One of the most effective ways to prevent bad puppy behaviors from happening and help with overall training strategies is to have your puppy wear a leash inside and trail it behind him wherever he goes. You should always either watch your puppy or manage his behavior by putting him safely in a crate or other puppy-proofed area. If you are feeling guilty about using the crate, read this post about getting over the guilt of crate training.

Over the years I receive many dog training questions. Here are some of the often repeated ones and how I answer them.

Puppies are incredibly challenging. There is no doubt about this, but life with a puppy gets easier as long as you manage their environment to lessen mistakes and inappropriate behaviors as well as provide enough physical exercise and training. My job as a professional dog trainer involves many roles including teacher, cheerleader (you CAN housetrain your puppy!!), as well as sounding board for problems and troubleshooting.

Destructive behaviors such as chewing on furniture or digging in the backyard are one form of inappropriate behavior. Demand behaviors are also inappropriate and are another way of describing a dog that is asking for something in a way that is deemed inappropriate. Examples include jumping for attention, play nipping for attention, barking for you to throw the tennis ball, or barking to get let out of the crate.

There are a few preventative measures you can do with your dog to lessen the likelihood of problems later on. Unfortunately, even if you have the best intentions and do all the exercises properly, there are no guarantees of eliminating the problem later on. Regular maintenance is also a good idea.

Wouldn't it be great if you could just sit a dog down and say, "Welcome to the house. Let's have an arrangement. I will walk you, play with you, feed you good food and give you medical care. The only requirements are that you don't destroy my house or urinate on my rug, ok?"