Pet-iquette: First understand puppies

Q. I would like to teach my puppy how to sit and lie down...
You can start teaching the dog at six weeks. Before giving a word command to your dog, speak its name to get its attention. Stand in front of your dog and hold a tasty treat in front of its nose. When you get the dogs attention, bring the treat up above its head so that it looks up to see where the food has gone. The dog’s bottom should automatically move towards the floor.

As soon as the dog sits, use the command ‘sit’ and treat the dog. Repeat till the dog associates the word command with the action. You will probably have to repeat the command many times. Never use negative reinforcement.

Do not call your dog to come to you for punishment because this will teach your dog not to come on command. Once the puppy has learnt ‘sit’, you can move on to ‘lie down’. With the dog in a sitting position, lower your hand towards the floor. The dog should follow the treat and lower their head towards the floor until they are in a down position. As the dog is getting used to this, it may be necessary to reward any sign of movement with an encouraging ‘good boy’. You may either use food, or affection such as a belly rub, a pet or verbal praise as the reward or both. Remember, training should always be fun and productive to end on a positive note. Sessions should be not more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Training your dog before meals will help them associate their meal with a reward for the training.

Q. How do I potty train my puppy?
First understand puppies.  They have a schedule that their bodies follow; they need to go out right after naps, after exercise, and after eating and drinking.  For good measure let the puppies out about every two hours and take them to the same place each time.

Praise them when they potty outside and provide a treat afterwards. In the beginning, keep your pup on a leash, this way you can monitor them and quickly catch an accident before, or as it is happening and get your puppy outside. Once you have a handle on your puppy’s potty schedule and he is learning that outside is the place to relieve himself, it is time to teach him how to tell you he has to go out! Someone I know puts a bell or two on a string.

Tied to the door knob, so that each time the pup goes out he hears and associates the sound with going outside. Put another string of bells parallel with his nose.   Once he rings the bell, praise and treat him. This lets him know that ringing the bell is what you want. When he understands that you want him to ring the bell, you may begin to stop treating him with food for ringing the bell, but continue to praise him and go outside. Each time he rings the bell praise and let him outside. At first, he will ring the bell often but soon he will realise the bell ringing is his way of telling you he needs to go outside. Don’t over react when he has accidently relieved himself.