One thing you can count on when bringing home a new dog is the fact that he will nip and bite at your fingertips during the first few days or weeks. This is totally normal and there is no reason to get frantic that you may have purchased an aggressive dog. However, like any hostile behavior you wish to change about your dog, you need to take a few steps so that your dog understands that biting is not something you as the “pack leader” want him to continue doing. In other words he has to understand that biting is a huge no-no.

Dogs learn much the same as we do – through experience, trial and error. They understand the connection between behavior and consequence. There are three common ways to get them to perform a behavior: luring, shaping and catching.

House training a dog takes the proper equipment, time and patience. It is not magic; if you do not have what it takes then hire someone who does. It will cost you far less than replacing your carpet. A half-hearted attempt that fails will cost you the price of a trainer and new carpeting.

The purpose of a crate is to provide confinement. You will use the crate for reasons of security, safety, house training, activity management, travel, illness and protection of household goods. You may think that putting your dog in a crate is mean or inhumane and might cause your dog to resent you or to be psychologically damaged. However,dogs view the world differently than people.

Right around the time your puppy is eight to ten weeks old, he will begin a new stage in his life. We call this the "fear period".

During this period the puppy has developed his adult senses and his fears may last several weeks. Don't be alarmed! This is common with all puppies and you must use patience.

One of the most effective dog training techniques for smaller dogs is reward training. Because choke collars and other aggressive forms of training are ineffective with small breeds like Poodles, Pugs and the Pomeranian due to their small physical stature, reward training has been commonly used as an alternative.