1. Crate training your puppy is a great way to control her environment and will help in house training. Controlling her environment means when you can not properly supervise her, put her in her crate with a toy she can chew on.  Toys that you can put small treats in that she has to work for, will stimulate her physically and mentally while in her crate, however do not leave her in her crate for more than 4 hours at a time.
2. Put your puppy on a feeding schedule. This will help in house training as well. Put her food down for 15 minutes, anything she does not finish should be picked up, covered and put away until her next scheduled feeding time. When your puppy is finished eating, she will need to eliminate anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes afterward. Put her on a 6 foot leash, put a few treats in your pocket to reward her with and take her to the designated elimination area. Stand there and wait for her to eliminate, giving her a 6 foot radius to sniff in. The second she finishes eliminating, mark the correct behavior (eliminating where you wanted her to) in a soft voice with a word like "yes" or a “click” from your clicker. Then, reinforce her good behavior by giving her a tiny treat as a reward immediately where she did her business. If you wait until you go back into the house to give her the treat, you will confuse your puppy. She will think she is getting the treat for coming back into the house instead of receiving the treat for eliminating in the proper area.
3. Puppies need to be socialized. Enroll her in a puppy class, where the instructor only uses reward based training. 

Linda White
PuppySmarts, LLC
Peoria, AZ
www.puppysmarts.com

1. Make lots of extra time in their first couple of months to guide them as they learn the structure of their new life and the big wide world. Exercise is easily structured, but their learning takes place non stop, every time they interact with anything. It's a lot to work through in a very brief time.
2. Structure, ways to guide and teach them are skills that are invaluable to their process.
3. Prevention of problems... through basic skilled early guidance you can prevent many problems, training will nurture that for all involved, and also bond you closer.
4. Adopt only when you have the time and resources to dedicate a lot of focus upon a new pup. Time and attention, and the guidance therein, will be the building blocks of their future. Getting positive reinforcement training will help you and your puppy have the skills to live together happily ever after, and when done preventatively is far less cost and time consuming than changing habits or reactions.
5. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is so fundamental to puppies. Begin training as soon as possible, in the home, learning positive methods to communicate good and poor choices to your puppy while their vaccinations prepare them for being out and about ahead. As soon as your vet OKs it, get your puppy outside, first in classes to learn how to coordinate teaching them resilience (as opposed to fear or anxiety to new things), so that all they encounter in the world will be met with confidence and relaxed poise under your nurturing guidance.
6. Guided exposure to many different kinds of people, different kinds of safe dogs (and the ability to know the difference), all the strange sounds and movements of the world when they are *developing* in their brains (creating their reactions as opposed to changing them), and having methods & skills to shape those developments to be their healthiest, are key to a happy, well adjusted, and well mannered pup. Make the time, invest early and the payoffs will be tremendous and lifelong. It goes far beyond obedience, the importance is in shaping and guiding their spirits and character, for the developmental window for the greatest ease in these lessons is very brief.

Cynthia Kurtz
The Pet Geek
Welches, OR
www.thepetgeek.com

1. What do you expect your puppy’s life to be like when it grows up? This gives me an idea of what they need to teach the puppy and gives the owners a chance to see what the puppy needs to learn to adapt to. For example:
1. around lots of family and friends
2. regular visits to doggy daycare
3. travel with family
4. dog park play
5. hiking off leash in the mountains
6. home alone with the family
2. What are 5 of your dog’s favorite things [to be used as reinforcement]? Homework will expand this to 20.
3. What 5 things does your dog not like or is afraid of?

Terry Shackleton
Camrose Kennels
Surrey, BC, Canada
www.camerosekennels.com

1. Have your new puppy checked by your vet.
2. Enroll your puppy in a training class just for puppies to learn basic obedience as well as socialization.
3. Don't give your new puppy free run of the house.

Katherine Novak
Top Dog Canine Counseling
Catonsville, MD
http://topdogcaninecounseling.com/

1. Provide Safe Socialization: Be sure to take great effort to socialize your puppy to other puppies, older dogs, and a variety of people in a safe, controlled environment.
2. Teach a Gentle Mouth: Teach your puppy how to be gentle with her mouth with other dogs and people.
3. Build a Relationship on Trust: Learn to be a loving, benevolent, and trusted leader that your puppy trusts to take care of all of her problems. Learn to be the kind of leader your puppy wants to follow.

Taking your puppy to a good puppy class will help you accomplish all three objectives.  Be sure to visit and observe the class or speak with the instructor about the training methods before signing up for the class.

Deb Dolak, CPDT
Over The Rainbow Dogs
Muncie, IN
DDOLAK@bsu.edu

1. First, get you new puppy thoroughly checked by you veterinarian. You want to make sure your new pup is free from parasites, started on a vaccine series, and generally healthy.
2. Second, get your puppy enrolled in a good puppy class. Which means all the pups in the class have passed a veterinary health exam and have had at least one set of vaccines, all interaction/play between puppies is supervised by an experienced trainer, behaviors are taught using positive reinforcement.
3. Third, socialize your puppy as much as you can in a safe way. Meaning, no dog parks, but exposure to new sights, sounds, surfaces and people. Always work within your puppy's comfort zone and use food treats to make this a positive and fun experience.

