Why it matters: Markers are your communication system with your puppy. A young puppy has no idea which specific thing they just did earned them a treat, so a marker bridges that gap by pinpointing the exact moment — it's the difference between your puppy guessing and your puppy actually learning.

I teach three food markers early on, each with a different job.

First, it's important to understand the difference between praise and a marker.

We naturally say things like “good boy!” or “good dog!” all the time. That's praise — and unless you've deliberately taught those words to have a specific meaning, they aren't a marker.

A marker is much more precise. It tells your puppy “the exact thing you were doing at that moment was correct”.

You can absolutely train a dog using a single food reward marker, but I prefer to establish three because they allow me to give my puppy much clearer information from the beginning:

"Yes" — take the food from my hand

• Present some food in your open hand, say "yes," then let them take it.
• For a lower-drive or nervous puppy, add a little movement with your hand as you present it — a bit of a wobble or wiggle and moving it away from your dog helps activate prey drive.

"Chip" — chase a tossed treat

• Say the word, then toss a piece of food out in front of them.
• Start with bigger, easy-to-see pieces of food. A lot of young puppies aren't great at tracking fast movement yet, so a treat that visibly rolls and stops is far easier for them to find and chase than a small piece flicked quickly.

"Good" — keep doing exactly what you're doing; I'll bring you your treat

• With your puppy standing or sitting calmly in front of you, say "good" and deliver a treat while to them where they are, then repeat.
• It doesn't matter exactly what they're doing, as long as it's calm and it's not a behaviour you dislike. If you've got a jumpy puppy, set your criteria as four paws on the floor and reward heavily every time they offer it.
• Pro tip: this skill is sometimes made easier by having a defined boundary that the dog is on, rather than it being about the position they're in (i.e. stand or sit). Use a small mat or towel on the ground in front of you so when your dog comes over because you've got treats, they naturally end up on the mat. You can then reset by saying "chip" and tossing a treat away.

Practice these as their own tiny games, 30 to 60 seconds at a time. You can teach them one at a time across a few sessions, or mix a couple into the same short session — puppies pick this up fast because there's no pressure involved; you're simply pairing a sound with something good, over and over.

Why consistency matters

Use the same word and the same tone every single time if you can. Puppies learn the sound as a whole package, so if "yes" is sometimes upbeat and sometimes flat, or you swap between "yes" and "yeah" interchangeably, it takes them longer to lock it in. Pick your words early, keep them short and predictable.

Why it matters: Luring lets you guide your puppy's body into a position before they understand any verbal cue at all. It skips the confusion of trying to explain a word they don't know yet, and instead lets them physically discover the behaviour that earns reinforcement — which makes teaching sits, downs, spins, heeling, and more feel almost effortless, especially once it's paired with your markers.

Luring is genuinely a skill in itself, and not every dog knows how to follow a lure well straight away — so don't be discouraged if your puppy is too pushy, loses the treat, or gets distracted the first few tries.

How to start

• Hold your treat flat against your palm, like a paddle, and place it right on your puppy's nose so there's no question where the food is.
• Slowly drag the treat forward, or wherever you want their body to move. The instant they follow it, mark with "yes" and release the food to them.
• Repeat this a handful of times. Most puppies figure out the concept of "follow the hand" within just a few short repetitions or sessions.
  

Progressing to positions

• Once your puppy is confidently tracking the lure, start shaping lured downs, sits, and spins.
• I personally like to teach a fold-back down before I teach sit — it's better for muscle engagement and tends to produce a straighter, more stable down long-term.
• Puppies tend to offer sits very easily (as they are often small and will plonk into a sit to look up at you). If you heavily prioritise the sit first, they can start defaulting to it every time before they lie down. This can turn your down into a sit → down behavioural chain. I want the down to be its own distinct behaviour from the beginning, so I establish that movement first before putting moving onto the sit.
• Resist the urge to add a verbal cue at this stage. You're only building the physical behaviour right now — save naming it with a word until the movement is happening smoothly and reliably on the lure alone.

Why it matters: A brand-new puppy almost certainly doesn't reliably know their own name yet, so this is where you build both name recognition and the very first layer of a recall.

Building name recognition

• In a small, open, low-distraction space, say your puppy's name once in a warm, consistent tone.
• The moment they turn to look at you, mark with "yes" and reward.
• Move or run backwards as you reward — this encourages drive toward you.

Layering in the beginnings of recall

• As name recognition gets stronger, start rewarding bigger movement toward you, not just a glance — a step, then a few steps, then a full run over.
• Food doesn't have to be the only currency here. Pay attention to what your individual puppy finds motivating: if they love coming back and engaging in roughhousing with you, use that; if they're wild for a particular toy (check out our range of foam toys here), use that instead.

Keep every single recall in these early weeks ridiculously easy and ridiculously rewarding — short distance, low distraction, and a genuinely great outcome every time they arrive. You want to build up a huge reinforcement history before real-world distance and distractions become part of the picture.

"There is clinical evidence suggesting that dogs that receive insufficient exposure to social and non-social stimuli during the sensitive period are more likely to develop fear responses to novel stimuli as adults" – Appleby, 1993

Why it matters: Puppies go through a critical and sensitive developmental period roughly between 3 and 14 weeks of age, where their brain is unusually open to learning what is normal and safe versus what is scary. Positive, calm exposure during this window has a genuinely outsized effect on how confident and adaptable your dog will be for the rest of their life — far more than the same exposure would have even a few months later.

