Buying a puppy or taking home a rescue dog is an exciting time for anyone. However, it is important that you take up some basic training as soon as your new friend has settled in at home. You should also make sure that you have all the right equipment for making your dog comfortable including a dog bed, bowls for food and water and a selection of Dog Collars and Leads like the ones you can buy from iwoof.com to fit with their needs in terms of their anxiety out on walks and how well trained they already are on a lead.

Training your dog is something that you can do from the comfort of your own home and here are some suggestions from the professionals.

Take care when choosing your dog’s name

You should not only pock a name for your dog that you like but also one that the dog can clearly distinguish as theirs and not get confused with other words that may be used in their everyday lives. If you have rescued a dog from a shelter or centre they will probably already have a name, although this doesn’t mean you can’t change it, to just means that you have to have a little more consideration for how the dog may react, and this may be favourable if you dog has come to the shelter from an abusive or neglected environment. Equally if you are purchasing a dog from a breeder they will have an official name that you may want to shorten a little.

House rules

It is important to consider what you are going to implement as house rules for your dog before they even arrive and discuss this with all members of the household so that you are all implementing them. This may include them sleeping in their own dog bed rather than at the bottom of yours, you may have certain areas of the house that are off limits to your dog, it may be that are not allowed to jump up on the sofa. Whatever the rules, it is important that you enforce these from the start and do not give in at any point.

Alone space

Most animals like to have a space that is just theirs away from the rest of the family and any other pets so that they can relax and unwind without the intrusion of others. This is particularly important if you have a nervous dog or one that is coming from a shelter that may become overwhelmed with lots of noise or new people and will naturally want to retreat. You can make this space as cosy as you like, and you may want to include a nice dog bed, some blankets and in the cold weather you can use heat pads to warm up their bed. Equally in the hot summer weather you can also buy cooling pads to help reduce their temperature. You should always follow the manufacturers guidelines when using these sorts of products.