Tips for a new dog owner w/no other pets.

Congratulations on the beginning of what should be a wonderfully rewarding time! Dogs live in the 'now' and it is a lesson we should all take on board..

The best possible advice I can give you as a new dog owner is to start from day one as you mean to go on - this can be very hard when this cute young puppy face looks at you but dogs are pack animals and if you don't ensure you are leader of the pack you will have a dog that is always a problem for you and visitors.

Here are some early things you can try:

Use food treats to reward good behaviour - only tiny bits are needed but have some handy all the time and make sure you praise the dog when it does the right thing with a treat. My dog always sits to get a treat and you can do this by just holding it in front of his nose then lifting it up and saying "sit" - the nose goes up and the butt goes down. Hooray!

You can quickly escalate this into shaking hands to get a treat. Same thing, hold out treat then reach down and grab paw saying "paw" or "shake" - gradually the dog will get used to lifting its paw for you. This is also a good one before you feed the dog, make it sit and shake hands.

Sounds like a silly party trick but actually it is about you being the boss of the dog and it knowing this - food is the most primal thing for these former hunters so because you are controlling the food you are proving you are leader of the pack. But be careful how much the dog eats - I always allow for the treats I give my dog out of his daily food so he is still a slim boy!

Another really important thing is to make sure the dog comes to you when you call so start off with a long rope/leash and say "come" pulling slightly in the rope - lots of praise at the first sign of response and a big treat and cuddle when it arrives in front of you - make sure it sits in front of you before you give the treat.. Be patient and gradually learn to do it without the leash. Practice at home by calling the dog to come at any odd moment and always give a treat. Your dog will quickly associate obeying the come command with praise and a treat.

Now a big word of warning that is very hard to do but is critical - there are times when you dog will be doing something naughty (yes, even yours) and you will want to call him to you to get him away from something or someone. The tempation is to call your dog and then tell it off for having been naughty but the dog does not actually remember that it was doing something naughty it only learns that by responding to your command of 'come' it is getting told off - so no matter how awful it has been if it comes when you call you must praise and reward it. That way it will respond positively everytime you call because it knows that there is a good outcome.

If the dog does not come when you call do not chase it - the dog will think it is a game and run away further. You need to walk away or even hide behind a tree and make the dog come and find you.

I always try to use single words for each command and use them consistently - don't confuse the dog by using different words all the time, and try to get others in the house to be equally consistent.

Start early and your dog will get used to learning new things which is great fun. My dog will roll over and play dead on command and he also "gives me four" (one paw) or "gives me eight" (two paws).

Keep us all posted on how you are progressing and we will give you more tips along the way. Most of all enjoy your new friend and don't forget to take pictures then you can make digital stories about your dog as I have about mine. See my Hub on making movies out of still photos.