Congratulations on your families new dog. Now is when the real work begins. Providing quality care for a dog, especially a puppy, is like taking care of a small child - they require 24 hour attention and they need lots of loving affection even when they make plenty messes. Here are some important dog training tips to help make the adjustment period easier for both of you.

Dinner Time

- Feed your dog on a set schedule. One of the most important puppy training tips is to feed your dog at the same times every day. This makes it much easier for house breaking. Keep in mind that most puppies need to eat at least 3 meals a day in order to supply the calories that their growing bodies need.

- Feed your dog a high quality diet. This is twofold - one, higher quality dog food will provide the nutrients that your dog needs to stay healthy. Two, a higher quality dog food creates less and better formed stools, reducing the number of accidents that your dog will have.

- Do not free feed your dog. What goes in must come out, and if you are free feeding your dog, you may not be home when this happens. Free feeding can also lead to obesity and other health problems.

Puppy Potty Training Tips

- Keep your dog on a potty schedule. An essential puppy potty training tip for house training involves a schedule. A schedule for going outside to use the bathroom makes it easier for your dog to anticipate when he or she will be able to go out next, and it help eliminates the risk of accidents. -

- Take the dog out in immediate "gotta go" situations. Your dog will need to go to the bathroom - immediately after waking, eating, being crated, or in times of great excitement.

"Bad" Dog Training Tips

Much of puppy training involves preventing unwanted behavior. Here are some dog training tips that will make it easier to make your dog a model citizen.

- Set your dog up to succeed. All the dog training tips in the world will not make dog training successful if you do not use some common sense. If there are things that you do not want your dog to chew on, play with, or get into, then make sure that the dog does not have access to them.

- Clothing is not a 'play thing'. Your dog does not know the difference between playing tug of war with an old sock and playing tug of war with your brand new pair of pantyhose.

- Rotate toys. Like children, dogs can get bored with the same toys over and over again. Rotate toys as part of your dog training to help keep them fresh, and replace toys that have become broken or excessively worn.

Correction Dog Training Tips

Your dog will need correction at some point of your dog training. Tips to help with this include:

- Only use positive reinforcement. - Bad behaviors like barking for attention should be ignored.

- stop behavior unexpectdedly. Interrupting behavior at the same time and in the same way will cause your dog to ignore you.

- Redirect unwanted behaviors. If your dog is starting to jump up, tell him to sit and reward him for sitting. Replace inappropriate chew toys, like shoes, with appropriate toys instead.

By taking the time to conduct appropriate dog training, you will enjoy a lifetime of relaxed companionship with your new best friend.