What age to start training?

[IvyLady]

I posted this question in the Puppy Forum, but haven't yet had a reply. So thought I'd post it here too, as it's still relevant to this topic:

I brought home my new cocker spaniel pup a couple of days ago. Everything seems to be going well so far. Good first night and not too many indoor accidents (fingers crossed). She's 10 weeks old today.

I have read a lot about training puppies and feel quite confident that I know the basics and the theory, but none of the books seem to mention what age to start training for things like sit, stay, wait, etc?

She tends to come when you call her, but this is all part of play so far, not real training.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[TheDogsHuman]

Train her from day one. Training is never a star/stop exercise. Every day she is re-taught the household rules and her commands are practiced even if you don't realise it!

Start training now, and keep it up.The rules are:

Remember, she's a baby and will get bored and be distracted easily.
Stock up on smelly treats.
Make sure you start on a good note and end on a good note.
If she starts to lose interest (glancing around, breaking commands, etc) praiser her as soon as she's done what you asked and break the exercise.
Note that some commands shouldn't be tuaght to young puppy and dogs, liek standing on hind legs, because of the health risks involved.

Simple as that! Mine can go hours in a training session, but some only enjoy a few minutes at a time. As you get to know your pup, you'll learn how much training is too much training.