If you’re anything like me, your dogs are a source of companionship and delight in your life.

I mean… who else can create laughter simply by running around the kitchen island in a full out sprint?

But along with all the perks of being a dog owner comes all of the responsibility of training the puppy.

Most people think of housetraining a dog when they think of training tips for dogs, but the truth is there are other things that are critical for a dog to learn, and the earlier the better.

Here are the top 7 areas where a dog needs to be trained:

1. Housetraining.

The younger a puppy is when he learns to go to the bathroom outside, the better he’ll be able to follow the rules when he’s older! Mastering the best ways to teach a dog the rules of going to the bathroom where & when they’re supposed to is key if you expect the puppy to master the behavior.

2. Crate training.

Crate training is invaluable for a puppy – crates create a safe place for the puppy to stay, his own little home. Crates can be used for sleeping at night, for travel, and also just as a place that the puppy knows he can go when he is anxious or needing some privacy.

3. Obedience.

Being able to tell your dog, “Sit,” “stay,” “wait,” or “No!” is incredibly more effective when they actually obey you!

Obedience training is one of the most important pieces of puppy training to create a harmonious and peaceful environment with your dog.

4. Walking.

The iconic image of a dog owner with their dog is always that of a dog walking peacefully beside his owner. But what if your dog isn’t able to walk peacefully beside you? Trying to take your dog for a walk and constantly battling the pull against the leash can take all of the enjoyment out of that special time.

Training a dog to walk peacefully beside you means that you can enjoy the experience fully, without worrying about your dog getting away, pulling you, or being overly excited or aggressive towards people you may encounter during the walk.

5. Returning.

This is perhaps the most important training advice I can give: teaching a dog to come when you call him can save a dog’s life.

What happens when your dog is running out into a busy street and he doesn’t respond when you call to him? The result could be tragic. Teaching your dog to come when you call is vital.

6. Manners.

This is perhaps the area that plagues dog owners the most often! Teaching a dog not to jump on house guests, not to beg during dinner, and not to bark while inside the house can all make a huge difference in your relationship with your canine friend.

Puppies respond well to the right training in this area, and it’s easier when you know the right methods to use.

7. Tricks.

This one is just fun! Every dog owner loves to give his puppy treats in exchange for sitting on command, shaking, waving, speaking, or playing dead.

And puppies love to show off their skills!

All in all, training is the most valuable resource you could have in your relationship with your new puppy.  Click here to discover the best dog breed for you and your family.

Having a dog as a pet is not always the right thing for many people. Some people can’t stand the thought of having a dog, while others don’t like the idea of having to clean up after their dog.

The people who do love to have a dog as their pet and bosom companion are the people who will devote the most time, energy and effort into raising their dog.

These people will find that their lives are empty without a dog to fill in the void and will almost always have at least one dog with them. I am I have to say, one of these people.

I got my first dog when I was nine years old and I haven’t looked back since. In the way of children all over the world, I pleaded and begged and all but sold my soul to get my first dog, and then proceeded to forget all about him as the novelty wore off in the first few months.

The dog, catcher, however didn’t forget me and continued to faithfully dog my steps (excuse the pun) until without my even realizing it, he took up a large portion of my affection.

I was lucky in this, my first dog lived to the ripe old age of twelve, whereupon he succumbed to old age and went to doggy heaven. After a suitable period of mourning I then found myself missing the unquestioning loyalty and faithfulness of my soul companion so I went searching around for another companion.

This wasn’t as easy as I thought since I didn’t want another Labrador (Catcher was a Labrador), but then again I didn’t want to deviate too far from the doggy characteristics that made Catcher my dog-in-a-million.

Amazingly enough, unlike when I went looking for Catcher for the first time at age nine, I found that mature college student that I was, I was still having difficulty finding and choosing the right dog for me.

I spent hours trawling through the various books and other magazines about dogs, in an effort to find out what I needed to know before I made a decision.

Being older I now needed some specific characteristics from my dog, traits which catcher innately had, or which he learned through interaction with me as the years wore on.

But since this was a whole new ball game, and a whole different breed of dog I was after, I gave the matter more thought than I otherwise might have.

This in turn led to my ultimately embracing everything that was dog, which in turn has led me to this point.

I have seen so many mismatched pairings of owner and dog over the years troop in and out of my sight that I finally gave in to the pleadings of my best friend and decided to put down on paper what knowledge I have collected, with the thought of helping fellow dog lovers to find the best pairing of dog for them.

Of course with the advent of the Internet it has become much easier to find help in choosing the right dog breed for you, but even there I have found that you have to do a little bit of legwork before you can get to heart of the matter.

Here, in my dog breed ebook, I have tried to give you as much knowledge and help as I could to get along with the little matter of choosing your perfect-fit dog.

I don’t claim to have everything written down on these pages that you should know about dogs and selecting the correct dog.

Nor have I managed to find information about each and every type of dog that exists in the world today. That would be an almost never-ending impossible task what with the different cross bred dogs which abound. However, there is a goodly amount of information for you to take, and which will hopefully be of help to you.

Oh, yes. You might also be interested in knowing that I now have a spunky four year old Chihuahua and a six month old Saint Bernard that admittedly tends to slobber over everything. And overseeing this odd pairing, I have an eight year old Labrador whom I found in an animal shelter.