Since you made it all the way through here, I’m going ahead and assume you are somewhat interested in pet play, wink*. As many before me had said before, the first step is to get interested on it, so good for you! The second one is learning more about and how you can get started on it and since we are taking care of those things right now, you will be barking in no time! Wink*
But first, let’s review what you can do to get started as the trainer or owner of a puppy. The first thing is to get a partner who also wants to participate, of course. Then, you will have to get the necessary equipment. I’m talking about a collar, leash, mittens and kneepads if you want them, bowls for them to eat and drink, other attire they may wear and some toys and treats for them to enjoy (only human food, please!).
Afterwards, you can start to get into the right mindset for it. You will treat your puppy as you would treat a real life pup; this means you will have to be careful and treat them with love and care. Reward them for their good behavior, pet them and let them know if they are being a “good girl” or a “good boy”. If you make them happy, they will wiggle their tails and reward you with kisses for sure! wink*
In order to train them, you will need to use some positive reinforcement. Remember puppies usually love attention, so don’t pay attention to their negative conducts and behaviors. They can see this as play, instead of you being mad at them for what they did. It works quite the same as real life puppy training, so read and inform yourself about those used methods to get some inspiration. And keep in mind to remind them to get into the pet mindset; animals can take some time to learn new things, whereas a human cat can get it pretty quick, for instance. So part of your job will be to keep them in check and help them get into “puppy mindset” and not “human mindset”.
On the other hand, if being a puppy is your goal, you will need to really get into that headspace. Most times, especially at first, it really does help to get on all fours and start roaming around, like a dog would. If you have no clue how to act or behave, you can read more about dogs and even just go out to a park (or the city) and observe how dogs behave. They are usually careless, playful, move their tails when they are happy (or their butts wink*) and have few worries. They love to be pet by their master (like humans, wink*) and usually love attention. Of course, every pup is different and has a distinct personality, but you can start from there and see what relates the most with you…
