Help your dog learn to listen when you talk and understand what you are saying.
Sit, Stay, Lie Down, Stop – these are all basic follow commands for dogs. Once your dog understands these basic commands and obeys when told these commands, you are well on your way to controlled behavior.
Teach your dog how to react when friendly faces visit your home.
Dogs tend to react to things that are out of the ordinary – a doorbell, a random person walking down the street, a gecko… The list can go on and on. Train your dog to recognize when it is time to sound the alarms and when to restrain from reacting.
Your dog has his own stuff and so do you.
Teach your dog which items are his to play with and which items are yours and thus off limits. Dogs need to clearly know what is theirs and what is not and how to differentiate between the two. Teaching boundaries prevents a closet full of chewed shoes (among other things).
Prepare your dog for public outings.
How does your dog handle being on a leash? What about seeing other dogs at the park? Does your dog behave as you want him to? If not, some basic training steps can be taken to make your dog as nice outside the home as he is inside your home.
Prepare your dog for interaction with other dogs or pets.
Whether you have another dog or any other kind of pet in the house, your dog needs to learn to get along with and cohabitate with the other animal(s). Outside the home, other dogs are everywhere. Make sure your dog is not the bully of the dog park with socialization training.
House-train your dog – your dog, your home, your rules.
Bringing a dog into your home presents many challenges; the most common being how to house-train your dog. There are basic items such as “potty skills” that must be taught. Beyond that, basic obedience teaching will help keep you and your dog living happily under the same roof.