s paws. Say “Good puppy!” and then reward your puppy each time you’ve successfully held their paw for more than 1 second. Have as much hands-on-paw contact as possible for a week or two. Perform no clipping at this step.
  2. Swipe peanut butter, canned food, or another spreadable treat on a licky mat or the refrigerator at your dog’s eye level. As they lick, rub their paws with the clippers. Don’t cut the nails just yet. Open and shut the clippers to acquaint them with the sound.
  3. Gradually manipulate your puppy’s paw to get them acquainted with having their paw held against their will for more than 3 seconds. To do this, determine the best pose for you to clip your puppy’s nails. Will you have them stand with their paw on your knee, or do you want them sitting while you hold their paw gently in one hand and clip with the other? I tell my clients to face in the same direction as their puppy, rather than facing them, as many puppies view that pose as threatening.
  4. Practice this pose with your puppy — as if you were about to clip, but don’t do it just yet. Sit, hold their paw as you would for clipping, and after two seconds, let go and reward them. Gradually increase the time, always rewarding them with a high-value treat after they have cooperated with the exercise. If your puppy holds nicely still for up to 4 seconds but starts to squirm after 6 seconds, don’t reward the squirming. Dial it back to where your puppy was successful and reward that stage. Gradually — very gradually — inch back up to 6 seconds, even if you have to increase the hold one millisecond at a time!
  5. After your puppy sits still while you handle their paws for up to 10 seconds, try one cut — just one — by placing the edge of the clippers over the top of the nail and quickly squeezing the handle. Clear nails are easier to cut as you can literally see where the pink quick of the tip begins. If your puppy has dark nails, you need to take extra precautions. You can ask your veterinarian or groomer to give you a lesson.

Reward any cooperation and progress. If your puppy resists or squirms, slow down. Consider alternatives like filing their nails if clipping feels overwhelming. Taking your time now will save you from the stress of managing a fearful, clipper-averse dog later. If your dog still stresses over getting their nails done, consider playing the Operation Cooperation game to create a positive association with the process.

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About This Article

This article is from the book: 

Puppies For Dummies

About the book author:

Sarah Hodgson is a dog trainer, pet behavior expert, influencer, and the author of over a dozen best-selling books, including Puppies for Dummies, 4th Edition, and Dog Tricks and Agility for Dummies, 2nd edition. With over 40 years of professional experience, her compassionate, force-free philosophy has empowered pets and their people worldwide.

This article can be found in the category: 

General Dogs