HouseBreaking or House Training and Adult Dog

HouseBreaking Puppies: If you have a puppy, make sure you begin training him as soon as he reaches the appropriate training age (we'll get to what that is later on); this will reinforce his natural tendency to depend on others. It's also a good idea to start early because in no time at all, your tiny puppy will turn into a monstrous beast with paws the size of your face. Try training that. House Training Older Dogs: As for the non-puppy owners, you've probably heard the saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Well, whoever made up that line was either a very successful liar or someone who lacked the patience to really communicate with his/her dog. While it's true that old dogs don't come with clean slates, they will obey your foreign commands if you make it worth their while to do so. So don't fall for that fallacy.

Abuse: You should NEVER yell at or hit your dog, no matter how frustrating training can get. Going ballistic only teaches your dog to be nervous around you and fear you, making it hard for him to concentrate on what it is you want him to learn. By the way, it's illegal to hit a dog, so if we catch you doing it, we'll throw your butt in jail.

Reinforcement: Reinforcement through repetition and consistency is effective in training anyone - Lassie, a feral midget, even yourself. Habits, good and bad, are formed when an action is repeated over and over again with consistency. So during the process of training your pooch, don't give up the routine until he's got it. And even after your dog has mastered the following tricks, test him on them from time to time to make sure.