What to expose them to

• Everyday household things they'll encounter constantly — umbrellas opening, the vacuum running, the washing machine, loud kitchen appliances, knocks on the door, kids screaming at the park, dropping things on the floor, etc.
• A variety of surfaces and textures underfoot — tile, grass, gravel, metal grates, wobbly or unstable surfaces.
• Safe, calm, positive introductions to new people of different ages and appearances, and to other vaccinated, appropriate dogs.

How to do it well

• Prioritise quality over quantity. A handful of calm, positive experiences throughout the week will do far more good than a single, huge, overwhelming day out.
• Let your puppy choose to approach new things on their own terms rather than forcing them close. If they hang back or show fear, pair the scary thing with treats from a distance and begin to slowly reinforce their curiosity or engagement with the stimuli.
• Watch their body language. A puppy that's sniffing, loose, curious, and able to eat or play around the stimuli is coping well. A puppy that's frozen, tucking their tail, or trying to leave needs more distance and a slower pace, not more exposure.

Why it matters: Getting your puppy genuinely comfortable being touched everywhere now means grooming, vet visits, nail trims and everyday care are a non-event later, rather than something you or a professional has to wrestle them through for the rest of their life.

How to build it

• Practice touching your puppy in different spots — legs, paws (including between the toes), ears, tail, and the lips and teeth area — while or prior to giving them reinforcement to desensitise them to and build a positive association with handling.
• Start with the areas your puppy is already fairly relaxed about, and only build toward the more sensitive spots (paws and mouth, usually) once the easier ones are going smoothly.
• Keep every session short and finish before your puppy gets wriggly or uncomfortable — you want to end on a good note, not have them tolerate it until it's over.

Turning it into real-world prep

• Practice the actual motions of nail trims, ear checks, and brushing, not just general touch, so the real version isn't a surprise.
• Get them comfortable being gently restrained (body hold or collar hold) for a few seconds at a time, the way a vet might need to hold them for an exam.

Why it matters: Crate training isn't just about giving your puppy somewhere to sleep — done well, it's one of the most useful skills you'll set up in those first few weeks. It solves housetraining, prevents destructive chewing, gives you a way to manage conflict between pets in a multi-dog household, and reduces attention-seeking behaviour, all from the same piece of equipment.

Setting it up

• Set up a playpen or a small, contained area for your puppy to hang out in, with a cosy crate placed inside it, as well as some activities/toys and a potty area.
  
• Only start placing your dog in the crate at sleep times to begin with. Wait for your puppy to show natural signs of sleepiness (after their needs are met) before putting them in — you want the crate's first association to be "this is when I rest," not "this is confinement."
  

Building the association

• Provide high-value, relaxing activities — like enrichment meals, chews, licks — inside the crate, with the door staying open initially.
  
• Eventually, start closing the door for short periods while they're actively sleeping or eating a meal or working on a chew, then opening it again before they wake up or finish and get restless.
  
• Once solid, build up crate time by crating your puppy nearby while you do something unstimulating yourself.

What to watch for

• Settling, sighing, chewing calmly, or falling asleep are all signs your puppy is genuinely comfortable and relaxed.
• Whining that escalates, scratching at the door, or panicked barking means you've built up duration faster than they're ready for — go back a step to a shorter time or door open again, and rebuild more slowly.

Why it matters: Teaching your puppy to wait calmly at doors, gates and other thresholds builds impulse control early, and stops door-dashing — genuinely one of the more dangerous habits a dog can develop — from ever becoming the default.

How to build it

• Approach a doorway with your puppy on lead and simply wait. Don't reach for the handle until they offer a calm stand or sit.
• Mark and reward that calm moment, then start to open the door, and only release them through it on your "OK" cue.
• Practice this at every doorway, gate, and car door you use regularly. Thresholds show up constantly in daily life, so the more contexts you practice in, the faster this generalises.
• Build duration slowly — a one-second pause before release is a perfectly good start. Only ask for longer waits once the shorter ones are easy and automatic.
• If your dog breaks, simple block them from continuing with the leash, close the door, and wait for them to return to calm waiting before trying again.

Why it matters: A solid "place" cue gives your puppy a designated spot to go to and/or settle on cue, which can become a genuinely invaluable for calm behaviour during meals, when guests arrive, or any time you need them relaxed and out from underfoot.

How to build it

• Choose a mat, bed, or raised platform as their designated "place". It's even better if you have a consistent location in the home so its super clear to your puppy where place is.
• Lure your puppy onto it and mark and reward the instant all four paws land on the mat. Feed in place with "good" a few times, before releasing and rewarding off the mat with "yes" or "chip".
• Gradually build duration before you release them and space out your reinforcement. You want to make sure you're specifically rewarding calm settling on the mat, not just standing on it waiting to leave. If they start to look "spring-loaded" on their place, you might want to release them off with "OK" instead, which is a neutral releaser with no food delivery.
• A release word is necessary so your puppy learns place isn't forever, just until you say otherwise — this makes the skill far less stressful to hold for longer periods, and more reliable.
• Practice in low-distraction environments first — a quiet room, no visitors — before building up to using it during dinner, when guests arrive, or other busier moments at home.
  
• Give your puppy something to do on the mat, like a chew or a stuffed toy, especially in the early stages — this makes staying there naturally rewarding rather than something they have to be told to do.