1. Get a crate. It makes housetraining incredibly easy.
2. Let your puppy sleep in your bedroom, at least for the first few nights. This whole experience is scary for a pup. Don’t make him/her sleep in the laundry room. Put the crate next to your bed so you can reassure him/her.
3. Baby gates are your friend. Use them to keep the puppy out of places you don’t want him/her to destroy.
4. Supervise, supervise, supervise. If you cannot watch him/her like a hawk, he/she needs to be in his/her crate or in his/her “room,”
5. Set up a puppy room for when you can’t supervise. Pick a small area like the bathroom or kitchen, block it off with baby gates. Add a bed in one corner and pee pads or a dog “toilet” in another.
6. Pick a potty spot. If you don’t want Sparky pooping all over the yard as an adult, pick one area and take him/her directly there when it’s potty time.
7. Set a daily routine. Housetraining proceeds more smoothly if your puppy knows what to expect from her/his day.
8. Enroll in a puppy class. Your pup will learn some basic obedience, but the real benefit of puppy classes is socialization with other puppies and people.
9. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. Not all advice is good advice. Take everything with a grain of salt. And please, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, stay away from Yahoo! Answers.
10. Make sure everyone is on the same page. Discuss the puppy rules with your whole family. Figure out who will do what when. Pick one set of training cues and stick with them.
11. Play some puppy training games.
12. Don’t encourage behavior that you’ll regret when he gets big. Jumping up is cute when he/she weighs ten pounds. It won’t be cute when he’s/she's 60 pounds.
13. Get your pup used to handling from day one, touching feet, nails, tail, ears, mouth, teeth, and belly with love. Your vet will thank you.
14. Start grooming early on. For the same reason as above.
15. Let your puppy meet at least two new (friendly and gentle) people every day.
16. Take your puppy to the petstore. Great socialization opportunity. Keep her in the shopping cart and off the floor until she’s had all her puppy shots.
17. Introduce your pup to all kinds of novel things. People in funny hats. Remote control cars. Kids playing. Agility equipment. Balloons. Cats. Car rides.
18. Socialize, don’t traumatize. Introduce new experiences slowly and never let your puppy get overwhelmed.
19. Invite friends and family to meet-the-puppy parties.
20. Frozen wet washclothes and baby carrots make great chews for teething puppies
21. Reward good behavior, don’t wait for bad behavior. Reward the puppy when you see him/her doing something you like. Don’t wait until he’s/she's misbehaving to give him/her attention.
22. Avoid the dog park. In addition to putting your undervaccinated puppy at risk for disease, most dogs at the dog park are quite rude by canine standards. A couple bad experiences could ruin your puppy’s opinion of her own species.
23. Feed 2-3 small meals per day. Don’t leave food out for her to graze on.
24. Pick up anything you don’t want destroyed. If it’s on the floor, it WILL be chewed.
25. Get your puppy microchipped. It’s your best chance at being reunited with your dog if he ever gets lost. You can get this done for around £20 at your vet or local shelter.
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