Training your dog

You may be delighted with the energetic antics of your bouncing new puppy, but you also need to consider how much of a handful he/she will become once fully grown. From a very early age, you need to make sure to train your puppy correctly.

For a puppy aged between 8-16 weeks, the first thing you will need to do is start to introduce some socialisation; take him to the park or to places where there are lots of other dogs and people. As long as he has a secure base to come back to, his confidence will grow. However, whilst this is important to your dog’s sense of freedom and essential to his maturity, you need to make sure you have a good recall ready, such as pulling the lead or a strong voice command, to make sure he’s safe and aware of who is in control.

You can then introduce simple training, including commands like ‘sit’, ‘stay’ and ‘come’, using treats and slight punishments to reinforce your message. Remember, start as you mean to go on; don’t let your puppy get away with behaviour you would find unacceptable in an adult dog.

Finally and most importantly, you can concentrate on toilet training. Remember that dogs are creatures of habit, so by using something like a crate for your puppy to claim as his own and go to the toilet in, you can speed up the process of house training. You also need to take your puppy out to places you want him to perform and keep this routine consistent, using reward and reinforcement to cement the training. Most of all, be patient; your puppy will get there.