Episode #218 Reward Their Existence: The Overlooked Secret to Puppy Training

Many people focus on behaviors like sit and stay, but one of the most valuable training techniques is rewarding your puppy simply for existing in a calm, positive way. In this episode, we explore how proactive reinforcement helps build confidence, strengthen engagement, and encourage good choices. By creating positive associations with new experiences and environments, you set the foundation for a well-mannered, happy companion. Tune in to learn how small, everyday rewards can shape a lifetime of good behavior!

Chapters

• 0:00 The Overlooked Puppy Development Step
• 0:38 Rewarding Puppies for Simply Existing
• 1:51 Creating Positive Associations With New Experiences
• 3:18 The Greeting Game: Toss and Return
• 5:04 Building Up to Successful Leash Walking
• 6:52 Foundation for Confident, Engaged Dogs
• 8:01 Episode Wrap Up and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

When you first bring home a new puppy, there's an important step I want you to take. It's often overlooked, sometimes we don't think about it, but it's really important to your puppy's development. Today we're talking all about it. Welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm Amy Jensen, founder of Baxter Bella, the online puppy school. Here we are all about helping you create the best possible experience raising a puppy, from training tips to practical tricks, all aimed at fostering a happy, well-behaved dog who truly feels like part of the family. So if you are ready to enjoy the journey and strengthen the bond with your dog, let's get started. Hi you guys, welcome to the Puppy Training Podcast. I'm Amy Jensen. I'm glad that you're here.

Speaker 1: 0:48

Today. We are talking about a really simple thing that we can do to help our puppies see the world as a positive place, and good news is it's not hard. So many people focus on teaching the obedience cues like sit, stay, come, all of those basic behaviors, and those are really, really great, and we teach you how to do that and we help you teach your dog a whole lot more as well. But while these skills are important, one of the most valuable things we can do in the early stages of having our dog at home with us is to reward them simply for existing, and we want to do this in a calm, positive way. This form of positive reinforcement builds confidence in our dogs. It creates positive associations with people they see and environments that they're in, and it sets a foundation for a well-mannered, engaged companion dog. Now, by reinforcing good behavior naturally, rather than waiting for problems to arise, we can shape our puppies into happy, eager, ready to learn dogs who will be comfortable in the world. As they grow up, puppies are constantly learning from their surroundings. Every new sound, sight and experience contributes to how they see the world. They're deciphering whether this is safe or this is not safe. Right, by rewarding them for simply being in a different environment or seeing somebody different, we can create positive associations.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Sometimes the temptation is to ask our puppy to sit before they greet someone, but you know what the step before that is our puppy sees someone from a distance. Reward them. Reward them just for simply being in that area and seeing that new person. It's easy to skip this step and go straight to that sit to say, please, behavior that we teach you, because that is a good behavior. And, yes, we do want our puppies to ask nicely for things and we want them to learn patience and impulse control. But back up just a little bit and make sure your dog's getting these experiences of they're in a new environment. Reward them. They see a new person. Reward them. They see the vacuum cleaner sitting in the middle of the floor. Reward them. They don't have to do anything, they're just simply there with something new.

Speaker 1: 3:01

This prevents fear-based reaction and builds trust in new situations. For example, if your puppy enters a busy park and we're feeding them food, rewards for just being in that busy park, they're going to start to associate the park with good things instead of feeling overwhelmed. If we jump straight to that step of sit or asking them to do things in that park before we address, do you feel safe in this park? That can be problematic. So all I'm asking is let's make sure that we're doing that bridge step of making sure our puppy is safe and comfortable and happy in the environment they're in before asking them to do a behavior. I have a little game that I like to play with puppies when it comes to greetings, because let's say that you are somewhere with your puppy and all these people want to come up and say hi because your puppy is so cute, and then we we start to worry that, oh, they're not behaving appropriately in order to be greeted and now we've created stress around your puppy seeing new people and trying to get them to sit to to be greeted, et cetera. So a way that you can accommodate this is, when a puppy sees somebody, we can toss a food reward away from the puppy or the person can do that so that the puppy walks away, gets their food reward comes back, walks away, gets their food reward comes back and as they come back, that next food reward gets tossed. That way, the puppy is seeing a new person, they're getting a food reward, which is awesome, and all four paws are staying on the ground. That can be a really good way to lead into that natural next behavior of sit to be greeted or sit to say please, that we talk about. We're not asking them to do it, they're figuring it out. That that's what gets that next food reward tossed and this works great.

