Jack Beckstrom is recognised as one of the greats of the Montana sled dog world, now retired from the sport he is still very much involved. Along with his wife Pam. he is on the board of directors of the company that organises Montana's famous Race to the Sky distance race in February. The Beckstrom are also the owners of Adananc sleds and equipment the home of the world's first X-back harness, the Zima x-back. These harnesses along with the rest of the Adanac range is available in the UK through Xtra Dog. Click here to view the range.

In July 2000 jounalist Stephen Lay caught up with Jack and wrote this interview at the height of his racing career, his photo even appeared on the cover of the magazine.

Mushers call Jack Beckstrom the pillar of Montana racing. They're right. Without Jack's dedication and his nearly three decades of effort, Montana sled dog racing might be a footnote rather than a major attraction in Big Sky Country.

Jack deserves many accolades for his accomplishments. But he is reluctant to accept them. Instead, he quickly points out the significant contributions of the many others whose work has made Montana one of the best American mushing regions outside Alaska. But those in the know tell you that Jack is the glue cementing Montana's racing community. His leadership extends to all facets of the sport.

Jack has been instrumental in establishing most of the state's sled dog races—the Root Beer Classic, Seeley Lake, Montana's premiere Race to the Sky and others which have since run their course. Not only was he "one of the founders of the Race to the Sky," said Norman Lee, Race to the Sky race coordinator and a Montana Sled Dog, Inc. board member, "this race would not be run today if it were not for his initiative in keeping it going."

Jack has repeatedly served as chairman of Montana Sled Dog, Inc., the Race to the Sky parent organisation. His contributions are significant. "He led the board of directors that brought the race back from near bankruptcy to being the longest continuous-format race in the Lower 48," said Lee.

To long-time board member Pam Otto (now Jack's wife), Beckstrom's leadership style provides the basis for his success. "He never makes a rash decision and always allows both sides to have their say. Usually there must be compromise from both sides, but he is able to talk to both and allow each to leave with dignity. We have had some hard decisions to make, but he handles them with grace and integrity."

Contributions to the sport itself impact his own racing. Beckstrom usually races, and consistently earns a respectable finish, but he doesn't dominate the winner's circle. If he added a major race to his circuit, it would probably be the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. The wilderness of the race and the distances between the checkpoints appeal to him.

 Although well-known in Montana's mushing circles, Jack is a relative newcomer to the state. He grew up outside of Chicago and moved west to attend the University of Idaho. He briefly returned to Illinois to marry Laurie, his high school sweetheart. Along with the bride came his introduction to sled dogs. Laurie owned a Siberian husky. "If you have a husky, you should run it," Jack said. The young couple started racing in Idaho. Their three-dog team expanded to a half dozen dogs by the end of the first winter and a total of 10 by the end of the year. The kennel grew until it topped 70.

In the mid-1970s the Beckstroms moved to Montana for the better snow conditions and to be near their friends and mushing mentors Lee and Mel Fishback. The Fishbacks, former Californians, owned a small sled manufacturing and musher supply company.

Shortly after the Beckstroms' arrival in Montana, Lee Fishback died of a heart attack while running his dogs. Within a short time, Jack started making sleds to serve Fishback's customers. Mel continued making the Zima brand of harnesses until 1983 when the Beckstroms acquired the brand, and Laurie took over sewing, which she continues, although they are no longer married.

 Jack's company, Adanac Sleds and Equipment, has since grown, and mushers as far away as Europe rely on it for their racing equipment and supplies. They praise Jack as a great guy to do business with. It's another accolade he has earned for his diligence and basic sense of fair play.

Beckstrom offers a complete line of equipment as well as sleds. The company doesn't attempt to compete with the ultra high tech and higher priced equipment that other companies have selected for their market niche. According to Lee, Jack's sleds have a reputation for standing up to hard use.

"He is very patient with customers," Otto said. "Jack strives to make sure every customer is happy. Sometimes customers really don't know what they want, or they want something that may not be appropriate for their needs, and Jack tries to turn them around so they get what will be useful for them."

The entire business is built on integrity. Unlike the American business trend today of going to the lowest bidder and constantly pressuring suppliers for ever-lower prices, Jack has worked with the same subcontractors for years because they produce the product quality he demands for his customers.

Along with "hardware" necessary for mushing, Jack gives his customers the "software" he has learned in his nearly 30 years of working with dogs. He is always "talking to mushers about training, nutrition, and answering any other questions they seem to have," Otto said.

When mushers ask about the dogs, Beckstrom becomes even more enthusiastic. Of all the praise he receives, there's one Jack treasures above all others: Tell him he is good to his dogs, and he'll simultaneously beam with well-earned pride and Jack personally builds the 40 to 50 sleds his company, sells each year. blush like a teenager after his first kiss. To Beckstrom, mushing is all about his dogs and his relationship with them.

He loves his team, he enjoys his dogs' energy, and he glories in their accomplishments. He picks his teams with the precision of an NFL coach. "Dogs have to be selected for their athletic ability. If you don't do that, you're limited. If you have the caliber of dog that you need—dogs with good athletic ability you can train them better.

You can feed them better. You can care for them better. You can do lots of other things, but if you have dogs who aren't gifted athletically, you're only going to go so far," Beckstrom said.

Along with the dog's ability, Beckstrom looks at their personality.

"You take that natural desire to pull, and you funnel it, work with it and reward it," he said. "They have the desire to get together with their buddies and go as fast as they can and have as much fun doing it as they possibly can.

"Training is channeling all their natural energy; dogs are so willing to please. When you communicate with them, they will get a response from you that's fun and exciting and pleasurable to them for doing what they love to do under your direction. That's the key."

Once he gets the dogs capable of doing the job, Beckstrom then concentrates on training. He feeds them the best diet possible to build their strength and stamina. And he constantly praises them. In return they give him their all. As he walks through the kennel, the dogs vie for his attention like a class of kindergartners scrambling for a candy jar. Each dog gets a pet and a word of encouragement, and they thrive on it.

"Just look at his kennel and how spotless it is, how happy his dogs are, and how happy he is. It is all a reflection of his way of life; it's not just a sport to him," Otto said.

Today he has a relatively small kennel of about 20 dogs, which he keeps on raised wooden platforms. The platforms dry quickly, and the dogs are healthier when off the wet ground.

"Just look at his kennel and how spotless it is, how happy his dogs are, and how happy he is. It is all a reflection of his way of life; it's not just a sport to him"

"If there is anything that creates a feeling of pride in me, it is when somebody comes along who has taken my advice in terms of dog care. Whether it is training, nutrition, vet care .... The dogs are who benefit, and it does feel good," Beckstrom said. "One of the real rewards behind pushing so hard for Rendezvous every year is that I know that for all those people who attend -typically almost a hundred mushers show up - they are all getting really valuable information, and most will implement some changes in order to improve in their operation."

The Rendezvous symposium, sponsored by Montana Sled Dog, Inc.is a proactive approach to ensure good treatment of all animals. In early September for the last nine years, mushers and would-be mushers have met for a weekend of educational programs. It lets "some of the best mushers in the world talk about how they train their dogs, answer questions, give sample training schedules, talk about equipment and talk about mistakes," Beckstrom said. Doug Swingley and Rick Swenson gave the keynote addresses in 1999.

"If anything sets Montana apart, I would say it's probably the hospitality and the openness of the community to mushing," Beckstrom said. "It's one of the things people coming to the area always remark on. Our host family programs and the efforts we make to get the mushers into the schools for pre- and post-race appearances impress visitors."

