The method
How to teach a puppy manners
A puppy is not rude. It is a few weeks into a life with no rules yet, and it is testing what works. Jumping works when it earns a hand on the head; mouthing works when it earns a squeal. Manners are what you install in place of those experiments. This guide covers the five that matter at home and the family agreement that decides whether any of them stick.
Last reviewed August 26, 2026
Manage, then teach
Teach the puppy what to do instead.
Four on the floor means paws stay down to earn attention. Turn away when the puppy jumps, then crouch and pay when all four feet touch the ground. Wait at doors: the door opens only while the puppy sits, and closes again the moment it moves, until sitting becomes the default at every threshold. Calm greetings follow the same rule: guests ignore the puppy until it sits, then reward at floor level so the sit does not tip into a jump.
Mouthing is a puppy learning how hard it can bite. The moment teeth touch skin, the fun stops: stand up, go quiet, and step behind a gate or leave the room. Come back and offer a chew instead. Settling on a mat is the manner that saves your evenings. Feed the puppy on the mat, then only on the mat, then for staying on the mat while you sit down. Management does the heavy lifting until the teaching catches up.
- Four paws down earns attention
- Door opens for a sit
- Teeth on skin ends play
- Meals happen on the mat
The family problem
The rules only work if everyone holds them.
The usual failure is not the puppy. It is a house where one person allows the couch, another bans it, the kids squeal at mouthing and someone lets the puppy through the door first because they are late. The puppy is not confused; it has learned who to try it on. Write the rules down, stick them on the fridge, and agree on the release word and the greeting protocol. Children can be brilliant at this if the rule is simple enough to hold.
Puppy Fundamentals is a three-week board and train ($2,775) built for exactly this stage. The puppy learns crate comfort including overnight, leash manners, its name, sit, down and place, and gets structured socialization. Then the handover lesson walks the family through the same marker and release word the puppy has been working with, so it comes home to rules it already knows. A follow-up session within sixty days catches whatever the household has drifted on. Manners are simple; agreement is the work.
The programs
The puppy-window programs.
The early weeks only happen once. These are the ways we help you spend them well.
W · One-hour session
Private Training
One-on-one coaching with you on the other end of the leash.
Includes a written weekly plan to work from
N · 3-week board & train
Puppy Fundamentals
Your puppy's first months decide the habits of a lifetime.
Includes handover lesson, follow-up session, slip lead + collar
Asked and answered
The questions people ask us.
How do you teach a puppy manners?
Manage the environment first so the puppy cannot rehearse jumping, bolting or chewing, then teach the alternative: four on the floor, sit at doors, calm greetings and settling on a mat. Pay for the behaviour you want the moment it appears. A few minutes a day, every day, does more than a long weekend push.
How do you teach a dog good manners?
Good manners are defaults, not tricks: paws down, sit before anything opens, quiet when guests arrive. Decide the defaults, reward them heavily for a few weeks, and remove the payoff for the alternative. An adult dog learns the same way as a puppy, just with more history to overwrite.
How do you teach a dog boundaries?
Boundaries are places and moments the dog does not cross without permission: the kitchen while you cook, the front door, the couch. Teach a place cue and a release word, then use a leash or gate so the boundary is never optional while it is new. Consistency from every person in the house matters more than the method.
How do you teach a dog door manners?
The door becomes a light switch: it opens while the dog sits and closes the moment the dog stands. Repeat until the dog sits at the threshold without being asked, then add a release word before it goes through. Practise on the boring back door before the exciting front one.
Keep reading
Manners before the puppy grows.
Puppy running the house already? Book a consultation and we will map which manners to install first and who holds them.
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