Training starts from day one because learning does. From the moment she arrives she is working out what her name means, whether people are worth approaching, and which behaviors make good things happen, and short planned lessons simply steer that learning toward the habits you want. None of it looks like school: brief bursts of a minute or two, fitted between meals, naps, and play, with food and games as pay.
The First Five Lessons
Her name comes first: say it once, cheerfully, and treat her when she looks, until the word turns her head like a magnet, and never spoil it by using it for telling her off. Recall beginnings stay indoors and easy, calling her across a room or down a hallway, crouching, celebrating her arrival, and letting her go again, so coming to you always predicts a party and never the end of fun. Sitting for greetings means she earns attention, treats, and the door opening by sitting, while jumping earns a calm turn away, teaching visitors and family the same rule so she is not rewarded for the wrong thing by one soft-hearted person. Settling is taught on her bed with something legal to chew, praised in quiet tones for choosing rest, and handling practice covers paws, ears, collar, and mouth in touches paired with food, so care never arrives as a surprise.
How Tiny Sessions Work
A one-to-two-minute session holds perhaps five or six repetitions, and that is enough, because puppies concentrate in sips and tire into silliness fast. Train when she is awake, slightly hungry, and not bursting for the toilet, ask for one step at a time, and pay the moment she offers it, since a reward delayed by ten seconds pays whatever she did last. End on a success while she is still keen, then play or let her nap, and repeat the game later rather than drilling it now. If a step fails twice, make it easier instead of repeating it louder: closer distance, fewer distractions, better treats. Keep a note of what she cracked today and what confused her, because tomorrow's session should start one step below her best, not at her best, if confidence is to keep compounding.
What Waits, and What Never Waits
Play is not a break from this training; it is half the curriculum. A game of tug with a start, a pause, and a release teaches her that your voice matters even when she is excited, and a chase game where she sometimes catches you builds the habit of checking where you are. Keep toys for greetings and recall practice special by rotating them, so the reward she earns still feels like an event on an ordinary Tuesday. Watch her body during games: a puppy who can stop, breathe, and re-engage calmly is learning control, while a puppy who gets snappier and deaf to her name is over threshold and needs rest, not more repetitions. Sleep after a busy learning day is when much of the wiring sets, so a puppy who crashes hard after visitors has not wasted the afternoon; she has filed it.
Long formal drills, lengthy stays, walking at heel through busy streets, and recall off leash around other dogs all wait until these foundations are solid and your vet is content with her stage for wider adventures. What never waits is consistency: everyone in the house uses the same cue words, the same greeting rule, and the same reward timing, since mixed rules are the most common reason a bright puppy looks stubborn. Classes later can polish these beginnings around other puppies, but the grammar is built at home, in kitchens and hallways, a minute at a time. Household coaching stays aligned because KinsLe keeps a per puppy thread in KinsLe Messenger where cue words, session notes, and questions collect in one place for the whole household.