Whether you have just bought a new puppy or have just adopted a rescue dog, you will need to do some puppy training or some dog training when you bring a new dog into your home.
This could be house training them, so they know to go into the garden for a wee, teaching them to sleep in a dog crate, you may want them to walk to heel when walking around city streets, or you want them to run by your side when wearing a hands-free dog leash.
All your dog training should be based on reward, repetition, and progression.
Training your dog is for their benefit. It keeps them and others safe and allows you to establish boundaries in the home.
Every dog training session should include rewards. Every time a dog does something you want within the dog training session, you should reward them. Rewards can be treats, a cuddle, tummy rub, or whatever attention they respond to best. However, most dogs value treats over anything else ha-ha. You can also reinforce the reward with a clicker or a phrase like "Good Girl."
It would help if you remembered dogs do not understand the spoken word. They learn from sounds, hand actions, and body language. So, if you are trying to get them to sit, when you first say the word "sit," they will have no clue what you want. However, if you say the word "sit," then raise your hand above their head holding a treat, they will naturally sit down… eventually. When they do this, please give them a reward to reinforce that they did what you wanted. If you keep the same command, they will eventually associate the sound you make when saying "sit," and they will know what you want them to do.
Your dog or puppy training should follow a logical progression and try only to teach one thing at a time. For example, to understand that you want them to sit down at first, you will need to say "sit," raise your hand, holding a treat. Then you can progress to just saying "sit" and then giving them pleasure. Then eventually you could be out on a walk, they are off lead and approaching a road, you could shout "sit," and they will sit at the side of the road waiting for further command.
It is essential to distinguish between a reprimand and punish. It is ok for you to reprimand your dog if you catch it in the act of doing something that isn't acceptable. For instance, if they keep weeing in the same spot or keep chewing couches or trainers.
The correct way to reprimand a dog is to say a firm and authoritative "NO" then lead them away from the area so you can deal with the mess they may have made. This should not be aggressive, and your aim is not to frighten them. You want to interrupt what they are doing.
For example, if you have caught them in the act of weeing on your favorite rug, give the "No" command, then say "come" so they follow you, then lead them outside to the garden and say "wee-wee." This will teach them that they need to go to the toilet out. Or if you catch them chewing on the corner of the couch, you should say "no," they say "come" and take them to their crate or another room. Then deal with the sofa without them being there.
It would help if you never punish your dog. By punishing, I mean hit, scream at, deny food, throw toys out, lock them away in another room, or use electric shock, studded, or dog/choke leads.
Dogs do not respond well to punishments. Yes, they may learn not to wee on the carpet if you smack them every time they were in the house. However, you will also cause them much stress, anxiety, depression, and unhappiness.
As a dog owner, you have a responsibility to give them the best and safest life possible, and punishing a dog should never be used. Especially as usually "bad behaviour" means a lack of training or inadequate training by you, or you have not adapted the house to have a new dog. After all, if you leave your new shoes next to their crate in the kitchen, is it their fault if they chew them to pieces, or is it your fault for leaving the trainers next to the crate in the first place?
You must never forget that dogs do not mean to be "naughty" or do "bad" things. They do not know that the couch they have just chewed is brand new and took you a year to save for, and they do not know running across the road after a cat is highly dangerous. It is down to you as their owner to devise a well-rounded dog training or puppy training plan to ensure they live by your house rules and be safe when in the outside world.
Once you have a dog training plan, be patient and see it through, then you will have a "well-behaved" dog that you can have years of fun and adventures with.