There are many myths about training puppies including those which claim to be based on how a mother disciplines her offspring. Sadly, as is the case with theories on wild animal behaviour, much of this originates from puppies raised with their mother in confined and unnatural conditions. Having watched five of our mother dogs with their puppies (9 litters) I have never seen them use aggression or positive "punishment" with their babies. They are extremely tolerant of the very young and put up with a great deal at times but, if it gets too much, they will up and leave. So, for example, if a pup who should be weaned continues to try and suckle causing too much pain, eventually his/her Mum will go out of reach and escape. If mother dogs are kept in confinement with their pups without the option to leave then you may see more forceful behaviours including growling or physical restraint but this is not necessarily a "natural" canine mother behaviour at all. There is an interesting article here on physical training methods:
https://dogdiscoveries.com/scruff-shaki ... iscipline/
The other thing to bear in mind is that, if you want to build a bond of trust and love with your puppy/dog, you do not want to use methods of training which may frighten them or lead them to fear your hand coming close to their head e.g. punishing a dog by shaking, tapping or restraining their head movement. While these methods may have the effect of solving an immediate problem, they can lead to other issues as time passes such as the dog becoming very anxious when being groomed, examined by a vet or even just someone moving to pat or stroke the dog near its head.
The most successful training techniques will always be those based on positive/ reward based methods. These are now used in the police, army, search and rescue and drugs search officers for dog training. Anyone who watched the recent TV series on UK Wildlife Parks will have also seen these methods used to train tigers to show the underside of their paws to the keeper for checking daily, leopards to go into a crate for removal to another site and rhinos to back out of a crate so as not to be coming out horn first when they reach their new home.
Try to ensure that your puppy has little opportunity to make mistakes - whether with toilet training or chewing. Have a playpen and crate for times when the puppy cannot be watched and be vigilant and close by when s/he is out and about.
Have plenty of chew items available to hand and keep some as special treats for using when an extra persuasion may be needed or "spice up" a Kong by smearing some peanut butter or cheese spread on it. Puppies are curious and have short attention spans when young and can almost always be diverted by something novel or more tasty. Make it seem as though they are getting something extra exciting by the tone of your voice etc. I have persuaded a puppy to give up a soggy piece of garden rubbish (treasure to a pup!) by offering an empty cardboard tube or little plastic flower pot to chew on instead. If the puppy is going for fingers or toes, either lift them up gently, facing away from you and offer a toy or tasty chew item or get down on the floor with them and engage in a game. If the puppy is fractious and nipping from overtiredness, put them in their crate or playpen for a nap. Frozen or chilled chew items can also be used to try and ease the pain of teething with young pups.
Try to think of diversionary tactics rather than head on confrontation and they really do often work
Choose your battles! There may be times when whatever the puppy is doing it actually doesn't matter even if you would rather they didn't. If they have run off with an odd sock, are chewing a dropped empty envelope etc. if the puppy is not in danger, the item is not that important then let it go and save your energy for when it really does matter.
Training classes should be the ideal support for a new puppy family but they are a real lottery and it is one of the more worrying aspects of raising a puppy in that a poor training class can actually cause real mental and emotional damage to a puppy (even one from the best of breeders). On the other hand, a first rate training class can do wonders for a puppy whatever their start in life.
I would also mention that poor quality groomers are another potential source of harm not in terms of the look so much as the methods they use when grooming to "control" the puppy or even just how they handle the dogs. The groomer or training class may not be cheap and may look good on a website or advert but anyone looking to enrol a puppy in a training class or taking them to a groomer, would be best sitting in to watch their methods even before they get their pup so as to assess what kind of situation they are going to expose a vulnerable puppy to, before it is too late!
On a lighter note, this is a photo of our Magic taking time out on the dining room table from her over exuberant puppies