Musher appearances and education are part of the strategy to combat what Beckstrom considers misguided animal rights activists. He strongly advocates a proactive approach to counter anti-mushing propaganda. "We have to grab the high moral ground first, as opposed to talking from a defensive position. We have to be educating, educating, educating," he said.

Beckstrom feels many supporters of radical animal rights organizations have no understanding of the dogs' natural instincts for running. Supporters would change their minds if they saw how much the dogs genuinely enjoy training and racing.

While he has limited patience with the activists, he has no tolerance for the few mushers who aren't taking good care of their dogs. The few bad apples give all a bad name.

"We will go to mushers and talk to them about how they are kenneling their dogs or feeding their dogs," Beckstrom said. "Some people ... we've had to get in their face and tell them, 'You are not welcome at our races if you act that ways'"

It usually works. People who hear that message change their ways or quit racing. It is one of the few times that Jack Beckstrom doesn't try to reach compromise. To him this is not a place for compromise—there's only the right way to do things. This doesn't surprise his friends and fellow mushers.

"He's always looking out for the dogs' welfare," Lee said. And he always will.

Stephen Lay is a freelance writer, editor and photographer who enjoys extreme climates. After living in Alaska for 25 years, he currently divides his time between southern Africa, Australia, the deserts of the American Southwest and the Arctic.

Article reproduced with kind permission from Mushing magazine, for more information or to subscribe, visit http://www.mushing.com/

Dogs possess a fantastic nose and smells are a very important part of their life. Playing scent games can give you a fantastic insight in this side of their world. While you may associate scent work with serious activities such as Search & Rescue or working trials, which both require a very big commitment to training, getting started with scent work is actually very easy. Here is a simple and fool proof method to teach a basic game at home, without any special equipment and whichever breed your dog is. You will only need a helper to get you started.

Start in a closed room, hold your dog and ask your helper to show them a ‘prize’ such as a dog biscuit or a favourite toy. If needed, they may encourage the dog by shaking it in front of your dog’s nose and talking to them in an exciting manner. Then place the prize just out of sight, for instance behind a box or a piece of furniture, and take a few steps back. Release your dog saying ‘find it’. As they have seen where the prize was placed, they should go straight to it. When they do, praise them. Play with them for a short time if the prize was a toy. Repeat this once or twice, not necessarily with the prize in the same place.

The next step is slightly different. Your helper should still place the prize just out of sight. Then, instead of releasing your dog, either cover their eyes or turn them towards you so they can’t see what is happening. Your helper should then as quietly as possible move the prize a little further. Keep it simple at first, the prize should be on the floor and within a relatively short distance. When you release your dog remember to say ‘find it’ – they should go straight to the place where they think the prize is. They will be surprised that it is not where they though and start searching. Unless the dog stops searching or looks too confused, don’t repeat the command. I see many people who think they are encouraging their dog, while they are actually distracting them. Search and Rescue dog handlers direct their dogs during searches, but they also know when to shut up and let their dog work. Well, have you ever tried to concentrate on something while your colleague is speaking loudly on the phone or your teenager has put the volume up on their stereo? Dogs are not always a lot better at multi-tasking than men!! Oops, now I’m going to be putting men off reading the rest of this article!! But come on guys, you know you can’t talk while you’re shaving!

Coming back to our scent game, once you have done this a few times in different locations in the room, your dog should not need to see the helper place the prize to a ‘dummy’ location first. Instead, cover your dog’s eyes or turn them towards you from the start, have your helper hide the prize and then send your dog with a ‘Find it’. Always use the same cue when releasing the dog.

The dog will very shortly understand the game enough so that you won’t need a helper anymore, simply place your dog in one room, close the door and hide the prize in the next room. Open the door saying ‘Find it’ and watch your dog go.

Then the limit to how far you take this game is only your imagination, you can make your dog search one room, the whole house, the garden, the dog park… If you do not always use the same prize, then make sure that the dog is shown it first and has a chance to sniff it. Otherwise, you may be surprised what your dog will find for you!

There are many more scent games you can play with your dog. Why not check if your local club offers any scent activities or join a nose work boot camp? All dogs love scent work, it is suitable for all size and breed. Learn the techniques and take your relationship with your dog to a whole new level. People who have dogs who always seem to want to do more will get the added benefit of finally finding an activity that will tire their dog out. Scent games can even help with dogs who bark or get destructive when bored.

About Caroline Dunn

Caroline lives in Kent with her family and their hovawarts. She is the head trainer at Mind Your Dog, where she creates happy relationships between pet dogs and their owners. Caroline and her husband James are also members of NSARDA Cantech, a charity which provides Search & Rescue dog teams to assist in locating vulnerable missing people.

For more information about Mind your Dog events, including their scent workshops visit the Mind Your Dog website http://www.mindyourdog.co.uk/

Dogs pull on the lead for many different reasons:

If you allow your dog to pull, you are simply rewarding the behaviour, and if a behaviour is rewarded it is likely to be repeated. Collars can actually cause pulling because being held around the neck is very uncomfortable and a dog does not always understand that if he were to walk nicely the pressure would ease. Imagine that a person grabs you around the neck and pulls backwards - your reflex would be to pull immediately in the opposite direction. Therefore a lot of lead pulling is the simple physics of opposing forces - you pull, your dog pulls etc. Often, people teach their puppy to pull within seconds of first trying out a collar and lead. The tiny puppy who has never been held by his neck before, runs to the end of the lead and the person goes with the pup to avoid the pup hurting his neck. Bingo, the pup learns "run where I like and the two legged thing will come with me". Simply using a soft harness, a long lead and a few bits of tasty chicken to keep the pup by your side could prevent your puppy ever learning that pulling works.

Dogs and people see the world differently, for example:
Person thinks: My dog has pulled all the way to the beach as usual, thank goodness it's time to let him off.
Dog thinks: Pulling on the lead is what gets the lead taken off

Allowing your dog to pull is actually teaching him or her that this is what they must do to get to where they want to go. Pulling on the lead is extremely rewarding, don't allow it. Some dogs who have been subject to harsh jerks on lead, will often avoid a loose lead because a loose lead immediately precedes a jerk

How to teach your dog to walk on a loose lead

Harnesses

Give some serious consideration to walking your dog on a good quality harness, both for training and long term. Leads attached to collars can actually cause a dog to pull in the first place and pulling on a collar can cause long term neck, back and throat problems. A good harness can be a real asset to training and your dog's long term health.

Don't allow your dog to pull – ever!  *(see notes below if you are training a sled dog)  That can be a scary thought for owners of dogs that pull like mad, so do some planning as follows:

Learn a positive reward based training method for teaching your dog to walk well on the lead,. There are many excellent techniques to try and a good dog trainer will be able to teach you the right technique for you and your dog because no one technique will suit every person. In fact a good trainer should be able to tailor a different technique for everyone in their class if needed. It is possible to learn a lot from books and the internet but serious lead pulling is best dealt with by consulting a professional. There is no instant fix, it takes time and effort.

Every time your dog is on lead must be a training session. Allowing pulling some of the time will undo your hard work and confuse your dog.

If you use a long line or extendable lead, make sure you ask your dog to sit and wait before allowing them to run free, this way they won't learn that pulling makes the lead give way.

You could consider setting aside a whole day or a weekend or even a week off work to give your training a flying start.

Lead walking and Maturity

Most dogs are not fully mentally mature until they are about three years old. This may differ slightly with breed. It is only at this age can you expect your dog to know how to behave, and only if they have been taught positively and consistently from puppyhood. A two year old dog that has always pulled, may take until he's three, but it's more likely it will be longer as he will need to be rehabilitated.

