How your puppy learns

There’s no doubt that puppies are little bundles of adorable fun, but to make sure they grow up into happy, sociable dogs, they need training. Puppies learn very quickly, so it's important to start teaching them good behaviour as soon as possible.

There are hundreds of books on the subject and you'll find puppy-training courses available in most areas. Your vet will be able to advise you on what's best for your pet and he or she may even run courses themselves. There are many different ways to approach training, but there are some golden rules that everyone should follow:

There's no such thing as a "bad" dog
Puppies love to have fun, and this can often include things that you won't like him doing. Chewing the furniture or your shoes, for example. But he doesn't know that this is bad behaviour - he just thinks it's a game. So you'll need to teach him that he's not supposed to do it. If your puppy does something you don't approve of, remove him from the object he's chewing or the area that he's not supposed to be in, and do not pet him or talk to him. Show him objects that he is allowed to chew, or places he's allowed to go and then praise him. This will reinforce to your pet what you consider acceptable behaviour

Just say NO
If there's one word you want your puppy to learn it's 'no'. If your puppy does something potentially dangerous or extremely destructive, you should interrupt the behaviour with a firm 'no'. There's no need to shout, just use a low, assertive tone. Once he stops the behaviour, reward him with lots of praise.