Expect from my Pup

[Luxie]

How much can I expect my 8 month old pup to understand.... She's great with most of our commands. I guess I'm just wondering is she behind at her age. We can do a sit stay for almost four min wi distractions. Heel one loose lead down for 3 min... I'm just wondering isnthere a timeline

[chelle]

What else do you do? I think you can expect an eight month old to almost turn cartwheels.

[Gracie's My Girl]

I have never considered following a time line. We have a six month old puppy and I take things at a pace that we are comfortable with. Currently we have sit, stay, down, come, side, leave it, heel, and off. However, quite a few of these are still in progress as you probably can imagine.

[Cassidy's Mom]

There is no timeline. What she knows at any age is directly related to what you've taught her and how well you've generalized each of those commands to new and more distracting circumstances. Someone who is a skilled, experienced trainer who has been working with their dog diligently from the time it was a young puppy is going to have a dog that understands more than someone who is training their first dog, or who started training when their dog was older.

[onyx'girl]

I just tried to have a strong bond with my pup. I wanted a solid recall, a bit of focus, lots of engagement and the others would fall into place with that. "Leave it" was important, too.
I think when the pup is between 10-15 mos, you'll see some frustration on your part, but just let it go and work on the bond, don't be too compulsive.
Unless your handling skills are not very firm, your pup will be happily compliant with whatever you ask.
After that 15 month mark, then it is time to get more serious on what you ask and up the expectations. Keep it fun, make you the reward(praise) randomize it w/ a ball/tug or treat.
I found that once I asked more of my dog, the more he offered and respected me in all phases of training.
I didn't push him to be so "on task" all the time early on. I let him be a puppy so he would be happy and confident. But he never challenged me either, corrections were far and few between.
Then again, my expectations were not high at that age. I think with my next pup, I will use more luring, focus type heeling, so he will learn to back up, side passing, and rear end awareness will be natural when his body is still small and more maneuverable. That is really my only regret at this time!

[Luxie]

Thanks guys... I'm loving every minute owning my first pup. I'm excited to come home everyday to play and go to therapy dog class.... Thanks again !!!

[Warrior09]

my 10 month old is so ADHD LOL idk how to get and keep his focus, even with a treat. my 3 year old rottie was always good about listening to me. She learned sit, stay, and come in just a few days. I personally believe that the older the puppy gets the easier it is to train them from my experience. I didnt start training my Rottie until she was 1.5 year old. I think I do best with older dogs. Its been a very very long time since i had a puppy. I think thats why i get so frustrated when he doesn't listen but then i look and say "Hey he is a puppy maybe he will calm down to were i can teach him his basics" I believe the old saying "Its never too late to teach an old dog tricks"