Training Your Dog / Puppy

Training is great fun. The best way of encouraging your pup to learn is to make training enjoyable by rewarding good behaviour (with praise and small treat) and ignoring inappropriate behaviour. Do not try to do to much at once and always finish the session while your puppy is still enjoying it and wanting more.

Lead training : Your dog should be us to wearing a collar. Bring him to the garden. Sit him on your left side, put a lead on him and encourage him to walk using a toy or treat held in front of him. As he walks beside you say "heel" and praise him. If he pulls to far ahead stop and start again. Eventually he will learn the "heel" command and will walk beside you without the need of treats or toys.

Sit: Hold a treat and show it to your dog. He will follow your hand with his noise in an attempt to take the treat. Put your hand above his head in such a position that to reach the treat he has to stretch his head up and back a little and his bottom must go down on the floor. As soon as this happens, say "Sit", give him the treat and make a big fuss of him. Keep doing this and eventually the dog should sit when told to do so without any rewards.

Come : Get one of the family members to hold your dog in the sit position a few yards away from you. Hold his food bowl (with a meal in it) show it to the dog, call his name and give the command "Come" in an excited tone of voice. When he arrives in front of you give him the bowl and praise him. Once your dog has the basic idea replace the bowl with a treat or toy. When he is familiar with this exercise ask him to Come, and then Sit, before he gets the treat.

Down : Hold a treat in your hand so that only a small amount of it is showing, and put your hand on the floor. The dog will try to get it and eventually realise that he needs to lie down in order to get closer to it. As soon as he does this say "Down" and give him the treat, make him feel special and clever.

Stay : Now you have got your dog responding to the "Come" recall, you can practise the stay exercise. Start with the dog in the sit position, and then gradually build up the distance you leave your puppy. Use a hand signal to keep the dog in position. Do not call the dog to you at the end of the exercise, but return to his side and praise him while he stays in the sit position.

Once you have experienced the pleasure of getting your dog to obey commands, you may want to start more intensive work with a local training club. This will give your dog a chance to socialise with other dogs. It is recommended that you train your dog in one of many disciplines available, such as obedience, Agility, Working trials, Flyball, or show training. There is something to suit everyone - and your dog will respond to all new challenges that are put his way.

There are lots of training which can help a puppy / Dog, and lots of clubs around the country which can help, look in your local directoys, ask Pet shops or your vets for names of people who can help to train your puppy / dog.