Management and Training

In a perfect world, you would train your dog to do all the things you want him to do in an environment with No distractions. Then you would train him to do the same things with very low distractions. Next you would train the same things with slightly higher distractions and so on and so forth.

But at no time would you ask him to perform any aspect of his training in an environment where the distractions are too high – Would You?

If you do this, it is much like a driving instructor asking a pupil who has only just learned the controls, to drive through town in rush hour!

Therefore you can only expect your dog to sit, or lie, or come back or walk with a loose lead when the distractions are within his current level of training.

There will be times of course when you need your dog to go into more distracting environments than his current level of training, and that is when you need Management.

Good management is about preventing your dog from learning the wrong thing. Here are some ideas:

Avoid walking your dog where the distractions are too great completely. Use the car, choose different walks.

If it is safe to do so, don't use the lead.

Kerri Bee holds a Foundation Degree in Canine Behaviour and Training from the University of Hull. This particular qualification included a very strong element of practical dog training, teaching and counselling people and canine behavioural work as well as a high level of study in all things canine. She is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (no.0999) and runs training classes and one-to-one consultations in West Pembrokeshire. Visit her website. http://www.windrushdogsforlife.co.uk

Editor's Note * This would not be the case if you were training a sled dog, as you would want such a dog to pull, but it is useful for the dog to know when he is in work mode, ie pulling and when you want him to loose lead walk. My own husky is loose lead walked wearing a harness with 2-points-of-contact with a high point of influence, whilst for work she wears an x-back harness with the connection at the base of the tail. This way she know exactly what is expected of her.

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Tellington TTouch practitioner Janet Finlay who is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK (no.01046) looks at the 5 things that she most likes about Tellington TTouch

Janet Finlay, TTouch practitionerTTouch is a gentle and effective training method that uses a combination of bodywork, wraps and groundwork to change a dog's behaviour. There are many things I love about it, as a way of working with animals, but these are my top five:

Its ETHOS: TTouch starts from a position of respect for the animals we work with. We do TTouch for dogs, not to them. The way we work lets the dog know that we are listening to it: we constantly observe the dog's response and adjust what we do accordingly. If the dog is uncomfortable with something that we try, we move back to a point that was accepted. We are aiming always to enable the dog to be the best it is capable of being, and we recognise that the animals we work with are the very best teachers we can have.

It's EASY TO LEARN. Anyone can learn some basic TTouch to help their dog and some of the most powerful tools it provides, are among the simplest to learn. For example, TTouch ear work can reduce shock, induce relaxation, and lower the respiratory rate, and the "Zigzag" slide is great for refocusing over-stimulated or "stuck" dogs. Yet both are touches that can be learned in minutes and done anywhere.

It EMPOWERS owners, equipping them with tools they can use on a daily basis, at home and out in the world, to help their dog. Simply doing regular TTouch helps develop a stronger bond between owner and dog, and relaxes both. This gives a firm foundation for training new behaviours and making progress.

It ENABLES dogs to move forward, to learn, to focus. It releases physical tensions in the body, reducing reactivity and increasing calm. It gives them greater self-awareness and self-control and allows them to experience alternative ways of responding to situations. Whether they have "issues" or not, TTouch helps dogs to develop confidence and fulfil their potential.

It's EFFECTIVE. It is not that it works in the same way for every dog – it is certainly not a one-size fits-all "magic wand" for all canine problems. But I have yet to meet a dog that was not helped to some degree by something from the TTouch "toolkit". Sometimes the effect is dramatic: putting on a wrap, for instance, can completely change a dog's physical and emotional response – for example, a previously reactive dog may voluntarily lie down and relax. Sometimes the effect is more gradual, for instance where a dog that was previously sensitive to touch, slowly becomes more accepting of being handled. But whether the results are immediate or develop over time, or the changes dramatic or gradual, the bottom line is that TTouch works!

Janet Finlay is a TTouch Companion Animal Practitioner 2 and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (01046). She lives in Cardiff with her partner and her two dogs, Jake, a Smooth Collie, and Mirri, a Lurcher. To find out more about Janet Finlay's work or to book onto one of her workshops, visit her website http://www.canineconfidence.com/

To read more about Tellington TTouch visit  http://www.xtradog.com/ttouch-for-your-dog.html or visit www.ttouchtteam.com

These days there is an almost overwhelming choice of equipment available, all claiming to help us walk our dogs easily and safely. Tellington TTouch practitioner Janet Finlay who is also a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK (no.01046) looks at the benefits of using harnesses.

A wealth of different designs of collars, head collars, and harnesses. All have their proponents who feel theirs is the right tool to help you train your dog not to pull on the lead. So how do you decide what is the best for you and your dog?

As a TTouch practitioner I always want to choose equipment that will help the dog to succeed, so I start teaching loose lead walking by fitting a good harness – one that doesn’t tighten on the dog and that has at least chest and back attachments – together with a double-ended lead.

This may seem counter-intuitive. After all, anyone who has seen a team of huskies, knows that dogs can pull pretty hard into a harness. But it is also the best tool I know to stop a dog pulling. Here are six reasons why.

1. It takes pressure off the neck.

A dog pulling into a collar around the neck pulls himself off balance and he therefore has to use you (pulling back against him) to balance himself. Pressure on the neck also restricts breathing, reducing the oxygen that reaches the brain, increasing anxiety and reactivity and reducing the ability to learn. Not to mention the risk of physical damage to the neck and spine and to the soft tissue in the throat from pulling hard into a collar. So the first thing we need to do if we want to teach a dog to walk on a loose lead is to get that pressure off his neck! A good harness means that we can take all pressure off the neck, connecting instead to the chest and/or back.

2. It allows two points of connection.
When you attach the lead to one point on the dog, when the lead tightens, the dog’s opposition reflex will mean that he pulls into it. This is the case whether the attachment is to the collar or the back of the harness, which is why attaching to the back of the harness only, encourages a dog to pull. When a dog has not yet learned to walk on a loose lead, the lead will tighten simply because his natural pace is faster than ours. But a good harness has at least two connection points, one on the chest and the other on the back, and we can connect to each of these with either end of a double-ended lead. Then, if one end of the lead tightens, we can meet that pressure and then release it, while taking up the other connection. Alternating between connections in this way means that there is nothing for the dog to pull against and the opposition reflex is not triggered.

3. It positions the dog naturally at your side.
If you want your dog to walk on a loose lead, the ideal place for it to be is beside you, matching your pace and direction. Attaching a lead to a collar or the back of a harness, positions you firmly behind the dog – in the perfect position to encourage pulling! But when you add that front connection to the harness, with two points of connection, the dog moves naturally to be positioned with his shoulder at your side. This is a much more comfortable position to walk in and does not encourage pulling, which brings us to our next point.

4. It is more comfortable for your dog.
Harnesses distribute any pressure across a much larger and less sensitive body area in the chest and flank, than the alternatives where pressure is concentrated in the neck or face. A well-fitted harness is therefore more comfortable for your dog than being led by a collar or wearing a head-collar. Combined with two points of connection, a fixed harness does not put unpleasant pressure on the dog, which makes the dog more relaxed and therefore less likely to pull. Note: harnesses that tighten on the dog work by creating an unpleasant sensation when the dog pulls, which is not comfortable and not recommended.

5. It gives you better influence and communication.
Two points of connection on a harness give you much more influence on your dog’s behaviour than a single point, and it increases your ability to communicate what you want to your dog. It can be helpful to think of the connection at the back as your “brake” and the front connection as your “steering”. If you want your dog to slow down, a gentle lift upwards (rather than backwards) on the back connection, will slow your dog without unbalancing him or triggering the opposition reflex. Direction can be communicated very clearly using the connection at the front. This allows you to use the lead gently to reinforce your verbal communication, as a cue or a signal, rather than a correction.

