Most people who choose a smaller dog for a pet, do so to enjoy the company of a little companion around the house. Because your pet will be sharing your living space, the obedience training for your small dog is very important.

Often a smaller dog is both intelligent and headstrong, and will probably try to test you to see how much they can get away with. Make sure you make the effort to properly obedience train your little guy, so that he knows you are in charge.

It is always a good plan to get started with your little dog’s training early on- it is a lot easier to obedience train a young puppy before he has acquired any bad behavior problems. A group puppy training class is the very best way to go, if you have a new pet.

In addition to beginning to train your new pet, the group puppy training classes also do the import job of socializing the puppies. The socializing effects of the group puppy classes is a very important step towards reducing a dog’s aggressive urges. By being in social groupings with other people and their puppies, he learns more about appropriate social behavior. Dogs living in nature learn their place within their packs through this type of social interaction.

Isolation from contact with other dogs and people increase the chances of a dog growing up to become aggressive. Be sure to pay attention to  your dog’s obedience training and avoid problems behaviors from happening. Through a thorough obedience training program you can eliminate all your small dog’s behavior problems.

Use only positive training techniques with your small dog, just like with the larger breeds. Be sure never to use harsher correction techniques, such as hitting or yelling at your dog. These harsher techniques will end up hurting your training efforts and are not good for helping your dog trust you.

Good dog obedience training programs teach you how dogs communicate to each other. By learning to understand a dog’s point of view, you can avoid making the same common training mistakes everyone else makes (such as treating your dog as if he were human), and have good results much more easily and quickly.

By training your dog using techniques a dog can easily relate to, you will have the key to getting the results you want. By using the correct training methods, you can become your dog’s Alpha leader-and earn his trust, confidence and respect. After your dog has recognized you as the Alpha leader, he becomes very  eager to follow your lead.

It is not uncommon for smaller dogs to show aggression or excessive barking problems. The good news is that these  nuisance behaviors can be easily enough corrected and controlled through obedience training. If you let them, an aggressive little dog can try to control the whole household.

To get good results always bee consistent and use only positive training-giving your little guy plenty of praise and rewards when he performs his training exercises. You want to encourage your pet with positive rewards so he is eager to do the right thing. In order to get good results with the training sessions,  repeat the basic obedience training exercises several times each day. Keeping the lessons short (about 10 minutes or so) is a good idea. Stick with the training, and soon your little dog will be acting on his best behavior. And, of course, the better behaved your little dog is, the more welcome an addition to your household he will be.

The key to having a great pet is obedience training, no matter what size dog he may be . Don’t make the same mistakes everyone makes when trying to train your dog at home, and end up with a partially trained companion.

To find the best dog obedience training program for you, please click here to read my reviews of the 5 best on-line dog training programs. Best Dog Training Programs Reviewed.