Your puppy is a very curious and very energetic little creature that requires plenty of attention and affection throughout the day. One way to help burn off the excess energy and to teach them obedience at the same time is via a structure puppy training game. Training your new puppy should start as soon as possible and a routine should be established from the first day she arrives in your home. Similarly, the games should be structured so that she learns to do what you want. Game of Fetch Probably the most popular of all puppy and dog game, quite how a dog knows how to bring back an object to its master and then wag their tail waiting for master to throw the object again so that they can fetch it once more is one of life’s little mysteries. In this game you can teach the dog commands like “Fetch!” to

The puppy collar serves many purposes and can be one of the first things your puppy learns. It enables you to control your energetic puppy, secondly it teaches her to accept you as her leader and finally it allows her to get used to wearing something around her neck – which is essential when you take her out for walks in the morning and evenings. Choosing a collar is relatively simple; just ensure that when it is fitted that you can slip two fingers sideways between her neck and the collar. Not all puppies like to wear a collar. The first time you put it on they may whine, bark or scratch it off with their back legs. If your puppy is becoming very agitated about the collar, instead of taking it off, try to distract her with a toy or a treat so that she temporarily forgets about wearing the collar.

So you've brought a new puppy in to your home and she's already chewed through your sneakers, the cushions, one TV remote, the kid's homework and now has her sights set firmly on the couch. Is it even possible to stop this little furball of destruction? To prevent chewing you need to know why puppies do it. There could be a number of reasons, for example they could be trying to ease some discomfort in their mouth or teeth (particularly if they are growing new teeth around 6-8 weeks), out of boredom, out of curiosity or they might even just like the taste of your old slippers! Chewing helps them explore their surroundings, to discover the taste, texture, hardness of an item, just like a toddler might put a small toy in their mouth. First and foremost, all chewable items need to be stored out of reach. The whole family needs to

Ask any dog owner and they will tell you that the question of how can such a small creature produce so much poop is second only to the meaning of life – there is no known answer. Potty training and accidents around the house are one of the biggest hurdles you will have to overcome with your new puppy and how you train her and the way you handle yourself will go a long way to creating a happy, calm and healthy dog. It is very easy to get angry and upset when you have been doing potty training for many weeks and your puppy looks up at you wagging her tail while sitting next to a small puddle. There are some horror stories on how some dog owners go about puppy potty training which sometimes goes under the guise of housebreaking, but hopefully after reading this guide you will pick

I'm sure we've all known people who have dogs who chew and chew to the point where we stop going around their house for fear of our shoes being reduced to a tangled mess. But this behavioral trait is something that can be reduced and controlled with good early on puppy training for biting and chewing. So why do puppies chew and bite? Most experts tend to agree that just like babies, puppies like to explore their world with every sense that they have. If you have children how many times have you had to rush over to stop your baby from putting something in their mouth? Puppies are said to be just the same. Chewing is one way to explore the world around them, but biting or nipping is used to ascertain dominance within the pack. More often than not, a bite is not meant to cause harm, unless the

Puppy crates are essentially small indoor kennels. They provide a den or safe-haven for puppies to retreat to when things get too much. Despite what some trainers may teach, they are absolutely not designed as discipline tools, so you should never drag your puppy in to the crate and lock the door if she has done something wrong in order to punish her. Instead you need to teach her that the crate is the place where she can go to sleep and relax while the family is out of the house or there is no one to pay any attention to her. By leading her in to the crate when she is getting sleepy she will learn that this is the spot where she should sleep. Similarly when you are doing separation anxiety training, leaving her in the crate with a few toys teaches her to be calm when you are

Just like most behavioural traits, puppies jumping up and on people is something that needs to be addressed through consistent training and routine. There are many reasons that your puppy could be jumping on people such as over-excitement, aggression, asserting dominance or simply to get attention. If you find that your puppy is always jumping up and on people it may be that this behavior has been encouraged in the past due to her not being taught that it is unacceptable. While you will obviously love the puppy as one of the family, what may seem cute when she is small may become a nuisance as she grows larger and stronger. As with other training techniques, everyone in the household needs to be aware of the procedure to follow when your puppy starts jumping and becoming over-excited. By simply turning around and not facing your dog you are effectively showing her that

Barking is your puppy's way of communicating that she wants something or that all is not well. It could be boredom, hunger, strangers approaching, expectations or anything else that she wants to communicate to you. Some dog breeds will naturally bark more than others, but you definitely don't want to be aggressive or take measures to stop your puppy barking altogether. There are some devices that administer an electric shock each time the dog barks but many experts believe that this is a rather lazy and unethical way to train your puppy. Teaching your puppy to not bark for every little thing involves a lot of training and a reward and punishment approach. Take note though that punishment should never involve aggression, violence or any means to intimidate your puppy! If you have not corrected the barking behaviour in the past then your puppy may have learned that her bark is a