6. It encourages your dog to walk in balance.
Ultimately, to set your dog up to succeed in learning to walk on a loose lead, he first needs to learn to walk in his own balance, without leaning his weight against you through the lead. As we have seen, using a single point of contact on a collar works against this and encourages the dog to pull forward, putting the dog (and you!) out of balance. But using a harness with points of connection on the chest and back, encourages the dog to move his centre of gravity backwards so he is more balanced. And a dog that is physically balanced will also have better emotional balance and will therefore be better able to learn.

Once he is in that balanced position beside you, you can start to reinforce the non-pulling behaviour you want. Select what you want to reinforce – the lead being loose, your dog being in a particular position at your side – and use a clicker to mark that behaviour. You will find that it happens much more naturally and frequently using a harness in this way and he will be able to learn quickly and easily, because you have set him up to succeed. Tomorrow I will talk in more detail about the particular harnesses that work best for this.

So that is why I like to work with harnesses but what about you? Do you use harnesses? Or do you have another approach to loose lead walking that you like better? Let me know in the comments section.

Janet Finlay is a TTouch Companion Animal Practitioner 2 and a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (01046). She lives in Cardiff with her partner and her two dogs, Jake, a Smooth Collie, and Mirri, a Lurcher. website http://www.canineconfidence.com

Checkout the Xtra Dog harnesses and TTouch harnesses, ideal for this work both recommended by Janet Finlay 

TTouch Harness 

"Designed by TTouch instructor Sarah Fisher, this is an H-style harness with front and back connection rings. The back piece is shorter than most H-style harnesses, keeping the connection further forward to balance the dog and discourage pulling. Both the neck and body straps can be unclipped, so this is a great design for those dogs that don’t like things going over their heads. The harness is very adjustable, allowing adjustments on either side of the neck, on either side of the body and on the chest, and it comes in three sizes, so can fit most dogs comfortably. It comes in green and black webbing."

"I use these harnesses regularly with my own dogs and with clients and can highly recommend them. Whichever one of these harnesses you choose,  you won’t go far wrong!"

Kerri Bee offers advice on all asspects of training and preparing your puppy for his new home. This pack is a guide to help you with the most commonly asked questions about puppy care. Read it if you are thinking about getting a puppy or if your new puppy has just arrived. 

Feeding Puppies

Puppies should be fed four times per day until they are three months old (12 weeks). Thereafter they should have three meals per day until they are six months of age, or eight to nine months for large and giant breeds. When feeding, allow your puppy twenty minutes to eat the food, and then pick up the bowl, even if there is food left. Provide fresh food at the next mealtime. This will discourage 'grazing' throughout the day and allow puppy's digestive system to rest in between meals making for easier housetraining. Please check that the food you are feeding is as healthy as possible – see Kerri Bee's article about feeding dogs, or Marie Miller's article about natural dog feeding also in the Dogucation Zone

Purchasing Equipment

A soft puppy or cat collar and fabric lead is all that is needed to begin with, and plain flat collars thereafter. When they are fully grown you can spend money on a really nice collar, still flat and kind though. Buy small cheap plastic bowls for food and water and save money for the things they will need when fully grown. This also applies to beds which can be very expensive. Try old blankets in a cardboard box to start with and keep an eye on chewing!

Lead walking

A harness is a really good idea for lead walking any size puppy as they can help prevent pulling from the outset. Get your puppy used the collar/harness and lead in short sessions at home. When you do attach the lead practise getting your puppy to stay with you using a cheerful voice but don't allow your puppy to pull. Never pull on a puppy's neck, just stop and call him back and change direction. Perfect lead walking is not important at this stage, just get him used to the feeling of lead and teach him that he goes nowhere when he reaches the end of the lead but goes everywhere with a loose one. It is vital that your puppy doesn't learn to pull to get to where he wants to go and you will learn much more about this on your course, but if you need help in the meantime, do please get in contact.

Recall Training

This can be the hardest element of basic training but it can be made so much easier by starting training from day 1 at home with your pup. Coming back to you must be extremely rewarding for the puppy – you need a happy emotional response as well as 'obedience', in other words he must want to come back, or he just won't! Very simply, reward your puppy every time he comes to you in the house, even if you didn't call him. Using treats like small pieces of chicken and cheese will mean a lot more than shop bought treats but also play with him and make a fuss of him every time. In class you will learn how to formalise this training with a word like 'come' or by using a whistle, but in the early days just make coming back really fun for him.

Off Lead Exercise

Puppies must be socialised from their first day at home with you, with vaccinated dogs at their home and yours and with lots of people and situations; your puppy can even go for a short walk on a beach with a receding tide – please see separate chart and advice.

Your puppy needs to let off steam and will need good off lead exercise every day, regardless of age and breed. It is only the length and type of exercise that differs with age and breed, all dogs need the time to 'be a dog' for mental health as well as physical. When your puppy is small though, letting him off the lead can be quite daunting for many people, even if I advise them that this is really the time when he is least likely to run off.

The compromise until you have a good recall is to use a harness and a long line. I advise 30', 50' and sometimes even 100' training lines. 30' (15m) is a good length for a puppy. Extendable leads are not a good idea, they teach a dog to pull as they are always tight, they don't allow natural behaviour when greeting other dogs and they are not long enough.

Handling a long line takes practice and there are some safety issues to be aware of. Firstly, you must be able to physically hold your puppy when they have built up some speed.

Have the line looped in big loops over your arm when you don't need the full length. Tie knots all the way up the line to prevent friction burns in case your puppy takes off unexpectedly. Keep back a metre or two to let out as your dogs runs to the end of the line to ease the impact. Avoid wooded areas and beware of the line getting wrapped around ankles or other obstructions. Always be ready to drop the line if needed.

As your confidence grows and your puppy's recall improves with training you can then leave the line to trail on the floor, so you can far more easily catch him again if needed, without grabbing at his collar causing him to avoid you in future. Just stand on the line (he won't know you've stopped him) then get his attention and call him back for a reward.

Leaving alone and night times

Try not to leave your puppy at all in the first few days until he is used to his new environment. Then just start leaving him in one room while you go to another for a couple of minutes. You can leave him with a food toy or chew. Build up the time he is left very gradually from there.

The best place for a new puppy to sleep is undoubtedly in a box or crate next to your bed, this has enormous benefits, not least the fact that he will settle better and need to go to the toilet less. You can gradually move him out as he grows up (a crate is ideal as the crate becomes the place of security rather the position next to the bed).

If you don't liken this idea, try sleeping downstairs with him until he settles into your home, before leaving him.

If you feel you must shut him away downstairs from the start, you must not go to him at all if he starts to cry (also applies to puppies upstairs with you). This will teach him to cry for attention. Do be prepared though, puppies can make an incredible amount of noise and if they get distressed, they are likely to wee and poo and get in a real state. Some puppies are fine from the start; some whine a bit, some sound like murder is being committed for hour after hour, night after night, but there is no way to tell in advance.

Teaching Your Dog His or Her Name

Dogs probably don't view their names in the same way that humans do – as part of their identity, which is why their names can be changed quite easily although people don't like to do it because they place human values on a name.

The way a dog views his or her name depends on how it is used. If a dog is re-homed and is known to have been treated badly in the past, many rescue organisations recommend a change of name. This is because the dog is likely to have negative associations with his name.

If we want a dog to look up expectantly whenever we call his name, he needs to learn that the word means something good. Even good owners use their dog's name to tell him off which can lead to the dog being less responsive to it, if this happens often enough. Another common 'human' thing to do is to use tone of voice to indicate what is required in a way that the dog cannot understand. For example, if the dog is nosing around in the bin and someone says "Roveeeeer" in a warning tone, he'll get the message about the bin possibly, but he won't feel too positive about his name.

