Getting a puppy is an exciting time, but there are a few important things to remember to make sure they grow into well-behaved dogs.

Ground rules: Set the ground rules early and stick to them. Agree as a household what you don’t want your adult dog to do – e.g. jump on the sofa/bed, beg at the table, etc. – and enforce it from day one. Life gets much harder if you allow the cute little puppy on your lap when it’s four months old, but are not so keen when it’s fully grown and covered in mud!

Recall: Work on recall – start early in your back garden. Call your puppy’s name and give it a treat and a fuss when it comes to you. He or she will learn its name and learn that coming when called means a treat. Once the puppy is coming when called, you can just fuss it each time rather than always giving the treat. When on walks, call your puppy to you lots of times and reward it. Don’t limit your recall to the end of the walk.

Socialise early: Remember, the key learning phase is the first few months. The more your puppy experiences early, the better adjusted it will be later in life. Cars, livestock, other dogs, vacuum cleaners, etc. are all things your puppy should experience in a controlled, safe manner as early as possible.

Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement is better than negative. Try as much as possible to train your puppy by positive associations. For example, if you want it to toilet outside, it’s much better to give your puppy a treat or a fuss when it goes in the right place, than berating it when it doesn’t. Dogs are much more likely to do what you want if they think there is something in it for them!

Don’t encourage jumping: All puppies tend to jump up a little. The problem is we tend to encourage it when they are small by giving them fuss or attention and the behaviour becomes reinforced. Although it’s cute to have a little puppy jump up at your leg, it’s not cute when they are full grown and jumping up at small children or elderly people.

So start early, push them down or ignore them when they jump, and make them sit for attention. The earlier you nip it in the bud, the easier it gets.