Bringing a new puppy into your home is a very happy occasion; but this can also be a stressful time, particularly if you have never had a dog before. There is a lot that you?ll need to learn about caring for a dog.

First you will need to make sure that your puppy feels safe and secure in it’s new environments and you can be do this by showing your that you love it. Speak with a loving voice and don’t start out by yelling when it does something that you do not want it to do. You can actually give your dog mental scars for life by treating it the wrong way and that is one of the reasons why it is important to attend dog or puppy training as soon as possible.

There are a lot of good reasons to train your dog; and it?s not only your new puppy that needs some training ? you have a lot to learn too! You have to learn all about how to care for your new dog, as well as what not to do with your puppy.

Training a dog will become obvious to you when you get your puppy inside the house. It will be filled with energy and might run around and brake things, pee on the floor and chew its way through anything.

You?ll learn a lot of useful things in dog training classes, such as which commands are the most effective and just as importantly, what tone of voice to use when giving your dog a command. You?ll need to learn these things and practice them regularly ? this will make your new dog a better behaved member of the family and while some puppy damage is almost inevitable, can prevent much of the damage your new dog may cause.

Every single day you will need to take your dog out for a walk. You will soon learn that you need to teach your dog to walk without pulling the leash and that it has to follow your directions.

There can be very serious consequences to being unable to control your dog while going for a walk ? and a leash is necessary at all times, no matter how well behaved your dog may seem. Your dog will naturally want to chase squirrels and other small animals ? even into the middle of the street!

Car accidents are one of the top causes of death in pets, particularly dogs. When dogs are struck by cars, it is often due to the owner?s inability to control their dogs with their commands. Dog training classes can literally save the life of your beloved puppy or dog.

The process of teaching your dog to stop digging is thankfully rather easy. Your flowers and garden can look healthy and happy even if you have a dog that loves to dig. If you follow certain steps, it really shouldn’t be that difficult.

Negative reinforcement is an absolute no-no when it comes to teaching your dog not to dig. You must remember it is instinctual for a dog to dig.

If you do physically harm your dog you will turn the matter into an even worse situation.

A dog will dig for a multitude of reasons. Certain smells can provoke, as well as prevent, a dog to dig. This can be used to one’s advantage.

You could find what smells your dog is not fond of, then place those smells around your yard. A great example would be something like mouthwash, which most dogs really don’t like.

A technique as simple as this may be enough to put an end to your problem completely.

A great way to prevent further digging in a hole is to sabotage it. Don’t worry. I’m not talking about dynamite, or anything like. Next time your dog takes a poop, put some of it in the hole.

It’s a known fact that dogs hate having poop on their feet. (I guess they are not any different than us humans).

All dogs can and will show aggression given the right set of circumstances. Aggression for a dog is a natural response and it is critical to understand what circumstances and experiences will probably provoke aggression in your dog. Understand that what a human may see as an unprovoked aggressive act in a dog may, in fact, be perfectly logical to a canine mind. The major determinants for aggressive behavior in dogs are discussed below.

Territorial Aggression

Dogs will use territorial aggression when defending their territory. This is any territory that the dog is familiar with or has marked with her scent. While you may encourage your dog to protect your property, the dog may claim the whole neighborhood as his territory to protect.

Guarding Aggression

Dogs tend to guard both possessions, and members of their pack. This may include people, other family pets, and even favorite toys and sometimes especially food items. Guarding aggression is directed at unfamiliar people or animals that are approaching the dogs people, possessions or food. On occasion, the dog will even guard food or toys from familiar people or dogs.

Transferred Aggression

Transferreed Aggression often happens when a dog becomes upset or over-excited and instead of becoming aggressive with the specific item, it transfers its aggression/frustration onto another dog or person. For example a kid may poke a dog with a stick through a fence, and since the dog cannot defend itself because of the fence it may turn its aggression on another person in the yard or on another dpg.

Pecking Order Aggression

Dogs are pack animals, and they need to establish the hierarchy with the family or household members (humans and animals alike). Once the dog has established his rank in the family he, does not like to be challenged. Often well-meaning owners will inadvertently teach their dogs that they are in fact the highest ranking pack member; that can lead to difficulties in controlling the dog. It is also common for there to be aggression issues between dogs in the same household as they battle it out for the alpha dog position.

Aggression Due to Fear

Dogs respond with a fight or flight reaction when presented with a fear causing situation. Aggressive dogs will growl, snarl or even bite if they become afraid. Remember, different reactions in dogs are due to past experience, genetic disposition, and training methods used. A dog may see a fearful event in a calm environment if he or she has been mistreated in the past. Dogs that would like to use the flight option but are cornered will resort to aggression to attempt to protect themselves.

Some dogs will become aggressive when they believe that they are threatened, that their position in the pack or family is threatened, or that their territory or possessions are endangered. As humans we often don’t understand all the triggers for a dog to respond aggressively. Aggression in dogs, whatever the reason, needs to be controlled in order to avoid a potentially dangerous situation for both humans and other animals. Positive rewards training works well for these aggressive dogs, and punishment almost never helps and in fact will often make the aggressive behavior worse.