Another way, in which dogs become less responsive to their names, is when their owners talk about them a lot – "Rover did this, Rover did that". Each time Rover hears his name and looks up and no-one notices him, he learns that his name isn't worth looking up for.

It is common for people to use their dog's name to call him back (recall) and this can work well until perhaps your dog goes through adolescence, and decides to ignore his name! When a recall starts to fail, one way to rectify it, is to train a new cue for recall or use a whistle. If the dogs name has been used, a new cue will have to be trained and the dog will have to be retrained not to ignore his name.

It is a good idea therefore to teach your dog that his name means to pay attention to you, because something else is going to happen, maybe a cue to do something else, a walk, his dinner and so forth.

The Method

An easy way to start this process with a new puppy or a renamed older dog is simply to put 20 – 30 tiny treats in your pocket each day and give them to your dog in 5 or 6 sessions of 5 treats. You should have no treats in your pocket by bedtime!

Pop a treat in his mouth and say his name at the same time. Do this all around your house, and use different tones of voice and involve the whole family.

After two or three days you should be able to say your dog's name when you are close to him and expect him to turn and look at you. Treat that moment.

Effective House Training

It is very well worth planning how you will house train your puppy before you collect him or her, if you have the opportunity, but don't worry if you've already started. The following explains a simple, kind method of house training that, when followed carefully should see your puppy becoming clean and dry as he or she physically matures. At your initial home visit session we can discuss how this method can be tailored to suit your family and lifestyle.

New owners should not underestimate the time and commitment that this involves, but please remember that the time spent house training not only teaches your puppy to 'go' outside, but helps develop the bond between your family and their dog, as well.

Why are dogs 'house trainable'?

Dogs are born as 'nest' animals. That is to say, their mother gives birth to them and rears them in a nest until they are able to leave it under their own steam at about three weeks old. The mother dog keeps the puppies clean and dry throughout their immobile time in the nest, thus keeping the nest clean and developing the instinct in the puppies that they don't mess or wet the nest. It is a tremendously powerful instinct in creatures hardly able to walk or see. In order for that instinct to be allowed to develop, it is essential that the nest has a defined edge so that as soon as the puppies are able to wobble away to a bowl of solids, they are also able to wobble out of the nest to relieve themselves. If your puppy was raised in an enclosed bed and had to relieve himself in it, there will be additional work needed redevelop the natural instinct properly. Similarly if a puppy had a bed and play area of the same material, he will not have know which was which. 

Tried and Tested?

Most people know of someone who has trained their dog by rubbing their dog's nose in his own mess, or who has said "the dog knew it had done wrong because he looked guilty". The dog is now house trained so that method works – right? No. The method of rubbing a dog's nose in the mess is cruel and totally unnecessary because the dog cannot comprehend what he is meant to be learning from that punishment. The puppy that looks guilty when you return from shopping may have made the mess hours ago and won't know why he's being told off. He isn't looking guilty; he's using submissive body language because he has sensed that the owner is cross.

As previously mentioned the dog's instinct to relieve him/herself outside the nest is very strong and will quite often eventually prevail despite all manner of inappropriate house training methods. Those that continue to soil the house hopefully end up re-learning with enlightened owners, a dog trainer or end up in rescue centres labelled as hopeless cases. It is worth considering also the damage done to the owner/dog relationship in cases where the dogs eventually ends up house trained in spite of the methods used.

Good News!

The great news is, there is an easy way to house train your puppy. All you need is commitment, understanding, the right attitude and the right equipment.

Commitment

At this stage you should have this in bucket loads! Harness the whole family's enthusiasm and channel it into house training.

Understanding

The first thing to really grasp is that until your puppy is at least twelve if not sixteen or more weeks of age he or she will have little or no control – they can't help it. Imagine caring for a human baby with no nappy, you wouldn't expect a three month old baby to wait, and a baby dog is no different. So, anticipation is everything.

The Right Attitude

With commitment and understanding comes the right attitude. If you understand that he/she can't help it, what is there to be annoyed about? If you know it's the quickest way to a happy, healthy, house trained young dog, you will be cool about the repeated trips into the garden on cold, wet evenings. Above all else, stay calm. Even if you are able to keep your voice calm, if you are seething on the inside because Buster has just done a wee on your new rug again, he will feel your annoyance from your body language and demeanour which can be counter productive and destructive to all your hard work so far.

It is also important to agree a plan if more than one person lives with the dog. Who is responsible for what? Who is going to clean up the mess? Who is going to take puppy outside each time? If you have children, spend sometime role playing what they should do when they spot puppy weeing or pooing in the house. Instead of shrieking from the other end of the house "Mum, Dad, Buster's weeing on the rug again", get them to practise walking calmly to you or calling you gently. Shrieking, running and arm waving are part of being a child, but if you can encourage calm at specific times it will benefit your puppy enormously.

The Right Equipment

The best way forward is to train your puppy to go outside right from the start. Training onto paper may be the only option if puppy has to be left alone sometimes, but essentially paper training means training twice – once onto paper then again to go outside. So, newspaper when he's alone and a soft puppy or cat collar and lead when you're are in!

You will also need some cheap biological washing liquid (easier to dissolve by hand than powder), a small bowl or bucket especially for the job, rubber gloves or disposable latex gloves, kitchen towel and old cloths. If you've got a spare mop for hard floors, that will be useful. You may wish to look at restricting your puppy's access to certain areas of your house using dog or baby gates, or investing in a puppy playpen or crate.

You will need lots of small moist tasty treats (try small bits of cooked chicken) by the door that you will be taking your puppy out through to the toilet. Making sure that your coat is there ready will make life more comfortable for you.

For winter puppies with very short coats, you may wish to consider a coat as he or she will be spending several minutes, many times a day in the garden. This may also apply to puppies who have never been outside. Bear in mind though, that you will need to get outside very quickly!

Consider life from a puppy's point of view.

Buster arrives at his new home, totally different to the place he was born and his mum and siblings are no-where to be seen. He may be excited, he may be scared, but he won't be relaxed so very soon he will need to relieve himself. His instinct will tell him to go outside the nest, but he doesn't know where the nest exit is, so ends up weeing on the carpet three times in a very short space of time. Each time noise, dragons and monsters descend from above, grab him and put him outside alone where it is cold and hostile. On the fourth occasion he checks for monsters and goes where they can't see or catch him – easy to do in a dark kitchen at night or behind the sofa!

Angel arrives at her new home and is left to explore her new world, which is only as large as the kitchen, with a nice bed. Soon after arriving, the nice teddy bear takes Angel out into the garden for a good sniff around on her new lead. There are so many things to smell and look at with the teddy bear happily chatting to her. When she needs to wee, she goes right there on the lawn without a moment's thought. But what a lovely surprise, the teddy bear says 'good girl' as she does it and gives Angel a nice piece of liver. Angel loves her teddy bears. Not only do they know when she needs to go, but they go with her and give her treats for fertilising the grass. Even when she has to go in the house, she is almost unaware that she has done it, because there is no reaction when she does, so as soon as she's able, she makes every effort to get to the garden to get the treats.

Buster was taught not to wee in front of humans. Angel was taught to wee outside.

How to Actually Do It!

Up to at least twelve weeks of age, you puppy will need to go outside:

● Immediately after waking up

● After eating

● At least every waking hour

● After play or excitement

● Whenever you see the signs – circling, sniffing the floor etc

So the first step is to encourage your puppy to come outside with you at all of these times. Assess your pup's nature in order to gauge how best to do this. For example you might play 'chase me' to the door, or gently call your calmer pup with you as you go.