Staci Lemke, CPDT
Manners For Mutts Dog Training
Irvine, CA
www.mannersformutts.com

1. Before going out to look for a puppy, do your research. Research the various breeds of dogs to see if their energy level is equal with yours. If you don't want to spend a lot of money on grooming, choose a breed that doesn't require special grooming. Be aware of how large your puppy is going to get. Don't make a mistake by buying a puppy because he is cute. If you are going to get a puppy, do not buy from pet stores. They get their puppies from puppy mills, which treat their dogs horrendously.
2. Research sites like rescue groups who have many puppies and young and old dogs.
3. It would be wise for the new puppy owner to try to take his/her vacation to be home with the pup. Give him a crate that is big enough for your puppy to stand up, turn around and lie down. Introduce your puppy to your family, one by one. Don't all converge on the puppy at once. If there are any other pets in the house, slowly introduce each pet to your new puppy one by one.

Lois Stein, ABCDT
Pet Pleasers, LLC
Millstone Township, NJ
Critr7@aol.com

1. Make sure you have educated yourself with regard to vaccinations and feeding. Many well meaning vets have very different views on these subjects. My personal favorite source for information is a book called, "The Nature Of Animal Healing" by Dr. Martin Goldstein. Don't wait until you have your new puppy before reading at least the first three chapters. Be sure you've chosen the right vet for you before you take your dog home (I prefer holistic vets).
2. Find a nice positive trainer/behaviorist who will be willing to come to your home the first few days or week you have your pup so they can teach you the best way to consistently train your pup to peacefully exist in your home by obeying the rules. It's worth the investment. Remember, you have many years ahead with your new pup, you don't want them to consist of your yelling all the time. You want to form a nice, peaceful, harmonious bond.
3. Be certain you choose the breed that is right for your home and lifestyle. If you're a homebody who lives in a small space, choose a breed that doesn't require many long and vigorous walks and a large home. If you are very active and have plenty of space, a more active breed may be best for you.

Jacquelyn Karl
petbehaviorist@aol.com

1. Structure & Routine - set up a good schedule and routine for the puppy so that he/she can be successful and know what to expect in their new homes. It will also help the family with adding the puppy to their lives. So often the first few days with a new puppy are 'fun & exciting' but soon the real work begins. If they make a plan and decide what role the puppy will have right away they'll be ready when the puppy breath starts to go away.
2. Socialization & Training - find out where they can sign up for a puppy class or playgroup. They can't start soon enough with training and working on his/her social skills with other dogs. Set a goal of taking the puppy to a minimum of 2 new locations each week - even if it just means having the puppy in the car and stopping to walk him/her around a parking lot a couple of times. It doesn't have to be a time consuming event, everyone is busy these days but if you don't make it a priority it won't happen and you'll miss that window of opportunity.
3. Involve the whole family - A dog should be part of the family and everyone in the home needs to be consistent. Even young children can learn how to properly interact with the puppy. Building a good relationship with the puppy and children before the puppy gets larger and hits adolescence is important. Setting boundaries for the children and teaching them how to interact properly with a dog from the beginning will enhance their relationship. Including children in the training process will show them that the dog is more than a 'toy' to wrestle with and ignore when you're bored with him

Liz Williams
Anchorage, AK
Alaska Dog Sports
www.akdogsports.com

Wilhaven Shiba Inu
www.wilhavenshibas.com

1. My first recommendation would be to get a crate. Make it comfortable, enough for your pup to stand up, turn around and lay down in. The crate is one of my favorite management tools because it helps your pup when it comes to potty training, and to keep your pup from starting bad habits, such as chewing furniture, when you aren't watching.
2. The second thing I recommend is making sure you know that your pup will need to go potty after playing, sleeping, eating, and drinking. Keeping track of these things will make your potty training much easier. I recommend scheduling your feeding and watering instead of free feeding/watering to avoid accidents as well. An alternate to crating when you are busy is using a product that keeps your pup attached to you, but hands free. You could also do this with a leash and a carabineer.
3. Lastly, be aware of your pups vaccinations. Until your puppy is approximately 16 weeks, be careful of have traffic areas as certain viruses such as the parvovirus, can be devastating and deadly. Make sure to consult your veterinarian. When taking your puppy to socializing classes ask the facility what steps they take to make the area safe as possible for your pup.

In conclusion, good management leads to good habits that will help you and your new pup get off on the right paw!

Chelsey Stimson
Big Sky Canine Training
Norfolk, VA
www.bigskycaninetraining.com

Read articles on puppy training and socialization from the APDT's publication, The APDT Chronicle of the Dog:

• "The Veterinarian's Role in Puppy Development" by Lore Haug, DVM, Jan/Feb 2005
  
  
• "Handling Exercises for Veterinary Exams & Grooming" by Terry Long, CPDT, Jan/Feb 2005
  
  
• "Striving for Puppy Wellness: Are Early Socialization and Infectious Disease Prevention Incompatible? by Jennifer Messer, BA Psych (Hons.), DVM, Nov/Dec 2006
  
  
• "Preparing a Puppy for Grooming" by Nikki Myers, Jan/Feb 2005
  
  
• "The Old Fears of Puppy Socialization: Let it Go!" by Pia Silvani, CPDT, Jan/Feb 2005
  
  
• "A Review of Duxbury, MM, Jackson JA, Line SW, Anderson RK. (2003). Evaluation of association between retention in the home and attendance at puppy socialization classes. JAVMA 223(1):61-66" by Emily Thorn, Jan/Feb 2005