Puppy Training Schedule (Free 8-Week Printable)

Q: When should I start training my puppy?

The week your puppy comes home, usually at 8 weeks old. Name recognition, the sit lure, crate meals, and the potty routine all work from day one. For outings and meeting other dogs before vaccinations are finished, ask your vet what is safe in your area.

One focus skill per week for eight weeks: sit, stay, come, leash, crate, potty, social, and handling. Each week gets a 3-sessions-a-day breakdown and one milestone to watch for. Below the schedule is a 7-day potty log you can fill in on screen or print. No email, no sign-up. Around those sessions, the puppy weekly schedule lays out the rest of the day as a Mon-Sun routine chart with feeding times by age.

How the weeks work: three sessions a day, 2 or 3 minutes each (morning, midday, evening). Keep the skill from the previous week in rotation during meals and walks. The weeks are numbered, not dated, so week 1 starts the day your puppy comes home.

Why sessions are numbered instead of scheduled to the clock: tie them to things that already happen (before breakfast, after a nap, after dinner) so they survive a messy day.

One note before week 1: this is generic household training advice, not veterinary advice. For food, vaccines, and which outings are safe before shots are finished, ask your vet. If a skill keeps failing for more than a week, mention it at your next visit.

The 8-Week Schedule

Week	Focus skill	3 sessions a day	Milestone
1	Sit	Session 1: hold a treat at the nose, move it back over the head, reward the moment the bottom touches the floor. Session 2: same lure with no verbal cue yet; the hand motion is the cue. Session 3: ask for a sit before meals and before the leash clips on.	Sits on the hand signal 8 times out of 10, cue word not needed yet.
2	Stay	Session 1: ask for a one-second stay and reward in place. Session 2: add one step of distance, come back, release. Session 3: three short stays in a row, always return to puppy to release.	Holds a 10-second stay with you two steps away, released in place.
3	Come	Session 1: happy voice, run backward two steps, reward with the best treat of the day. Session 2: call once from another room; if puppy comes, jackpot. Session 3: practice on a long line in the yard; never call to end fun, go fetch puppy instead.	Comes from another room on the first call, no repeats.
4	Leash	Session 1: let puppy wear the harness around the house while you play. Session 2: five minutes of walking; the moment the lead goes tight, stop and wait. Session 3: drop a treat by your left boot every few steps to build the heel position.	Walks 20 loose-leash feet past a mild distraction without pulling.
5	Crate	Session 1: feed one meal inside with the door open. Session 2: toss treats in, let puppy wander out freely at first. Session 3: one short nap in the crate while you stay in the room, never as punishment.	Settles 10 calm minutes in the crate with the door shut while you are visible.
6	Potty routine	Session 1: out on waking, same door, same spot, same phrase. Session 2: out within 10 minutes after every meal and every play burst. Session 3: praise in the moment outside, then fill in the potty log below together.	Two clean days in a row on the 7-day log.
7	Social	Session 1: one new household sound at low volume (doorbell, vacuum in another room) with treats. Session 2: one short, calm meeting with a new person. Session 3: one new surface underfoot (grass, tile, or gravel), one minute each.	Settles within a minute after one new sound or surface, no hiding.
8	Handling	Session 1: touch a paw, hand over a treat, repeat until it is boring. Session 2: lift an ear, look in the mouth for one second, reward. Session 3: run the whole check (paws, ears, mouth, brush) and end before puppy asks to stop.	Tolerates a full paw-and-ear check for one treat, no struggling.

If a milestone does not land on schedule, keep the same skill one extra week and shrink the steps: shorter stays, fewer feet, quieter sounds. The order matters more than the pace.

Free 7-Day Potty Log (Printable)

One row per day, six time slots. Mark what happened: ✓ went outside, A accident inside, or leave it blank if the trip did not happen. After a week, the blanks show the pattern: most accidents cluster right after waking or right after play, which tells you where the schedule needs one more trip.

Day	On waking	After breakfast	Midday	After dinner	Evening play	Before bed
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Pattern watch: the time slot with the most A's is the one that needs an extra trip out, about 10 minutes earlier.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should each puppy training session be?

Two to three minutes, three times a day. Puppies lose focus fast, and short sessions repeated daily beat one long session on the weekend. End each session while your puppy still wants more.

When should I start training my puppy?

The week your puppy comes home, usually around 8 weeks old. Name recognition, the sit lure, crate meals, and the potty routine all work from day one. For outings and meeting other dogs before vaccinations are finished, ask your vet what is safe in your area.

What do I do when my puppy has a potty accident inside?

Clean it with an enzymatic cleaner so the scent does not call the puppy back to the same spot, note the time on the log, and take the puppy outside sooner next time. Accidents at predictable times usually mean the schedule needs one more trip, not a correction.

What comes after week 8?

Repeat the same skills in harder settings: longer stays, farther recalls, busier streets, faster pattern-finding in the log. The 32-page planner below covers weeks 1 through 8 in daily grids, so each session gets a box to tick.

Want all 8 weeks in daily grids? Full 32-page Puppy Starter Planner →

one-time · 32 pages · 8 weekly session grids + 28-day potty log + vet, feeding, and checklists · A4 + US Letter PDF