There may be times when you will need to scoop and poop – scooping him up just as his bottom goes down to start going, but generally try to get him to follow you to the door under his own steam. This is so that he knows where to go when the time comes to ask to go out.

Take him outside on his lead, with treats in your pocket, to the spot where you would like him to relieve himself. Allow him to sniff around the area and investigate as much as he wants. Initially, you may find that even if he was about to poo in the house, it will take a while for the urge to come back after being taken outside. The key is patience and observation. You should stay out here, really, for as long as it takes, but if he hasn't performed after ten minutes, go back inside and try again in another ten minutes. When he performs, give him a really tasty treat and praise. If using a clicker, the click must come as soon as he finishes, maximising the learning (he may stop if you click as he goes). If you would like to train your puppy to 'go' on request, use a particular word as he goes. Try 'be quick' or 'hurry up' rather than 'tiddles' or 'widdles'! Later on, when he has learnt what the word means, you will be able to ask him to go before you go out, lessening the chance of accidents on the floor when you return.

If you would like him to use a specific spot to go to the loo, or if he doesn't learn how to ask to go out, please ask for details of how to do this.

Try to remember that even if it's 11pm, raining and freezing, he probably doesn't want to be out there any more than you do. He won't know yet what he has to do to get back indoors, so talk to him, happily and cheerfully, a

nd if he doesn't perform in five minutes, go back in, but be prepared to go out again in another five minutes.

Important: if you let the puppy out to go to the toilet and reward him when he comes in, you will end up with a puppy that asks to go out and comes straight back in again over and over again. This is because he will associate the treat with coming back in – NOT going to the toilet. The treat must arrive the very second he finishes going to the toilet.

Dealing with accidents in the house

Your puppy has little or no muscle control until about sixteen weeks, so he is not messing on your best carpet on purpose, he just can't help it, so there is no mileage in telling him off. During the early weeks he won't be learning 'my bladder is full, I must go into the garden', because he isn't getting enough warning to do that. He is learning 'when I wee in the garden I get a treat'. The more times he successfully goes in the garden, the more you will build on his instincts and the conditioning his mother provided. This way, as soon as he starts to physically mature and get warnings, he will head for the garden automatically.

In the first few weeks, you may feel that you are spending half your time in the garden and the other half cleaning, but with commitment and perseverance you should soon start to see patterns emerging, making the job easier.

The key is always anticipation, look for his patterns. Does he need to go out five minutes or fifteen minutes after eating?

When you see him going in the house, encourage him outside as before, as he can associate with what he has just done. There is little point if you find it even a minute or later as he will already be into something else.

Ignore any accidents in the house at this age, and be very aware of your non verbal reaction to accidents in the house. If he senses your annoyance, he will start to get stressed and stress is proven to interfere with learning.

Cleaning

Dogs can smell where they have been, long after you have cleaned it with the most efficient disinfectant, and if they can smell it, they will go there again. A biological washing product will remove all traces of the accident. Blot as much of the urine as you can with kitchen paper (you'll need a lot and tread on the paper), then soak the area with a dilute solution of biological washing liquid, making sure it reaches down to the underlay, then blot again. For solid accidents, flush the solid away and treat the area as for urine. Diarrhoea on carpets is about as bad as it gets! Scrape as much you can up, use a carpet cleaner to get the stain out and finish with the biological washing solution.

It's a good idea to make up a separate bowl or spray bottle of biological solution, and to buy a different colour of cloth and kitchen paper to your usual household ones. Find somewhere to keep the kit away from children and as far away from human crockery etc as possible.

Crate/Den Training

Crates and puppy dens can be tremendously useful with puppies, but they must be used in the right way – as a good place to be, never as a 'sin bin'. For house training, a crate or den must be large enough for the puppy to have a bed with an edge to it and an area to go to the toilet. Buying a crate which will be large enough for him as an adult is a good idea – even if you don't intend to continue to use it indoors, it may be very useful in the car.

At night time or any time you need to leave him alone or need him safely contained, use the crate or den or an enclosed room like the kitchen or utility room. For the first few times you will need to 'explain' how to use the area to him.

• Place his bed at one end of the crate, den or room and place several layers of newspaper at the other (not too far away if using a whole room).

• Collect some of his urine from one of his earlier accidents, on a ball of cotton wool and seal it in a plastic bag.

• Get him used to being in the crate by simply laying a trail of treats into the crate and provide a nice stuffed kong or chew in there – don't close the door until he's really happy being in there.

• Then when you need to put him in his area, dab the urine onto the centre of the newspaper sheets, to show him where he should go.

• Most puppies will pick this up very quickly, already being conditioned not to 'go' in their bed, reducing the need for you to do this yucky task very often.

• If your puppy didn't receive the right training from his mother or had his instincts curbed by the conditions he was kept in, you will need to do further work to help him.

The more times he goes in the garden, and the fewer times he goes in his crate, the quicker he will become house trained, but there will always be times he must be confined for his own safety.

Car Travel *

Please be aware of your puppy's toilet needs when travelling in the car. The best bet is to use a crate in the car, with the separate toilet area. If you can't fit a crate in the car, make the floor of the area the puppy travels in, waterproof. Puppies get very distressed of they are forced to go to the toilet in an area they consider to be their bed. Please note puppies must not be left unattended with the plastic backed puppy pads as they would be dangerous if chewed – stick to newspaper when you leave puppy alone.

You may find that your puppy doesn't like going to the toilet in a moving car. In this case, take him out to the toilet before you leave and stop regularly to take him out.

Progressing forwards

As time goes by, you should notice that the length between visits to the garden starts to lengthen. Observe your puppy carefully. If he goes to the door or even looks at it, make sure you open it for him, so he learns what he has to do to get the door open. It is possible to teach your dog to ring a bell or push a buzzer when he wants to go out- please ask if you would like to learn how to teach this.

You will also start to notice fewer accidents in the house. Continue praising and treating every time he performs outside. This way, as his body matures, he will become conditioned to go outside. If you work hard and your dog matures quickly, he may be clean and dry by sixteen weeks. If not, don't worry, many dogs are six or seven months old, or even older when they become house trained. The good news is that by following this method, your dog will be house trained in a kind and effective way and in as short a time as possible for your particular dog, making for a much happier dog and home life.

Crate and Puppy Den Training

Crates and puppy dens can be invaluable when your puppy is very young, particularly if you have young children, but only when used correctly.

Crates are usually wire cages with a removable metal tray in the bottom. They usually fold flat when not in use. They have the advantage of being able to be used in the car as well if your boot is big enough, providing added security when travelling and you open the boot. Many dogs continue to use their crates through their lives so it is worth spending an extra ten pounds on one that will be roomy when she is full grown rather than ending up buying two. Check the size of the floor area and the height of the crate in relation to her potential full body size.

Puppy dens are usually like playpens, with or without a base. They give the puppy a larger area to move around in than a crate, but don't have the dual function of being able to be used in a car.

Their basic function is to give the puppy a secure place to be when she can't be properly supervised. You may find that you have a utility room or some small area that can be 'fenced' off that will do the same job. For the crate or den to feel secure it is important that children are not allowed to play in it or put their fingers through the wire when the puppy is in there. They need to be taught positively that the puppy must be left alone when in her crate or den.

It is important that whatever you use, your puppy can see out of it – shielding her from the world will make her nervous. So, crates and pens should be wire and areas or rooms must be fenced off with baby gates or panels that puppy can see through, so that she still feels involved with her new family.

