If you are graced with a new puppy, the main concerns of new puppy owners seem to be centered around three subjects: House Training, Jumping up on you, and Biting or Mouthing. We have raised a few puppies, and have some tips to share with you. 

Crate Training

The Crate is a Puppy's Safe Haven
When you bring your puppy home for the first time, pick out a location for the puppy's bed that is safe and comfortable. One of the best house breaking and containment methods is to put your puppy in a crate. Some people think a crate is mean or cruel, it is the complete opposite, it is a "home" or a safe haven for your pet. Keep the crate door open when you are home and close the door when you are sleeping or out of the house or cannot watch it. If the puppy is not cooperating and does not want to enter the crate, put a few treats in it at first to entice the puppy to enter.

The Crate is a Puppy's Den
When dogs were in the wild, they would often "burrow" into the ground to create a den for safety. A crate is your puppy's "den." You need a crate that is large enough for your puppy to turn around in comfortably. Your puppy will try not to soil its "home." Do not expect your puppy to "hold" for long periods of time. Do not put your puppy in a crate and expect it to stay there all day without soiling it. It cannot! You must remember it is still a baby. Make the crate comfortable with blankets and or beds so your pup will see the crate as comfortable sleeping place. 

Where to Put the Crate?
Dogs like to be near their family and that means you. When the puppy first arrives, we have had 2 crates, one in the living room so the puppy will have a place to go when it needs to sleep during the day, the other is next to our bed so we will wake up during the night when the puppy needs to go outside. We also train our pups to eat their breakfast and dinner in their crate, so their crate becomes an enjoyable place to be. A crate close to the bed allows you quick timing to get your pup outside once it awakens and notifies you It needs to go outside. Puppies will always notify you, but will not be able to hold themselves for very long. A quick response by you will also alleviate your having to clean up a puppy accident. I have found this to be the quickest and cleanest way to crate train a pup and avoid accidents. Once your pup wakes up, which is not uncommon for pups below 12-16 weeks of age, immediately take the puppy outside, wait outside with the puppy while it does it’s business, then return to your bedroom, check the puppy’s blankets, and put the puppy back to sleep in the clean crate. The pup will fall back to sleep within a few minutes. Again, it is common for a young pup to wake up about 4-5 hours after it has gone to bed. As the puppy gets older, you will find it will sleep the longer and longer, and finally throughout the entire evening. Once it sleeps through the evening, you might want to put the crate in a different area of the home. Do not put the puppy in bed with you unless you intend for it to sleep there as an adult. It is very difficult for the puppy to understand if you allow it there at the beginning and then do not want it in your bed later. 

Keep a Clean Crate!
Do not force a puppy to remain in a soiled crate. You must arrange your schedule to avoid this from happening. Clean out the crate regularly! We recommend that you use a non-ammonia cleaner, because ammonia is similar to a puppy's urine, the smell will attract him and he will repeat the behavior. Do not punish the dog if it soils the crate. Remember, a new puppy needs to go out very often, for example, each time it eats, wakes up, after a play session, and any other time it starts "sniffing" around the area.

My Puppy is Now an Adult
You will not need to continue crating once your dog becomes an adult (and is trustworthy), but your dog will probably enjoy the continued use of the crate as it's own special place. If you decide not to keep the crate, slowly wean it off once the dog is older and you are able to trust it in your home. This is a personal choice. I believe in my dogs having their own special place, and my dogs sleep in their crates as adults. There is no worry of the dog getting into something it shouldn’t while you are resting. They also cannot hog the entire bed consistently if they have their own crate to sleep in! 

 
NO JUMP!

Dogs jump up to greet people because they want to make eye contact and physical contact. They are not interested in looking at your ankles or knees.

Most dogs have been positively reinforced for jumping up, because it is hard not to pet and talk to a little puppy when they run up with their tail wagging, thrilled to see you, and put their little paws on your ankles. Their only sin is getting bigger and putting their paws on higher body parts.

We are dealing with normal greeting behavior by dogs that like and love the people they are greeting. It would be wrong to punish this behavior. It would also be wrong to prevent the dog from greeting visitors.

Tom is really good at teaching them not to jump up on him. I am really bad at this! So, here is what Tom does. He catches their paws when they are trying to jump up on him, and gently squeeze them while holding them and repeating No Jump! The other thing to do is step back so they effectively jump up in air, and miss contact. Once they are back with all fours on the ground, we pet and praise them and repeat the No Jump command. 

