Early training may be carried out at home but it is most important that the dog should also be socialised with others of its own kind. A dog that fails to mix with others often either becomes fearful or aggressive to others when finally allowed such contact. The next step is that the owner avoids other dogs. By default this also means that the dog is prevented from meeting other humans and may become fearful of humans. Is this a familiar tale?

All this can be avoided by simply joining your local dog training club where your dog can mix with other dogs and most importantly learn that it must obey and hence be obedient even with the distraction of other dogs in the immediate vicinity.

Joining a dog training club will also give you the benefit of learning the tricks of the trade from other dog trainers. After all, how many of us would expect to ride a horse or fly an aeroplane without any training or first learning the basic principles. It is, however, a fact that many dog owners are of the opinion that anyone can train a dog. In one sense, I agree, anyone can train a dog, but I believe the newcomer to dog training will make fewer mistakes and progress faster with just a little help from an experienced trainer. Hence, my message is, join a club.

There is no doubt that if more dog owners spent even a few weeks attending a training club I would receive far fewer calls from owners of dogs with unwanted behaviours who need help in retraining their dog to be a better member of society!