Dog obedience training starts even before you get your puppy in your home. Instead, it starts originally with the person that you purchased the dog from. Ask the breeder or salesperson what type of training, if anything at all, was provided before your dog came into your care.

Puppies until the age of 21 days are like infants; they are only able to find Mom, eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. Anything else is pretty much beyond their abilities at this time. That fourth week, however, is crucial to any dog obedience training because this is when your animal becomes more aware of his surroundings. Any positive or negative experiences that occur during this time will affect your puppy for life, so make sure that any stimuli is in the right direction.

At the four week mark, puppies can be introduced to crate training while still at the breeder