Dogs can be excellent companions and good household pets. We have called them “man’s best friend” forever because of that. But in order to be a decent doggy citizen and a dependable family pet you must train your dog well.

You should start training your puppy for obedience as soon as he arrives at your residence. The training will be ongoing until he is about a year old and then while he may be considered “fully trained”, you will still want to work with him to keep his skills razor-sharp for the rest of his days. A well-trained dog is a delight to own and a delight to be around.

The absolute most significant imperative of dog training is that you must be the “alpha dog”. The term “alpha dog” may not appeal to you but the fact is that dogs are pack animals and they follow a leader. You must be the “top dog” or the leader. Every human member of your family must outrank your dog in the pack order. Dogs will do anything for love and approval from the pack leader and in order to have a contented dog and a happy family the leader must be you.

Your dog must never be allowed to show dominance. He needs to wait to eat until after you have finished eating. This is a subtle but very imperative thing when it comes to establishing domination. He must never be allowed to jump on you or other people either.

Do not ever allow your puppy to do stuff that you will not allow him to do as an grown dog. This includes jumping and nipping at you. One of the most key things in training a dog is consistency. A dog cannot infer like a human and he will not appreciate that it is tolerable to jump on you in your play clothes but not in your business suit. He also won’t understand why he could do something as a puppy but he can’t continue to do it as an adult dog. Be consistent.

If you get a crate all of your guidance will be easier. Dogs actually feel protected and secure in a comfy and warm place that they feel is their own. Your puppy may whine when he goes into the crate at the beginning but you need to just leave him there. He will adjust and he will in fact grow to like it very soon. A crate will make housetraining and obedience training easier.

It is important for your dog’s own protection to sit and stay. You must be able to get your dog to stop and stay if essential. It is imperative to be able to control your dog at times and you will need to make sure that he is obedient with your instructions in order to avoid troubles like running off or jumping all over the visitors to your residence.

You will probably also want to train your dog to walk on a leash and to heal and after the basics you can move on to the fun things like fetching. Well-trained dogs make the best pets so be a responsible pet owner and train your dog well.

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