Crates and pens can be used to train all kinds of useful things. First of all you could learn how to cue her to go there when you ask. Then you could ask her to go there every time you sit down to eat or every time the doorbell rings. If you do this every time, she will eventually go there of her own accord when she sees you sit down to eat, or the doorbell rings.

Crates and pens are useful at night time, wherever you choose to have your puppy sleep; they are useful in cars and for all manner of reasons. You can use the crate/den/room whenever you need to leave your puppy alone. Make a bed area and a toilet area inside it – as described in the house training leaflet.

As crates are usually metal, plastic or wire based, it is important to make the bed area comfortable and warm, particularly for very young or very short haired dogs and puppies. Cardboard boxes, old duvets and pillows are ideal during the chewing phases. Do watch the chewing though; many puppies tear at soft bedding just to pull the stuffing out, or shred boxes just for enjoyment, but if your puppy is swallowing these things you will need to find comfortable bedding she doesn't find so attractive.

Encourage your puppy to use it voluntarily by putting treats inside and feeding her in there. Puppies can easily be clicker trained to use their crates, while older dogs can be shaped to use them positively even if they have had previous negative experiences. If you provide her with chews and toys stuffed with food (only under supervision) in her crate you can quietly close the door when she is engrossed and release it again shortly afterwards until she becomes accustomed to having the door shut.

Dogs often see these areas as safe dens, not as cages and most will quickly come to love their den, even with the door shut. It is important to monitor the time your puppy spends in the crate or pen. If she is in there all night, it would be unkind to leave her there for longer than an hour or two in total during the day, so making a safe puppy proof area for daytime with the open crate inside as a bed would be a better solution.

To begin with only use the crate or den for very short periods, until you can see that she will settle nicely in there. You can put her in there any time that you are not able to supervise her properly, or when she needs a break from the children, or the children from her. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE DEN AS A SIN BIN. If you start putting her in there when she is naughty, or you are cross, she will quickly come to dislike the den and resist going in there. There are other better ways to deal with unwanted behaviour. Please also remember that a den is a training aid, not a substitute for good training, socialisation and family interaction.

You will find a den particularly useful throughout the chewing phases (bear in mind that after all the teeth are through, there is a secondary phase of chewing when the teeth 'settle in', which usually occurs between 9 and 12 months (although not usually for the whole three months!). They are also useful when puppy gets overtired or overexcited but they must be used properly, ethically and with the interests of the dog foremost.

Chewing

Some dogs chew more than others, but for most dogs chewing is a natural, enjoyable pastime, like getting into a good book. During the first year of life, puppies may chew more because their teeth are coming through. Try to remember that it is just a phase, he's not being deliberately destructive, he's just teething and this is your opportunity to teach him what he can and can't chew. Using a crate or pen will help when he is alone or cannot be properly supervised – but do keep an eye on how long he is separated from his human family. You must also provide him with plenty of things that he can chew, that are different to the things that he can't. Remember also, interrupt and distract, then refocus his attention on something he can chew. Try really hard not to get cross, as this may make matters worse. There is a second phase of chewing when the teeth settle into the jaw in the last part of the first year, so don't despair, you haven't done anything wrong, and it's just another phase.

Many dogs continue to enjoy a good chew throughout their adult lives, which is why pet shops are full of chews. The purpose of chew training is not to stop your dog chewing but to teach him what he can and can't chew.

Consider:

The dog, who chews furniture while his owners are out, then looks guilty on their return. He's chewing to annoy them, right?

It is more likely that he chews because it feels good, especially when he's left alone, after which he has a good sleep. On his owners' return, he's forgotten the chewing, but cowers because from their body language, because he anticipates a telling off.

Chew Toys

Look for uncoloured rawhide chews – soak the end in a cup of warm water for a few minutes to give your puppy the idea. Experiment with different chew toys to see what your puppy likes.

Make sure you get the right size and chew strength toys for your puppy or dog.

Treat dispensing toys are also a good way to occupy a teething puppy.

Anti-Chew Sprays

These work a bit like the anti-nail bite stuff and are unpleasant to taste. These can be used to protect certain things but only as part of chew training, not as a stand alone cure as puppies need to chew. Although they taste unpleasant for a puppy, they are a lot less unpleasant than chewing a live electrical wire! That said, do keep wires hidden and don't rely on sprays for safety. These are best used on expensive possessions like chairs and tables, the whole house shouldn't be doused in it. Some dogs will still chew but it is worth trying more than one brand as they are all different. Vets often sell the better brands (try one called Bitter Apple) and these do seem to have more effect than chilli paste or curry powder (which stain anyway).

Taking things they shouldn't and eating inedible items!

How you deal with this area of puppy care can affect how your dog behaves for the rest of his life (like so many other things). Puppies will pick things up in their mouths just to see what they feel like/taste like and so on – just like six month old babies.

The first thing has to be to puppy proof your home – put away anything you don't want teeth marks on. Many puppies like cuddly toys, socks, gloves, underwear from the dirty laundry basket, children's plastic toys and so on. Put lids on the laundry, impress upon your children that it isn't the puppy's fault if their things (that were on the floor) got chewed and put anything else up out of the way. This is a much easier way than the old fashioned view that 'the puppy has to learn'. If they get a taste for stealing certain things because they are always lying around, it will become a habit.

The next thing is to change how you look at the behaviour. DON'T shout at your puppy (or worse) or squeal because they have something precious or dangerous, stay cool, don't make a fuss. Go to the fridge and get a couple of pieces of chicken (for example) and either encourage your puppy to come over, show the food and exchange the item for the food. As they give it up, feed the treat and say 'give' or whatever you want to call it. This is not rewarding the stealing, it is rewarding the giving back and your puppy will have no reason to fear you next time. Do be aware that if the same item is left lying around again, your puppy may well go and get it again just to get a treat – so put it away before he does.

If they have something dangerous, toss the food towards them, throw a ball, run up the garden making exciting noises, squeeze a squeaky toy – anything that's more interesting than what they have in their mouth. DON'T rugby tackle your puppy and force them to open their mouth. All they learn from this is to run away from you and clamp their jaws shut. This also leads to puppies swallowing the dangerous item or learning to growl and guard the item – deal with stealing calmly, when puppies are offered a more tasty option they usually give things up.

Eating faeces, dirt, and picking up stones is very common in puppies. Stay calm and don't react. Clear away stones, or make sure the puppy can't get to gravelled or bare earth areas. Ignore poo eating, but make sure you clear away faeces as soon as they are done.

A salutatory tale

A man rushes his dog to the vet because he has seen him swallow a tennis ball. He knows this because he always has to grab the dog to take tennis balls from him because he will chew them up otherwise. On this occasion he went towards the dog and saw him swallow the ball.

When the vet opened the dog up she found three tennis balls inside the dog. TRUE STORY!

Learning to Be Alone

To begin with, try not to leave your puppy alone at all if you can help it. Let him explore your house, bit by bit until he starts to settle and know your and therefore, his routine. Dogs are sociable animals and as such do not like being left alone, but living with humans often means they have to be sometimes, so it is important to teach your puppy how to be relaxed on his own fairly soon.

If you are able to take time off work to be with your puppy, please consider doing so or if you are at home anyway, you can get him used to being alone in a gentle and gradual way.

They key is always 'cool goodbyes' and 'warm hellos'. That is to say, don't make a fuss when you leave him, only when you return (although there is a lot to be said for teaching him not to mug you when you get home – see below!).

