Don't treat Fido like a cat

To keep your dog from going a little crazy, it is a good idea to take him out into the world, experience life and meet new friends. Bring him to the dog park to run around with other dogs. Take Fido out on the leash and walk him around the block a few times. It will help socialize him and expend some of that energy at the same time. A dog that does not get out too much can become depressed, too dependent on you, inactive, and snippy around other people and dogs just like a cat. Don't treat him like a cat, or else he will start acting like one. Hurry before it's too late, once he is older it is nearly impossible to get get rid of the cat-like disposition.

Housebreaking - Take it Slow

When you first bring Fido home, let him get used to his new surroundings. Don't try and do strict housebreaking right away. Puppies can become stressed very quickly and will not perform for you. They should be relaxed, comfortable and happy. Fido will read you well and react to your body language and tone of voice, so if you are not any of the above, then he will surely feel unsettled.

Don't get upset or frustrated when he goes on the rug or misses his spot in his caged area, you have to be patient as housebreaking can take a long time. The first the you should do is just get him used to going outside. Bring him out after he eats, plays, or wakes up from a nap and walk him around the yard until he does his thing, once he does, reward him with some love and a treat.

Fido must be able to go to the bathroom without any thought at first. Let him associate just being outside and going potty and then when he is ready, you can try and bring him to his designated area each time. Be patient and consistent.

I trained my puppy to SIT in two days

I have a beagle puppy who is 10 weeks old. I did some research and found that beagles are easy to train and are very food motivated. I am sure all dogs are to some degree, but I thought I would put my baby beagle to the test by trying to get him to SIT. I figured since the puppy is so young and impressionable, the act of SITTING may be an easy task. It turned out that I was correct. In two days, this puppy was sitting on his own for a treat. Here's how...

I put two small treats in my pocket and let my puppy out of his cage to play in our living room. The puppy was running all over, playing and biting everything in site. I knew at that point that much more training was in my future. But first things first, Goal: to get my hyper, 10 week old puppy to SIT for a treat.

You can't just shout "SIT", because puppy does not know what that means, so to get him to sit, he needed some assistance from me. So I held the treat above his head so he could see it and jump up for it. While he reached up for the treat, I gently pushed his behind down so he would sit. I kept doing this because the puppy would not SIT for more than a half a second. I repeated this over and over and when he as able to maintain a sitting position with my assistance for about 2 seconds, I would give him the treat.

I did this again with another small treat. I repeated this later in the day and the following morning. By the next afternoon, he finally got it and would sit on his own for a treat. I was pleasantly surprized.