You cant live properly with your dog unless it is trained. It's that simple, and it doesn't really matter whether your dog is a 3-pound Toy breed or a-100 pound Working breed. A dog that wont come when called is always in danger and very frustrating. 

    You can't blame the dog either. If you don't train your dog, you are at fault, and no one else. In fact, if you're not prepared to train your dog, you probably should not get one in the first place. 

    Bad news over, now for some good news. Dogs are easily trained. Probably this is the reason why dogs have long been America's favorite pet. Despite the fact they train relatively easy, however, you still have to do the job. One way to make this simpler is to get a breed that readily adapts to your life-style and that corresponds to what you want in a canine companion. Serious breeder can help you with this, . They should tell you about their breed's inherent trainability-advice you should heed before making your final decision. What training does, is structure the dog's responses, giving you a good companion that you can trust, even flaunt. In fact, it establishes a channel of communication between you and your dog.

    Every dog should know at least five basic commands: heel, sit, down, stay, and come. (We will cover these shortly). Incidentally, you train your dog to understand it's name in much the same way you train it to do anything-by simple repetitive action. You can teach an older dog a new name, if you must. Be sure that everyone in the household is using the same name.

    All breeds are suitable for training, although some breeds make superior pupils naturally, because generations of ancestors were selected for trainability. (Consult the standards for information about tractable breeds at AKC, or CKC, breeders, and owners. 

    Have you ever wondered whether age is an obstacle? You can rest assured that there is no age limit for dog training to be effective. While you may have to be a little more persistent in training and adult dog, there is no truth in the old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks". it is easier though if a foundation for learning is initiated right from the start of the relationship.

    One thing all dogs have in common is they are born with a natural desire to please their owners. An interspecies language barrier unfortunately,  makes it very hard to get the point across. Your training lets you and your dog overcome this barrier, by establishing a means of communication. Training shows your dog how to earn exactly what it craves, your approval. This will brighten your relationship with your dog.

    Before starting to actively train your dog, take a little time learning a touch of the dog's language. Body language is an extremely important communication tool between dogs. This will help you gain the ability to understand, even "connect" with your dog. 

Here's an example: Dogs will often show they want to romp by making a "play bow". Your dog will stretch out his forelegs before him and direct his rear end straight up in the air. 

    Dogs instantly understand what this posture means, whether it is performed by another dog or you. Try imitating the play bow in front of the dog when it seems to be in the mood for fun. Chances are you will be rewarded with an exuberant and intriguing response. 

    Another form of canine body language worth understanding are signs of submission and aggression. A submissive dog will often crouch down when you approach them, tuck the tail between their legs or roll over and expose the belly. They may even urinate on the floor. this is a dog who doesn't want to assert itself. This dog may need a lot of reassurance. Training may help this type of dog to "find itself". An aggressive dog may show aggressiveness by raising the hair on the back, showing teeth, low growling, holding its tail high and putting the ears forward. Usually you can catch a glimpse of the mood the dog is in by the ugly look in its eyes.

    In fact most dogs do not like to maintain eye contact with a human or more a dominant dog for long; they will shift the gaze sideways before looking back again. Animals in the wild will interpret this direct staring as a challenge. 

    Another thing to remember is that your puppy begins to learn naturally, from the moment you take it in your home, even if you don't know it. Dogs a creatures of habit. They soon establish routines and expectations based on what patterns are set by you. Surely you've seen many a dog surge into action by the sight or sound of a leash being picked up or the one who whines when its owner picks up the car keys.

These are all good example of the power of consistency.

Training is really, consistently doing the same thing, in the same circumstances, over and over.

    A dog that has been well-trained, knows what it can and can't do.. This can only be achieved by consistent reinforcement. A dog will soon learn acceptable behavior  if it is praised for doing right and corrected when it does wrong. What sort of praise might be considered adequate? Most dogs need no more than a simple "good dog" spoken in a supportive warm voice. While others may appreciate a pat on head or neck. Occasionally, a dog will need to be offered some sort of food reward. Start with vocal praise. Your dog will let you know if it gets the message. 