Start by putting him in his crate and leaving him for a minute or two while you go to another room. Return and wait a minute before you let him out, ignoring any protests in the meantime – not even eye contact. Build this up slowly through the first few days, going into the garden and so on, until you can pop to the shop, return; leave him in his crate for two minutes before letting him out to greet you. Teaching him not to run at you when you arrive home, means you won't get mugged when your arms are full of groceries, thus allowing you to give him your full attention when you've unpacked the shopping (for example). This is in the long term though, as for a good while, you can only leave him in there for a minute or two after you return because you will need to take him to the garden!

If you have any continued problems with separation anxiety, like howling and barking please ask for help. There can be many different reasons for this, and lots of ways to help your puppy learn to be alone.

If you have to leave him for more than a few minutes right from the start, it would be a good idea to have a support plan in place. If you are going to work, hopefully you will have considered this before getting your puppy.

If he absolutely must be left, consider asking a neighbour or family member to pop in to him. Some kennels offer day care and you can also pay a dog walker to come in and spend time with your puppy as well as walk him. It is vital that you provide your dog with 'home alone' activities to maintain his mental health and preserve your belongings. A crate would be too small for a dog for any length of time, but an area of the house that can be cordoned off or a large puppy pen are ideal. Inside your puppy will need his bed, a toilet area as far away from his bed as possible, a spill proof water bowl and interactive toys.

If you are with your puppy a lot of the time, you should still teach him to be alone sometimes and this will include relaxed separation from any other pets also.

Play biting, harassing people or other pets and over-excitement

Puppies play bite in order to learn to control how hard they bite. This is a lesson essential for communication in their future lives, since between dogs, biting is a communication tool as well as the obvious eating one. The more a puppy bites and receives education as a result, the safer his adult jaws could be. There is no direct evidence to support this, but common sense tells us it's a good idea not to allow biting.

Clearly biting from dogs is not something most people will tolerate in the home, although it is worth considering how humans have changed in their attitudes to biting dogs even in my lifetime. Not so many years ago, people accepted that a growling, snapping dog was trying to communicate his unhappiness about something. These days, our expectation that a dog should not even growl is nothing short of expecting that a human being never raise their voice or write a letter of complaint. It should also be remembered that playbiting is very different to aggressive biting and even perfect play biting training will not stop a dog biting if they are stressed enough.

The reasons why some puppies play bite more than others may lie in their early history. Puppies weaned early do not get the chance to learn from their mothers during nursing, that biting is unacceptable. Puppies taken from their siblings too early or those born without siblings may not have the chance to learn which bites result in a yelp from a sibling and the cessation of the game.

Some dogs are bred for 'soft' mouths, others for 'hard' mouths, some are bred to have a low bite threshold and some a high bite threshold. For example, some terriers were bred to bite other dogs with a low threshold (sooner rather than later) but to have a high bite threshold with humans.

There will however, always be animals that don't conform to their breeding or the experiences of their early lives, but whatever the case it is vital that puppies learn good bite inhibition before their adult teeth come through and their adult bite strength reaches it's peak.

Managing Play Biting

It is unpleasant when an adult dog still play bites like a puppy, but more importantly a dog must learn not to put his teeth on people even when frightened.

• When your puppy bites too hard, make a noise to show it hurt and remove your hand/leg/whatever. Depending on the degree of bite you could stand up or remove yourself entirely from the puppy. (If you try to remove the puppy you risk further play biting because it will be like a game to the pup, or you will start a game of chase). Distancing yourself without further interaction can be a challenge though.

• The aim is to provide your puppy with an education regarding the consequences of differing degrees of bite.

• If your puppy is under twelve weeks, it may have more effect if you 'yelp' like a sibling puppy before ceasing the activity.

• Issue the sound or yelp firmly but not harshly or shouting.

• There is no need for chastisement or angry body language. The removal of attention/favourite human chewtoy, including eye contact is enough together with aloof body language.

• The puppy should only be excluded for 20-40 seconds – not long enough for him to get into something else or any learning will be lost.

• Return the puppy to the original environment and simply repeat the procedure every time the play biting or chasing occurs.

• When your puppy learns to stop biting at the painful level, work on the next level in the same way – even if it doesn't actually hurt. Work all the way through the biting in this way.

• By introducing many other activities, training, play, canine friends, the frequency should also decrease. By teaching a 'no' or 'stop' or 'off' cue you can also decrease the frequency.

Harassing People and over-excitement

If you permit your puppy to chase people, jump on people, and bark for attention or to behave in an otherwise inappropriate way, she will not 'grow out of it'. Instead the behaviour will be re-inforced because of the attention she receives for doing it. Attention in any form is preferable to no attention for a dog, so if you shout and yell, the chances are your dog will either get used to the noise or actually prefer it to when you pay her no attention. Of course if your puppy gets used to being shouted at, you are left with the choice of cranking up the punishment or trying an alternative method. If punishment doesn't work, incidentally, it becomes abuse – by definition. Please refer to handouts for more information.

It is important to recognise that much behaviour that people find unacceptable is quite normal for a dog. If you intend to teach your dog not to do something like tugging at people's clothes, it would be worth considering teaching him an appropriate game of tuggy as an outlet for this need. Games like tuggy need to be taught properly to be safe and to help rather than hinder training.

Other Pets

Generally cats can be very good at dealing with puppies. Try not to shout at your puppy if he chases the cat as you could add to the thrill of the chase or scare your cat more. Cats must be able to reach their bed and food without fear of being harassed by the puppy. If you are worried about your cat, or any other animals you have, please ask for advice.

Dealing with play harassing people or other animals and general over-excitement

• Very simply, if your puppy is behaving unacceptably, say 'no' and stop the activity immediately.

• Issue the cue or yelp firmly but not harshly or shouting.

• Remove the reinforcement from the situation, either the humans or the puppy – as long as the rewarding activity, whatever it was (biting, chasing), stops without further re-enforcement.

• There is no need for chastisement or angry body language. The removal of attention, including eye contact is enough.

• The puppy should only be excluded for 20-60 seconds – not long enough for him to get into something else or any learning will be lost. This was your puppy could have 5 lessons in 5 minutes.

• Return the puppy to the original environment and simply repeat the procedure every time the behaviour occurs.

Dealing with unwanted puppy behaviour may be very time consuming and will undoubtedly try your patience. If this happens, wait for a moment when your puppy is being good, click and treat, and then call your puppy to his crate or special place with treats and something to chew. This technique makes sure that dens and crates don't form negative associations in the puppy's mind and neither is the puppy rewarded for poor behaviour. You can then have a cup of tea and let your puppy out again when you're ready (not too long though!).

• Don't expect instant results. This may take hours, weeks or longer depending on your puppy and the accuracy of your training technique.

• Whatever way you use this technique, your timing will be crucial to your puppy's understanding. Also, each time your puppy is allowed to get away with biting it will reinforce that behaviour.

Other Ideas to Consider

• Try putting your puppy in his crate before opening the door to visitors. Allow them to come in and close the door before letting your puppy out.

• Get your visitors to follow your wishes regarding your puppy e.g. don't pet him until all his feet are on the floor.

 Kerri Bee is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (no.0999). She runs training classes and one-to-one consultations in West Pembrokeshire. Visit her website. http://www.windrushdogsforlife.co.uk

* At Xtra Dog we recommend that dogs and puppies should be transported in a vehicle, either a crash tested car harness. Click here to see the Bergan harness or in a crash tested car crate. Click here to visit Safedog crash tested car crates.

Recommended puppy equipment from Xtra Dog. Please click on the relevant link.

Spiffy Dog Collars 

Spiffy Dog Leads

Fleece Harnesses

Tellington TTouch Training Harnesses

Double-Ended Training Leads

Raised Dog Beds

Dicky Bags

Soft Dog Crates

Thundershirt

Car Harnesses

Dog Training Books