Training a dog to sit is usually the first command you teach a dog  it is easy for even the youngest of pups to learn and it is the basis for many other obedience commands.

Informal training may begin when the pup is only six or seven weeks old and still at the breeders. Every time the pup sits, say good sit. He may not know what you are saying but the happy tone of voice will let him know he did something good and eventually he will begin to pick up the words through repetition.

More formal training can begin soon after when a pup is seven to eight weeks old; it may not be a perfect sit right but the speed in which he picks up the new command might surprise you.

The simplest way to have a dog sit on command is to use their own natural body movement to your advantage. Put a small treat in your hand a few inches in front of his nose and let the pup sniff it. Once his attention is on the treat, say Fido sit and draw your hand slowly up and back over his head. His natural tendency will be to sit down which, once he does, is when you congratulate him, let him have the treat and say good sit. Try it a few times and then give him a break for a while as three short sessions a day are better then one long one when working with a young dog.

Once he has figured out what you are asking of him, you can stop moving your hand with the treat and see if he still understands. Continue this way until he now understands the verbal cue but still give him the treat when he successfully sits on command.

With all training, do not overuse the command word. Say his name as a cue that you are asking something of him followed by the word once then give him a moment to figure out what it is you want him to do. Too often new owners repeat the word over and over again and the dog either does not understand the command yet or, more likely, the overuse of the command has dulled their desire to perform as the newbie wishes.

Training sessions with any age of dog are far more successful if you bring the right attitude to the session. A happy, smiling, consistent attitude will soon have your dog joyfully executing your every wish! Dogs can read body language better then verbal commands and getting frustrated or just generally being in a bad mood will only confuse the dog and ruin the session. Dogs are much like children in the way respond to praise and begin to shut down if there is only negative feedback.

Once your dog is consistently sitting on command, begin removing the treat as part of the reward from time to time. Eventually you want your dog to sit on command because you asked him to not, because of the food reward. Treats are a great training tool but for day to day obedience, it is preferred to not have to carry a bag of Roll-Over with you whenever the two of you are together!

Once sit is mastered, its time to move onto to down, stay, rollover and so on. Have fun with the training and your dog will pick up the commands quickly and love the work. A well-trained dog is a happy dog and the owner reaps the eventual reward of a dog that is a pleasure to have in any situation!

To make the task of stopping a dog from growling easier, we ought to understand why the dog growls in the first place. Growling is considered to be an assertive behavior which is triggered by any unfamiliar event, person or even another animal. Thus a dog would growl when an unknown or sometimes known entity comes his way. This is his way of saying that he wants to be left alone or he does not approve what he expects would follow.

In other words, he feels threatened. As soon as the approaching person or animal moves away, this would be interpreted as showing respect to the dog and soon the animal should stop growling. Anyone who has a pet dog at home should understand many such myriad ways in which canines communicate so that there could be safe co-existence between the dog and the rest of the family.

This is especially important when the household has children, who are known to be particularly affectionate towards any pet. What happens when someone ignores the growling and continues to approach the dog casually? The dog treats the situation as threatening and expects adverse events to follow. Therefore he may start barking, or even snap and bite the approaching individual or animal as the case may be. Having briefed you so far on the reason why a dog growls, let me provide you with 5 sure-shot tips to stop the dog from growling:

1. It is recommended that you should never punish a dog for growling. Your punishment or reprimand may stop the dog from growling temporarily, but he would develop a latent behavior where he bites or snaps at people, without any warning in future. So the best solution under such circumstances is to respect the animal and let him be. He would stop growling as soon as he realizes that there is nothing disturbing his peace any more.

2. Explain to your children why a dog growls and if the dog starts growling suddenly, they should immediate stop doing whatever they were doing as it is obvious that the dog is getting irritated with their activity. Ask them to simply move away gradually from the dogs vicinity. Tell them to never run away from the growling dog as it irritates him further. Such incidents must always be
reported to the parents, as then you could focus more on this area while training.

3. It must be understood that dogs growl when intimidated by some one. Sometimes sheer size is perceived as a threat and the dog starts growling. So when a huge man approaches a dog, however kind his intention may be, the dog thinks him to be a threat. In such cases the man should squat and bring himself at the same level as the dog. Then approach him gently with extended hand palm facing up. Then talk to the dog in a calm and gentle voice.

4. If you find that the dog is growling for no apparent reason and is snapping at every thing, it might be right for you to get a medical check up done for the dog. Your vet could do some tests to check hormonal balance, neurophysiologic functions and allergies, if any. You never know, there could be underlying causes for his growling, which when corrected could stop him from growling.

5. There are some dogs which growl when he is eating and someone gets close. The reason for this is that he is simply possessive about his food and scared that this person might take his food away. To correct this behavior, choose an adult who the dog loves most. Let this adult start feeding the dog and stay close to him while he is eating.

To start with, simply stay with the dog and talk to him with a reassuring and calm voice. Once the dog is used to this, then let the adult approach the dog while he is eating, go on reassuring him with his gentle voice.

Once the dog is used to this habit also let the adult touch the dog with slow and gentle movements while he is eating. Though this procedure to stop him from growling could take a long time, but this happens to be one of the sure-shot ways to reassure a dog and take away the threat element, which makes him growl in the first place.