Training pups / dogs requires careful supervision, consistency and lots of patience. But training or teaching acceptable behavior is essential for you to be happy together. They make any dog much easier to live with and also strengthens the bond between dogs and humans. It is wise to instill good habits and manners at an early age. Always praise him when he does something right rather than showing anger and instilling pain when he doesn't. Punishing or hitting can become meaningless if done too often and can make your dog afraid of you. The only time you should strike your dog is when he actually threatens to bite. Keep on repeating the commands, correct and manually guide him to perform the command until he learns each lesson and do it always in a firm, confident and a no-nonsense voice.

Toilet training :

Dogs are instinctively clean animals who avoid soiling their own territory. However a puppy needs training which takes time and patience. Some pups can be housetrained at three months, others may take longer. Take the pup/dog out early in the morning, late in the night and then after each meal, wait until he goes and then praise lavishly. This makes it fun for the dog since it wants to please you. Reduce the responsibility for mistakes indoors by always watching your dog when it is inside and taking it our as soon as you can see it wants to go. Cover the floor of the dog's living area with newspapers at night to make for easy cleaning. Always pick up the dogs excrement and bury it with the use of a plastic shovel. Leaving it open or near any water source can cause unsanitary conditions.

Biting:

The pup's jaw muscles are not properly developed, between 4 and 18 weeks of age. During this time, it is perfectly normal for puppies to use its sharp little teeth to bite us. They are undergoing a natural learning process and it is our job to teach them that biting humans is not acceptable. Shouting 'no' and tapping it on the nose only confuses the dog, all it learns is that when you bite a human, dart away quickly. Instead do what happens naturally between two pups in play. When one bites too hard, the other yelps and the first lets go. Every time the puppy's teeth comes in contact with your skin, let out a yelp. You will quickly teach it not to use its teeth on you. After 18 weeks, when the adult teeth push through, there should be no contact between the dog's teeth and your skin and clothing. No matter how gently it grasps your hand in its mouth, it is an attempt at domination. Use a loud 'get off' combined with sharp eye contact and ignore it for a moment thereafter. Do not pet or praise when it lets go- there should be no rewarding circumstance during any interaction involving the dog's teeth.

Basic commands :

Basic commands can be taught when your puppy is 12 weeks old. But wait until he is 6 or 8 months old before enrolling him in obedience classes. Get a collar and leash before teaching commands. The leash should be 6 feet long and 1/2 to 1 inch wide. Hold it in a way that you have about 2 feet in reserve. Training sessions should be regular say 15 to 30 minutes once or twice a day.

Basic training in obedience includes teaching commands like heel, sit, stay, down, come, no or leave it, drop it and don't jump up and so on. The first and the most important command you can teach your dog is to heel i.e walk along beside you on your left side without going ahead or going behind. Always snap the leash to get him into position. Then go on ahead with the other commands one by one praising him lavishly while he learns. Keep on repeating the commands, correct and manually guide him to perform the command until he learns each lesson and do it always in a firm, confident and a no-nonsense voice.