What To Expect With Training A Boston Terrier Puppy
Boston Terriers are quite a ball of energy and you’ll definitely enjoy your time whenever you’re with them.
They’ll show you a lot of their creative antics and will talk to you in a series of huffs, snorts, grunts, and many more! This is why it may be intimidating to train your Boston Terrier puppy.
If you’re a newbie Boston Terrier parent and you think you’re just not cut out for raising your Boston Terrier puppy, then why don’t you take a deep breath and relax!
We’re here to give you the basics, what to expect, and a super helpful resource that will lift off the heavy burden of training a Boston Terrier puppy for you. Read until the end to know what this is!
What To Expect When Training A Boston Terrier Puppy
Boston Terrier Trainability
Contrary to popular belief, Boston Terriers aren’t that stubborn when it comes to training. Since they love the validation of their owners, they’re quite eager to please making them easier to train.
The first thing you need to know before training a Boston Terrier puppy is their temperament. Once you know this, you can adjust your training sessions to fit their personality.
- Boston Terriers are sensitive and can even know when you’re upset or happy
- They often have sudden bursts of energy but are also couch potatoes
- Boston Terriers often get separation anxiety when left alone
- They are extremely friendly to kids, the elderly, other animals, and even strangers!
- Their love language is quality time and physical affection (yes, they’re the clingy type!)
- Boston Terriers loves to “talk” and they’ll often communicate with you in their own language of huff and puffs
- They love to learn and are highly intelligent! This makes it easier for them to follow instructions.
If you want to learn more about their personality, check out our fun and detailed article on the Boston Terrier temperament!
Boston Terrier Training Methods
The best training method for these furry friends is positive reinforcement.
According to AKC, many Boston Terriers are sensitive which is why gentle corrections should be given to them instead of harsh scolding.
However, before you train them you should already establish a positive relationship with them. This way you can easily train them once you’re up for it.
The key here is that you give them incentives or withhold it. If they followed your instructions reward them with treats, praises, and your attention. This way they’ll be keen to do it again.
However, when they do the opposite, just withhold your affection. Don’t praise them, or touch them, and just ignore them for a while.
Remember, if you start scolding them instead and keep on shouting “No!” they will still view it as a response and they won’t automatically know that what they did was wrong.
Since Boston Terriers are highly affectionate by nature, once you withhold your affection, they would understand that something’s wrong.
Boston Terriers can be pretty stubborn too but the key here is to keep the training consistent, positive, and motivational. This way, the training will only test your patience and you’ll enjoy it more!
What To Train Your Boston Terrier
Like every other puppy, the socialization phase is very important as it helps with tempering their aggressiveness, inhibits biting, and helps them adjust well with their environment.
So what area should you first train your Boston Terrier puppy?
You should start with housebreaking or house-training. This means that you should be able to direct them where to go to urinate or defecate especially that they are domestic dogs.
House-training can be broken down in the following:
- Crate training
- This establishes your Boston Terrier’s boundaries. You should be able to direct them that their crate is their safe space and that it shouldn’t feel like a “bathroom” to them.
- Make sure to make it pleasing and comfortable as this will serve as their “room”.
- You should place sturdy materials only as Boston Terriers tend to chew!
- You can train them by luring them in their crate with food then give practice them to stay within their crate for short periods only. Since they get separation anxiety, put them in the crate, and close the door for a while. Once you open the door give them a treat and praise them for staying there.
- This is a gradual and slow process but you just have to be consistent and over time they will be more than willing to go to their crates.
- Potty Training
- This is where you choose a designated “toilet” for your Boston Terrier
- In order to make them follow you, you’ll have to set a routine for their food intake and such so that their “toilet breaks” can also be scheduled
- Basic Commands
- The basic commands usually are “sit”, “down”, “stay”, “up”, and “leave it”.
- These basic commands can be easily followed by your Boston Terrier as long as you give them positive reinforcement. Remember: take one command at a time so that they won’t feel overwhelmed!
- Socialization
- Last but not the least is to socialize them with a new environment, people, animals, and objects.
- This is an essential step and you should be able to give them the right socialization process when their 3 to 12 weeks old.
Difficulties With Training Your Boston Terrier
Of course, it will feel tiresome to train your Boston Terrier puppy! Your patience will be tested and sometimes you just don’t have the mental energy to keep up with your Boston Terrier especially if you had a long day at work or other matters.
There will be no doubt a couple of stumbles for you and sometimes you’ll think that their “bad” behavior just won’t change!
You see, here’s the thing, you can just be too tired or don’t have enough time for them.
If this is the case, and you often find yourself away from your Boston Terrier, then you might want to consider that your lifestyle has to change for your dog.
Or you just have to give your Boston Terrier to other people instead who can allot the time for them. BUT! You can definitely avoid this if you’ll use some professional help.
Here’s a list of probable signs that you really do need the help:
- Your Boston Terrier won’t listen to you even if you give them positive reinforcement
- They are getting pretty aggressive and you don’t know what to do
- They just can’t stop digging!
- Your Boston Terrier is constantly whining and you don’t know why
- They are overly anxious and get easily scared with sounds
- You feel like you are regretting having your Boston Terrier (Oh no!)
- You just want to have a stress-free training and fun relationship with your Boston Terrier but it seems unattainable.
If you find yourself nodding to most of these statements then you probably need that help after all.
If this is the case, then you should try out Adrienne Farricelli’s Brain Training For Dogs course. She is a professional CPDT-KA certified dog trainer.
Her “Battlefield-Tested” training system focuses on giving mental exercise for your Boston Terrier, address the root cause of their certain behaviors rather than just suppress them, and has a “force-free” method.
This is just perfect for Boston Terriers especially that they will often get discouraged with harsh training!
Not only that but Adrienne is highly qualified because of her certifications and her Brain Training program was even featured by USA Today, Every Dog magazine, and have dozens of testimonials from concerned dog parents before (just like you are now!)
Check out her website here and you might even thank us for giving you this juicy information! You’ll definitely feel lighter, reassured, and stress-free once you go with this training.
Boston Terriers are our local American Gentleman and while they can be problematic in different areas for you at first, you’ll soon see that these dogs are just doing their best to show you their love!
They are gentle, sweet, and are keen to please you. So while you might feel extra challenged with training them, just remember the reason why you got them in the first place!
Good luck on your training journey and make sure to look through our other training articles if you feel like you need some more guidance!