Very important to humans…
Every one wants a well-mannered dog and well-mannered children and to me “patience and politeness” are the cornerstone of all social interactions. Building frustration-tolerance at an early age will help facilitate good manners. Puppies and children want to do what they want, when they want, almost all the time. It is their natural state of being and it is up to the people around them, adult’s with fully developed brains, to help them navigate through their environment.
I have often heard people say “oh he’ll grow out of it” but the sad fact is that far too many dogs are re-homed, given up, or euthanised by the time they are 2 years old. Nearly 45,000 Dogs went through the RSPCA nationally during 2016/17 with nearly 6000 being euthanised. I suspect most of this is caused by dogs using their limited range of behaviours to unsuccessfully navigate through their environment.
I believe the most important thing you can teach your puppy is SIT, WATCH, WAIT and SETTLE.
This teaches patience, builds frustration-tolerance (you don’t always get what you want, when you want it) and helps to organise their brains. We need to instill patterns of behaviour based on rewarding correct behaviour and interrupting and redirecting unwanted behaviours. Puppies throw tantrums, just like children, and if they are left to their own devices they can only make mistakes, which leads to frustration from both parties.
BEHAVIOUR THAT IS REWARDED IS REPEATED.
BEHAVIOUR THAT IS UNREWARDED BECOMES EXTINCT.