Now that you have decided to have a pet dog for your family, you should know how to train it so that it becomes a perfect member of your family and lives up to the reputation of being ‘man’s best friend’.

The first thing you should keep in mind when you get a new puppy and start to house train your dog , is the special needs of the puppy. This will be different for the various breeds and so you should know something about the characteristics of its breed. You should also know all about its lineage.

It is necessary that you choose a training program that will work well for you and your puppy. There are several good ways to train a puppy and you should select one of these that will suit you and the breed of your puppy. You must also decide on what tools you will employ when you house train your puppy.

Teaching your pup to obey you is the first thing it should learn when you house train it. It is essential that before everything else, it is taught obedience to commands.

Dogs can be taught to obey commands using either leash training or reward training. You should choose one of these. Your choice must be based not only on your preference but also on the breed of your dog.

For some breeds of dogs, like the Alsatians and German Shepherds, leash training is the best way to teach obedience.

Pups that are meant to become guard dogs would need leash training to be taught obedience. Whichever method you use to teach your pup to obey, you should know that this is a long process and will require you to be very patient. You should also be practical when you choose the type of aids you will need to train your puppy.

Leashes and dog collars are usually the favored aids for training puppies. Leashes must be used by your hand. The owner must constantly monitor when the puppy is on leash which is either held in the hand or tied to a post.

A hand- held leash has to be managed by physical effort. This will not be easy on the master and the dog under training.

Both types of leashes produce a big problem. Puppies on leash feel that they are restricted in their movements. This makes them cantankerous, and struggles to be free.

Since the leash is uncomfortable for the puppy, it would be better to put a collar on it. However, the danger here is that the puppy, which is free to move about, may run off to the road and meet with a terrible accident.

This is why many people prefer electronic or battery powered collars for their dogs.

Electronic collars work by giving the dog mild shocks that make them very uncomfortable. These collars have an built in device to generate such shocks.

Electronic collars work on batteries usually. They can be operated from a distance. If you find that your dog has wandered away, all you need to do is to send a signal to the electronic collar and your dog will choose to obey and return home rather than receive electric shocks.