If you are thinking about getting a puppy as a new addition to the family then taking some time to plan ahead will save a great deal of heartache, disinfectant and slippers in the long run. Apart from asking the obvious questions like how big will the dog grow, can we offer it a stable home for the next 15 years, do we have enough time to walk it every day etc. You should also take some time to puppy-proof your home from the inevitable damage that the furball of destruction can wreak. Your new puppy won't have any conscious control over their bladder or bowel movements, so just as a young baby will go potty without knowing it, so will your new puppy. In the beginning she may need to go as many as 10 or more times a day and if you don't keep a sharp eye on her

You've probably seen the TV shows like Dog Whisperer or It's Me Or The Dog where their is one very disobedient dog causing havoc and stress within the family. You might have watched the episodes and felt you now have enough skill to go ahead and train your new puppy all by yourself. Except it doesn't always work out as planned. What you see on TV is the edited version that is designed to make the trainer look as good as possible – chances are there is a whole film editing room somewhere with the outtakes where the dog didn't do exactly what was required and that wouldn't help the reputation of the trainer! So you may have discovered that training your puppy isn't as easy as in the TV shows or maybe you are wondering if puppy training classes are worthwhile. Training your puppy from Day One should be your priority, the

For the first few days after bringing home a new puppy, the novelty factor means that you are likely to let her get away with many things as you play with her and show her off to family and friends. However, training should start from day one and rules and boundaries should be clearly established as early as possible. There are four essential training areas that need to be covered with your new puppy, which are as follows Obedience Obedience training is vitally important if your puppy is ever going to listen to your commands for any other type of training. Unless you make her completely obedient to your commands she will continue doing her own thing and might even get aggressive as she gets older and you try to stop her doing what she wants. The problem you want to avoid is to allow her to become the pack leader. Obedience training

One of the first things your puppy must be taught is to come to you when you call her name. This can be achieved by sending her away from you to get a treat and then calling her name to come back for another treat. This video shows how a puppy learns to come when her name is called.

This video introduces another method of training your puppy using a device known as a target stick. By moving the stick or touching the puppy in different areas of his body you can command him to obey you. Note that the stick is absolutely not to be used as a discipline device but as a motivational tool to inform the puppy what you want him to do.

A puppy will follow its nose so when starting out with any kind of training always ensure you have a steady supply of treats in the beginning until the puppy will obey your commands. Once the puppy understands that it must do a certain action gradually reduce the number of treats you provide. In this video Mike DAbruzzo shows how to train a puppy to sit using the treat and reward method.

If you plan to have your dog live in your house rather than outside in the yard then you need to choose an appropriate size crate for the dog. Many people believe that bigger is better because a small crate would be more like a cage, but this is not true according the presenter in this video. Smaller might be better because dogs like a small den to hide away in.

While the video below is quite humorous with the antics of an untrained dog, what really stands out is how well behaved and focused a well trained puppy can be. The puppy in the video is just 5 months old and yet her full attention is given to his master despite the amorous advances of a dog half her size. This just goes to show what can be achieved with regular, disciplined puppy training and proves that you should have no fears about taking your puppy to the dog park.

It's entirely possible to not just get your puppy to respond to verbal commands but also to hand signals and actions. This video shows how a dog trainer has trained his 16 week old Labrador to do a variety of unique tricks like moonwalk, play dead, twirl, walk backwards and take a bow. All these tricks are possible using a combination of treats and praise.

Using a combination of commands and lure of treats you can teach your dog to obey your orders. It takes time and repetition to get the puppy to understand that it needs to do a certain action when you command it but eventually the training will pay off and you can be confident in taking your puppy outside and still have it obey you with all the distractions going on.

Teach your dog some cool and unique tricks beyond just "fetch" and "sit". This video shows how a puppy can learn some new party tricks like undoing a zipper, switching on a light and getting your dog to only take a treat when you command it to. While the tricks might seem frivolous, the training will help in other areas like obedience, discipline and behavior.

One of the purposes for taking your dog for a walk in the morning and evenings is to allow them to relieve themselves and ensure they don't go potty in your home. However when the winter sets in and it's driving down with rain the last thing you really want to do is stand around while your dog deliberates over when to go. This video teaches you some great techniques to train your puppy to go pee and poop on command.

In this video Martin Dealy gives some tips on how to teach your puppy some basic commands like "come", "sit" and "lie down". By using treats to bring the puppy to you while giving these commands you can teach the puppy to associate the words with different actions that you want it to do. They seem to have used a fully grown dog in this video but that's probably for demonstration purposes so you can see how the puppy should act when it's done right.

A unique way of showing your puppy who is the leader of the pack by emulating how older dogs would act. In this video you can learn some techniques that teaches your new puppy to stop biting and nipping. Failure to stop this behavior could have some serious consequences in the future so don't allow your puppy to do it now.

Melanie McLeroy discusses the importance of crates and crate training when it comes to training your puppy to behave in your home. Many people see crates as cages but as Melanie explains in this video dogs actually prefer to have a small enclosure to relax in when the world gets too much for them.