Here is a method I also found on the web to teach your puppy/dog to greet people (including family members). 

Teach the puppy/dog to sit using its food as a lure and reward. Make sure that you practice the sit command in any area you expect the dog to sit to greet people. Have the dog confined while you invite the visitor in and get them in a comfortable chair. Lead the dog, who is on a buckle collar with a leash attached, up to the visitor. Make sure you hold the collar or lead to prevent the dog from jumping up. 

Give the dog the 'sit' command and hand signal. Have the visitor wait until the dog sits, before gently stroking the dog from head to shoulder while they talk to the dog in a sweet gentle voice for at least one minute. You make sure that the dog does not jump up during this procedure by holding the dog's collar. Your visitor may be leaning over the dog and a broken nose or glasses may result if you don't do a good job! 

If the dog does not sit right away, just make sure that nothing happens until the dog sits. The first time you do this, be prepared to wait. As soon as the dog sits and gets the visitors attention as a reward, walk the dog away from the visitor, return and repeat the procedure. The dog is going to be very excited the first time they greet the visitor. The fifth time in a row you walk the dog up to the visitor, the dog is thinking "Gee, it is still Joel." It will be much easier to get the dog to sit with each additional greeting. 

If you do this with every family member and every visitor, you will soon have a dog that will sit in front of visitors to get petted and get their attention.
 

My Puppy Keeps Chewing What Do I Do?

First, always keep in mind that it is natural for a puppy to chew. The puppy is not doing this to annoy you, but because it is a normal function of a puppy, just as it is in a human baby. Keep this in mind, and be sure not to ever hit or strongly punish the puppy for doing what is natural to it. It is natural for your pup to carry things in their mouth So it is important NOT to discourage the presence of things in a pups mouth. Watch and notice when the pup is chewing what is in their mouth, or when it is just carrying an object in it’s mouth. 

Chew Toys!
What we need to do is to teach the puppy what is correct to chew on, and what is not. Be sure to supply your puppy with a variety of toys that are permissible for it to chew. Knuckle bones are good bones to satisfy a pups chewing instinct. Greenies are also a good choice to satisfy chewing and clean teeth. 

Another good item is the Kong, which is made of hard rubber and lasts a long time. Please keep in mind that cheap toys are not worth the money, the puppy can destroy them too easily and can choke on the pieces that it chews. Chew ropes are also good, but again, watch to see if it starts coming apart. Take it away immediately at that point. Fleece Squeaky toys are also handy, but again, you must be careful to throw it away when it starts to get a holes. You do not want your pup to ingest the fleece material or the squeaker.

Teach Your Puppy What it CAN Chew!
Always have one of his chew toys handy. Each time the puppy chews on something other than one of the toys, firmly tell the puppy "no" and give the puppy one of his own chew toys. When the puppy starts chewing on the proper item, say "Good Puppy" (Good boy or good girl is fine also.) This teaches it what is acceptable to chew on and what is not.

The “Ouch” Method
Anytime the puppy is biting, and especially during a play session, say "ouch" or “NO BITE” and immediately stop playing. This lets the puppy know that the biting is unacceptable. This method is called "ouching" and everyone in the family should do it.

The Puppy-Proof Method
Use your intelligence to help keep the puppy away from unwanted chewing. If the pup chews on shoes, keep them in your closet with the door closed. Keep books and other chewables out of the pup’s reach. Go through your home (on your hands and knees if necessary) and look to see what is tempting for your puppy to chew on. Eliminate any unsafe or inappropriate items.

The Bitter Apple Method
Another handy aide to help prevent chewing -- is a product called Bitter Apple. It can be purchased at pet stores and through pet catalogs. Be sure to test spot it prior to spraying on a good piece of furniture. It must be reapplied daily, as it wears off in approximately 24 hours. There is also available a Bitter Apple for furniture that lasts longer.

Puppy’s Toy Box
You can have a toy box for your puppy and have all the toys kept in it. Then they are handy and you also know where to get one when you need one. The pup will eventually learn where they are and get a toy out by itself. Every once in awhile, put a little treat (milk bones are great!) in the toy box to get the pup used to looking in it.

Be sure to use lots of praise anytime the pup is doing something right, whether it is chewing on the right toy, eliminating outside, sitting when told, etc.