Welcome to "How To Train my Puppy"!

Training a Puppy is tricky business. But whether you want to train your Puppy to stop ruining your furniture and behave a bit better or just to be more pleasant and playful, you've come to the right place: "How to train my puppy" will show you how.

The saying goes "Old Dogs don't lean new tricks". While that's not entirely true, it is much simpler to start the training at a younger age. Training your puppy is a very general term, because there are many things you can train your puppy to do. This is why we will focus on a few of the most common things people want to train their puppies in.

If the problem you're looking to solve doesn't appear here, be sure to check Secrets to Dog Training (Formerly SitStayFetch) for more info about how to train your puppy.

Some important things to keep in mind when training your puppy:

- The initial training process, especially for young puppies, should be more like a game than a task. It's best to be gentle, light, and fun.

- Up to 90% of puppy owners experience house training problems, most of which are due to repeated, subtle mistakes.

-The experiences that a puppy has during the critical imprinting stages of his life,(which also take place during the potty training phase) put an indelible mark on who your puppy is and what kind of an adult dog he will become.

- Don't expect have unrealistic results. For example, only at two or three months you can start housebreaking your puppy. This is due to the fact that most puppies will not have full control of their bladder for about six months to a year.

- Most puppy training mistakes can be safely and easily avoided, given the right information. If your puppy is having trouble with potty training or in any area that involves disobedience or other behavior problems, using the wrong training techniques can cause more damage than good. The longer they are used, the harder it will be to fix the resulting problems.

- No matter you see it, your puppy does not misbehave on purpose. Potty training failures are not because your puppy is stubborn, honory or stupid, but is simply due to a case of miscommunication that can be fixed with the right techniques and guidance.

Mostly, problem barkers bark because they are bored. Accustomed to a lot of attention, they don't know how to behave when alone. More often than not, we have set this up ourselves. We want our dogs to be happy, so we spoil them: our dogs get treats and petting whenever they wish. It is entirely normal for owners to act this way and entirely normal for dogs to complain when they feel neglected.

Here are some simple tips to get Train your Puppy to Stop Barking:

- Make sure you have done the basic things: See that your dog has food and water, and a comfortable place to relax where he can't see people or other pets. If necessary, bring him indoors.

- Believe it or not, the words you say mean nothing to a dog. What matters the way you say those words and the message delivered by your body language. When you overdo it by repeatedly reassuring your dog that everything is ok and you'll be back soon, you are making things worse. Excitedly greeting the dog on your return reinforces the idea that staying alone for the day really is a big deal.

- Stop praising and petting your dog for doing nothing. This won't be easy, but you've got to do it and the entire family must cooperate. For now at least, the only time you should even touch your dog is when he has responded correctly to a command.

- Practice being out of touch. Because you aren't petting and stroking and fondling him all the time, your dog should be learning now that it's ok to be "out of touch" for short periods. Get some good chew toys. Nylabones and Kongs are excellent. Let your dog become distracted with a chew toy, then calmly and quietly leave the room, closing the door behind you.

- Give your dog something to do while you are gone. Dogs left alone during the day are in a terribly unnatural situation, isolated with nothing to do. Instead of barking and tearing up the house, your dog can keep himself busy by earning his food.

For more effective ways to stop your puppy from barking and a wide array of obedience training techniques, be sure to visit Secrets to Dog Training.

- It is never a good idea to let Puppy play with your hands or feet – no matter how cute it seems. This teaches Puppy it is OK to bite skin.

-Yelp and walk away. Puppies are very social creatures and refusing to engage in play can be an effective training technique. As soon as puppy starts to bite or nip, give a loud, yelping OUCH!!! Glare at the pup, get up and move away. After a minute or so, get a toy and return to puppy. Encourage the puppy to play with the toy. If he goes for you with a nip, repeat yelping and walking away.

- Shake can. If puppy does not respond to a verbal command only, try a shake can. Get an empty and clean soda can and place about 10 pennies in it. Tape the mouth shut. When your pup starts to nip, give the verbal command and at the same time give the can a good shake or drop it next to puppy (not on him please). This will help reinforce the verbal command. As soon as he stops, praise and give him a good toy to chew.

- Play Initiated Nipping: Certain games encourage biting and should be avoided when working on "No Bite": tug-of-war, chase and tackle games, and other games where you actively encourage the puppy to bite a person. Dangling treats and encouraging a puppy to jump for then can encourage snapping for food as well as injure growing joints.

- Nothing in Life is Free: It is also a good idea to get your puppy used to working for things – even play time. Before you feed puppy, have him sit and then feed. Do the same before leashing up for a walk. If the puppy brings a toy and asks you to play, turn tables and do a bit of training then play. Puppy learns that if he listens and obeys and does something, there will be a reward. This also helps establish humans as higher in the pack order.

For more information and better detailed techniques, check out Secrets to Dog Training.

With the right techniques, method and approach, you can get your puppy to do almost anything. These methods, however, are too long to be described in one page and take a lot of reading and expertise to pull off.

I recommend using Secrets to Dog Training. This is a very well written and proffessional all-around training book. Daniel Stevens, the author, is one of the most respected and trusted dog training authorities and has sold over 25,000 copies of this eBook.