Young or old, your dog can learn new tricks. Here are some basic tips and philosophy on training. For more in-depth advice and specific training questions, please consult your local training club, veterinarian or breeder.

Whether you have an adult dog or a puppy newly separated from his mother, certain rules apply right from the start. Good training early on can prevent a lot of trouble down the road.

As soon as your puppy or new dog arrives home, make sure you don’t allow him to do anything he pleases on the pretext that he is young or needs to get his bearings. Dogs quickly learn the difference between what is and is not permissible.

This is why it’s important to assert your leadership from day one. Here are some rules to follow:

1. Don’t allow your dog to jump up on beds.
2. Give him his own toys so he doesn’t take things that don’t belong to him.
3. Choose a spot where he will eat and stop him from begging for food.
4. Feed him after you eat, which is what happens in the pack when the leader eats first.
5. Give him his own place to sleep – a rug or a crate – that is located away from doors and windows so that he doesn’t have the impression that he is controlling the comings and goings in the house.
6. Most important, maintain consistent behavior. Don’t allow the dog to do something one day that is normally forbidden.

Dogs like knowing their place in the pack, and these simple rules will help reinforce that the dog is subordinate and that you are dominant. These rules also hold true for all dogs, no matter what their size. They can help prevent your Yorkie from becoming the household tyrant and baring his teeth whenever someone approaches his sofa.

Dog trainers believe they are really training the people first. Owners need to understand how a dog’s mind works before they can influence it. Most problems, even conflicts, stem from a lack of understanding and reciprocal ignorance of the rules and the social behavior of the other species. Owners and dogs must learn together.

The first step is to develop a dog’s motivation for an object (like a tennis ball) or food. By quickly rewarding the dog with the desired object, you can develop and quickly achieve a certain degree of discipline: heel, sit and down commands, recall and fetch.

Once the dog has mastered basic discipline, you can then teach him obedience exercises such as heeling with or without a leash, changing direction and more.

Dogs want authority in their lives. But while the dog should obey you, he should not fear you. You should work to establish a climate of trust that encourages positive growth of your relationship.

To establish trust:

• Maintain a consistent attitude; always react in the same way in a given situation. This will help your dog quickly learn what he is and is not allowed to do.
• Know how to display your feelings. Accentuate the "yes" if the dog has performed well and use a crisp, authoritarian "no" if the dog has done something wrong.
• Be patient and above all, very attentive, and know how to detect fatigue, excitement, questioning or fear. This will help you anticipate and avoid incidents.
• Finally, act like a good "pack leader" with all the fairness, authority and responsibility that entails.