The Puppy School Myth: Why Short-Term Training Won’t Prepare You for Big Dog Challenges

Alright, hoomans, pull up a chair (or better yet, a comfy dog bed), because it’s time for a little tough love from your favourite Rottweiler. Here’s the deal: puppy school is great for the basics, but it’s kind of like teaching your kid to ride a bike and then expecting them to drive a car. Cute idea, but completely unrealistic. Puppy school might handle the “sit,” “stay,” and “leave-it” kind of stuff, but for tackling the challenges of raising a big, boisterous fur missile like me? You’re gonna need a PhD in patience and a long-term game plan.

The Allure of Puppy School: A Quick Fix?

Look, I get it. You have this adorable fluffball wreaking havoc in your house, chewing on your shoes (10/10, hooman sneakers are delicious, by the way), and you think, “Let’s send them to puppy school, and all the problems will vanish!” But here’s the thing, hooman—short-term training is like giving a toddler a motivational speech and expecting them to fold laundry. Not gonna happen.

Puppy school is great for socialisation and teaching both you and your pup the training basics. It’s Paw 101. But once the tiny tornado morphs into a full-sized woofer, the stakes get higher. They start pulling on the lead like they’re training for a sled race, or suddenly “forget” their training when an interesting smell wafts by. And let’s not even talk about zoomies through grandma’s prize-winning flower garden. Oops.

Big Dog, Big Responsibilities

Us bigger dogs come with bigger challenges, which, news flash, puppy school can't fully prepare you for. Imagine trying to stop a 45-kilo Rottweiler (hi, that’s me) from chasing after a kangaroo because your leash skills haven’t gone beyond the puppy playpen. Spoiler: the kangaroo always wins.

Training is not just about teaching commands; it’s about building a relationship of trust and consistency. It’s about fine-tuning your expectations as we grow, learn, and – let’s be real – stop caring about "sit" the minute a sausage hits the BBQ. You can’t expect the same commands that worked on a 10-kilo pupper to hold up on a 45-kilo powerhouse with the attention span of a squirrel on espresso.

Long-Term Training: The Secret Sauce

If you want a doggo who listens, respects boundaries, and doesn’t flatten every visitor with an overenthusiastic greeting (sorry, Aunt Karen), you’ll need to invest in ongoing training. Think of it as a relay race – puppy school hands you the baton, but it’s up to you to keep running. Or waddling. Or crawling, depending on how tired you are.

Continuous training reinforces old skills and teaches new ones as we grow. It’s also when you start getting into the serious stuff, like how not to lunge at passing cyclists or steal sandwiches at picnics (although, between you and me, sandwiches are fair game if they’re within paw's reach). By working on advanced skills like recall, impulse control, and lead manners, you’re setting both of us up for success.

Let’s Face It: Relationships Take Time

You Hoomans often say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Guess what? Neither is a rock-solid relationship between a dog and our favourite two-legged pack members. We’re not born knowing how to follow your ever-changing rules (like: “don’t chew the remote” today, but somehow “give mum the remote” tomorrow?). Training is an ongoing conversation, not a one-time event.

That means rewards for good behaviour (bacon is preferred but I’ll settle for belly rubs), patience during our learning curves, and repetition, repetition, repetition. Oh, and did I mention repetition? Yeah, we’re going to need a LOT of that.

Big Dog Training Wins

So what happens when you ditch the quick-fix mindset and go all in? Well, the payoff is HUGE—like, bowl-of-food-all-to-myself huge. For one thing, we learn how to handle ourselves in the big, wide world (no more embarrassing lunges at posties). You also get to relax, knowing that your furry companion won’t cause chaos in public or at home. Plus, when your big dog listens to you, you become the ultimate #DogParentGoals in your social circle. Trust me, Karen’s untrained chihuahua will envy us.

Pro Tip from Thor: Never Stop Learning

Here’s my last nugget of wisdom: training never stops. We dogs are like sponges—give us the right attention and structure, and we’ll amaze you with what we can learn. But stop training altogether, and we might just revert to chewing on your phone cables. (I mean, hey, they look like licorice. How was I supposed to know?)

Final Bark

Puppy school is a fantastic starting point, but it’s just that—a starting point. Raising a big dog requires commitment, consistency, and a whole lot of love (and snacks, don’t forget snacks). Keep working with us, and you’ll be rewarded with a loyal, goofy, well-behaved best mate who’s always got your back—and maybe your slipper in their mouth.

Any questions? Great, because Thor’s Paw-some Blog is always here to make you laugh, learn, and, most importantly, help you become the hooman your dog thinks you are. Now go fetch (see what I did there?) yourself a long-term training plan and a bag of treats.

Cheerio and tail wags,

Thor  💪🐾