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Top TEN tips to help you train your puppy

1: Get their attention:  To get their attention and to keep them focused on you, you need a selection of three or four treats in your hand.  Put your puppy on the left side of you and hold the lead in you right hand and the treats in your left hand.  Grasp the treats in a clenched fist and hold it infront of your puppy's nose.  It may try and lick your hand but do not move it away from the puppy's nose.  And don't worry, It will NOT bite you!

2: Voice control:  To make sure that your puppy is listening to your instructions properly, rather than using a high pitched friendly voice and repeatdly saying the instruction, use a deep, strong controlling, strict voice.  If you can avoid using your "I'm telling you off voice", use a "Listen to me" voice.

3: Keep them by your side:  When training a puppy to go round an obedience course, keep it on a small, rope lead.  This way, if it decides that it want's to wander off, you can simply gently pull it back into it's correct position - by your side.  When pulling the lead, say 'Heel' and gradually it will learn that the word "heel" means to satnd and walk by your side.

4: Controlling them to jump:  When making the puppy jump over a bar of small height, take off its lead and run towards the jump, making sure that you keep the treats in your hand infront of the puppy's nose to ensure that it follows you, then as you come up to the jump, lift your hand over the bar and the puppy will follow your hand over and make a leap for those treates.

5: Commands - Sit, Lay down, Roll over etc.:  Have the puppy by your side and ensure that it knows that you have rewards - treats.  Say the word 'Sit' in a stern voice, after doing so, push down at the bottom of the puppy's back, therfore making it sit.  Once you have done this reward it with a treat.  Next is the 'Lay down' command.  To do this, get the puppy in the sitting positiopn and say 'Lay down', again in a stern voice and tap the ground, when doing so, make sure the puppy sees the treat in your hand, if it sees it and you are indicating toards the ground, the puppy will lay down infront of you.  Last but not least is the 'Roll over' command.  Get your puppy in the 'Lay down' position and once again in a strong, stern voice say 'Roll over', after you have told the command to the puppy, gently roll it over, you may have to take hold of its legs and push them over.

Please make sure that any contact with your puppy is gentle and NOT agressive.  Also remember to reward it with ONE treat after each command that it does correctly and successfully.  Repeat all the commands every day with quite a few at a time to make sure that your puppy learns what the words mean to do.

6: Refreshments - when to have well earned breaks:  Puppies can get worn out very easily so its very important that you have five to ten minutes break to let your puppy rest, to revive itself and to have a nice cool down drink.  Every twenty minutes or so bring a bowl of cold water or even a bowl of Rice Pudding and place it infront of the puupy.  Let it drink/eat all that it wants and then take the bowl away from your puppy and let it have a lay down and a well earned rest.  It means you get a rest as well!  Do not give it milk because by the time you have your new puppy home, you will need to start moving it onto solids, so Rice Pudding is a great thing to give them.  When they are older and have proper foods, every now and again let it lick out your Rice Pudding pot and its ears will move backwards.  This is what puppys do when they like something.  Its what your puppy would have done when it was having milk from it's mother.

7: Toilet Training:  Possibly one of the worst parts of having a puppy is the toilet training, but once you get to grips with it, its simple!  Just before you start the toilet training, buy some of the speacial soak-up pads.  You lay them down on all floors or whever the puppy is going to be and it will soak up any accidents.  You have to make your bitch/dog go to the toilet on command.  To do this, each time that it notifies you, before you let it outside say 'Go to the toilet'.  Do this every single time and gradually it will learn that the words 'Go to the toilet' really do mean to go to the toilet.  Say those words before you go out after you have come back from being out and three to four times a day and afyter those words, let it into the garden.  It maybe that you might want to let you bitch/dog go out to the toilet after you have been, that way, you know when to let your dog out.

8: Well behaved walks:  First of all, you need to have a set time for walking.  Maybe its 7:30 pm - 8:15pm and/or 7:30 am - 8:15 am.  You need to take you puppy, bitch or dog out two times a day, each being 45 minutes long.  Also, you need to get into your puppy's mind that 'Shall we go out for a Walkies?' means go out for a fun walk.  Again, each time just before you go out for a walk say 'Shall we go out for a walkies?' and then go out for a walk.  Take a lead and a collar and attch them both to the puppy.  Kepp them on them at all times throughout the walk.  Then simply go out for a 45 minute stroll.  Try - if you can - to go out for country and walks where there are as least cars as possible.  Just like us, fumes for puppies is not good for them in any circumstances!

9:Jumping up on Others - NO!:  To stop your dog jumping up on other people, friends and family, all you have to do is tug the lead and say a few words.  As your do is half way up another person, tug the lead in a short, sharp motion.  In doing so, sya, in a stern, deep voice, 'NO', and repeat this each and every time you puppy/dog/bitch tries to jump up on other people.

10: Eating and Drinking:  Food and drink for a growing puppy is absolutely vital.  You need to get the correct foods and fluids into their bodies.  Some dogs, like my Goldn Retriever for instance, have very delicate stomachs.  They cant's eat foods such as pigs ears, tinned meat etc.   They have to have special food from the vets, which is easy to get.  (Your vet will tell you wether your dog/bitch needs a certain food).  When you have your puppy home, you need to have a constant supply of water.  Buy a special metal bowl designed for dogs and have fresh water in it at all times.  Change your puppy's water before its breakfast and just before its tea.  With dogs, they only need to meals a day - breakfast and tea.  Try and have a set time for both meals.  For instance, my Golden Retriever has breakfast around 6:00 am and tea at 5:00 pm.  This way, each day she knows that at those times it time for her meals.

Information researched by Daniel Betts