    Corrections should always be nonviolent and mild. The best tool to use is your own voice. Teach yourself to say "NO" in a firm and loud tone. It doesn't have to be deafening, just try to leave out the panic, anger, and plain annoyance, as these will only baffle and disturb the dog. Many owners have made a basic, mistake of prolonging their displeasure with a dog that violated the training or seems slow to learn. This is destructive. You must understand that dogs forget an event after just a few minutes. they only know from your reactions that you are unhappy with them. All of which teaches your dog nothing more than you are not so easy to get along with. You have to catch them in the act, doing something wrong, or else forget about it. Never hold a grudge, it is destructive.

    Praise, Praise when right. Correct when wrong. For an example let's look at a common problem and how you might cope with it. The chewing problem of a puppy. All puppies have a desire to chew on something, starting quite young. this can be a real predicament when the puppy seems to prefer chewing on the furniture or people. The most obvious way to handle this problem is to keep the puppy separated from things it should not chew, whenever you cannot provide supervision. For instance, the puppy may need to be crated or confined to a safe room like the kitchen. 

    Whenever the puppy is within your sight and it takes something unacceptable in its mouth, immediately correct it with a firm "NO". The correction has been adequate if i releases the object from it jaws. As soon as the puppy has shown comprehensions, turn right around and praise on the spot "Good Dog"1 Thus the puppy learns that it will also receive praise for doing something right.

    Never strike the dog, not even with rolled up newspapers, with one possible exception. That exception being when a dog threatens to bite a person. In this situation you'll have to use your own judgment, based on the circumstances surrounding the incident and on your knowledge of your dog. These dogs absolutely require obedience training. You might consider consulting a trainer and veterinarian for an aggressive dog.

While we're on this subject of correction and praise, for aggressive behavior, never try to comfort or soothe a dog who is in the midst of lunging at other people or animals from the end of its leash. This will only reinforce this kind of behavior, because you are actually praising the dog for acting like a monster. It would be best to wait until the dog is corrected, under control, and settled down then offer a few kinds words so it will associate the praise with the civil behavior.

When I say not to hit your dog, I mean using your hand, stick, newspaper or anything else. Don't threaten the dog either. This is almost worse than striking it. These are some of the things that often is the cause of hand-shy dogs that cringe at the sight of a raised hand. A dog that expects a beating every time a hand is raised has good reason to try to escape to a safer ground. I'll never know why people always seem to associate dog training with rolled-up newspapers, unless it is because it is the handiest thing within reach in most households. However I hope you will resist the temptation to use this "tool".  If you think that the sound of the paper hitting the dog will frighten the dog into submission, think about this. First, training does not occur by scarring a dog into making it do what you want or not do what you find objectionable. Second, deliberately teaching a dog to be frightened of loud noises is unwise. What will you do when there's a thunderstorm, or a display of fireworks, for instance? A third reason for discouraging you from using new-papers as a training aid is the likelihood of you needing to make a correction one day and finding that you don't have one. Remember the consistency I talked about? The power of correction lies in its immediate administration, not following a lapse of even a few seconds as you wonder around the house looking for your

Have you noticed that I've never used the word "punishment" thus far?  A dog is never punished: it is corrected. This may seem like a fine point to you, but in such fine points lie the difference between good training and bad training. For example, let's take training your dog not to jump on people. The plan: Each time the dog jumps up, say "No". and at the same time raise your knee in front of you to disrupt the dog's balance. the next thing the dog knows,  it's back on all fours. You say, "Good dog". The lesson is over. 

Never discipline or correct a dog after you have called it to you. A dogs mind make direct, short term connections. If you correct the dog right after it comes to you , it will connect the correction with the act of coming to you (most recent thing it did before the roof fell in) and not with what happened prior to that. After a few times of this and the dog will not come at all when called. therefore if the dog has done something that it needs corrected for, get up and go over to it for the correction or forget about until you have the opportunity to do it right.

There are 5 basic obedience commands your dog needs to learn. Heel, Sit, Stay, Down, Come, and Housebreaking. But you need to accomplish several small "training" asks first. Of course this includes Housebreaking, the first and most important lesson a dog learns before it is an acceptable part of the family. 

You should also teach the new puppy its name and how to walk on a leash during the first few weeks together. Dogs do not naturally accept the restraint of a leash., so you'll need to steadily and slowly get them used to the leash. 

It is also wise if you establish good habits right from the start, such as chewing furniture, begging at the table, etc. Let the puppy learn early what is acceptable to you and what is not.