Puppy Points to Post on Your Fridge

Your job is to make it easy for your pup to succeed—repeating English words over and over to your dog while he ignores them simply turns them into "background noise".  Give them true future power by setting him up to succeed at the training game—only give the command when you are certain the dog will do it, or better yet, is already doing it

Socialize, socialize, socialize—new sights, sounds situations, experiences, and especially different sized, shaped and aged people.  Socialization will make all obedience training much easier and will keep your dog happy and calm.  Consider occasional dog daycare if you can't get him out playing 3-4 times per week.

Physical exercise—One walk around the block per day is not enough!  Do whatever you can to get your dog tired; he can't misbehave when he's sleeping!

Use hand signals forever and gradually reduce the amount of verbal commands and "banter praise"

If he's getting rusty or "regressing" in a particular area, don't complain—just take a few steps back, re-teach him and keep your enthusiasm up.

Always RELEASE your dog from Stay, Sit, Heel, and Down before he releases himself, no matter what the reason

All dogs are different, just like people.  Don't envy someone else's dog; work with the one you have.  It will work.

Be patient and loving and enthusiastic during training

50 training sessions of 10 seconds each will be YOU into the habit of "constant" training.

Praise and sometimes treat ALL good behavior, even just sitting or lying down quietyly or getting along with another dog, or being polite around people or children.  Reinforcement increases the frequency of the behavior, remember.

Prevent or ignore bad behavior and that behavior will (eventually, with consistency) stop.

All recall ("come") commands only on long leash, or when you're 100% sure the dog will come to you, until absolutely solid in a wide variety of distracting situations and location.

Consider further obedience or training (Advanced Kindergarten, AKC Canine Good Citizen, Agility,  flyball, tracking) - it's a great way to keep your dog's mind and body stimulated, continue to cultivate the relationship and communication you have with your dog and  a lot of fun!

See Puppy 101 for important daily handling and possessiveness exercises

Make sure all hello's and goodbyes are very low key—this can prevent separation anxiety

Always pick up your dog's poop!

Congratulations on being a great dog owner!