Speaker 1: 4:38

We just want to make sure again that they are feeling comfortable and safe in their area and if not, then we can add some distance. We can walk away from the groups of people or walk away from the loud, scary sounds that they're hearing the cars, the trucks, the, the bikes or whatever it is that they're hearing and seeing. That's scary. So we want to create that distance to help them feel safe. That's really step number one is does my dog view this new experience as something good? And we want that to be the first step.

Speaker 1: 5:04

This is also why I recommend not taking your dog on leash walks in the beginning. They're just not ready for it. It's like teaching calculus to kids. We don't start calculus in kindergarten and with dogs we don't start leash walking right away. We build up to the skills necessary to have a successful walk around the block, because when you head out, we want our dog to see the city as positive and if you're trying to get them to walk nicely on a leash, a lot of those interactions can be pretty stressful and negative to the dog, because they don't want to walk in a straight line and they don't want to stay right next to you. They'd rather sniff and smell and explore the world, and so we want those things to be positive. First we work on leash training inside a home, in a non-distracting environment where our puppy can be successful, and then we head to the backyard or we head to the driveway, then we head down the street and back. So we're building these little stepping stones or building blocks of leash walking until our puppy can handle that. Yeah, they know the city is a safe place, they know that it's an exciting place to be and, yes, I know how to leash walk and I can put the two together. But we don't start that right away.

Speaker 1: 6:07

If you see your puppy is nervous in a new area, I actually say take the walking out of it. Let's just find a chair or a bench and sit. Let's just sit and watch the world go by. Let's just let our dogs be. I'm not going to ask them to do a single thing. I'll simply drop food rewards, scatter them in the grass and let it be a fun scavenger hunt for my puppy as they're in a new environment until they feel safe there Remember, until your puppy's fully vaccinated to carry them or keep them off public spaces where they could contract other dogs diseases. We want them to be healthy. So if you need to carry them, carry them. If you want to go to a park, lay down a blanket and they can sit on the blanket things like that to keep them safe until fully vaccinated, but definitely we want to have some good socialization experiences while they are young. If you have any questions or concerns about this, speak to your veterinarian.

Speaker 1: 6:55

Rewarding your puppy without demanding specific behaviors teaches them that being near you is a reward. We want to be a reward to our dogs. I promise this strengthens their natural engagement with you and helps them look to you for guidance when they are in a new situation. If a puppy learns that checking in with you earns them a reward, they'll be more likely to pay attention even when you head to distracting environments. Over time this leads to a dog who voluntarily stays close and listens, making formal training much easier.

Speaker 1: 7:25

Rewarding a puppy simply for being present, calm and engaged is one of the most effective ways to shape their behavior and mindset. By reinforcing positive associations, building focus and then encouraging good choices, we are setting a foundation for a confident, well-adjusted dog. Helping our puppy see the world as a safe place to be is the foundation to great behavior. Later on, we can create a puppy who feels secure in the world and looks to you for guidance. All right, you guys, you can do this. Happy training and have a great week.

Speaker 1: 7:58

Thanks for tuning in to the Puppy Training Podcast. I hope today's tips help you feel more confident and excited about raising your dog. Remember, with a little patience and consistency, you can create a loving bond and a well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it. Well-behaved pup who's a joy to have in your family. If you found this episode helpful, be sure to subscribe, leave a review and share it with fellow puppy parents. For more resources, visit Baxter and Bella online. Until next time, happy training.