How do I teach my puppy to respond to its name?

Say the name once, wait a second or two, and the moment the puppy looks at you, mark the behavior with a word like yes and reward instantly. Practicing this in short, five minute bursts several times a day works better than one long session.

Once the response is reliable at home in a quiet room, practice in the garden, on a walk and around mild distractions, gradually building up so the name works even when the puppy's attention is elsewhere.

Beyond dedicated training sessions, say your puppy's name in passing throughout the day, before offering a meal, before clipping on a lead, before a fun game starts, and reward the response just as you would in a formal session. These small, naturally occurring repetitions add up faster than relying on structured practice alone.

Avoid the common trap of testing the name response repeatedly without much variety, since a puppy that hears its name forty times in a five minute session with only occasional rewards can start to tune it out. Fewer, well rewarded repetitions spread across the day build a stronger response than one long concentrated block.

Once the name is solid in calm settings, deliberately practice it at moments of mild excitement, right as a toy comes out, or when a visitor arrives, since a name that only works in quiet moments is not yet reliable enough for situations like recall near a road, which is ultimately one of the more important reasons to teach it thoroughly.