As well as teaching your puppy obedience, puppy training classes are good for other things like social skills and support.

A class should cover teaching the basic commands for a puppy like sit, stay and fetch. After these have been mastered many classes will teach more advanced obedience training, for example getting your puppy to shake hands or roll over.

At puppy training classes you’ll find a wide mix of people and dogs. This will help your puppy learn to socialise; a task that gets harder as they age if they’re not used to the company of other dogs. As a bonus, you’ll be meeting new people too!

Puppy training classes are a good place to spot any potential problems with your puppy’s behaviour as you have the support there to help fix it.

Puppies learn well between the ages of one and four months old so this is the best time to enrol them in a class. You will need to do some research before choosing the best place. Word of mouth recommendation is generally the best way to find out good classes, but if that’s not possible then try asking local pet shops or vets and then check out their suggestions.

You should visit a puppy training class before enrolling your pet, preferably while a session is underway. Check on the numbers of trainers to each puppy – ideally one for every three – and how many puppies in total are accepted in a class. Preferably, it should be no more than ten.

Watch how the trainers interact with the puppies and owners, and get a feel of how the general atmosphere is. Ask about hygiene as it’s important that the venue is disinfected after classes. If something doesn’t feel right then go elsewhere. After all, you want puppy training classes to be a positive experience for both of you.

Size is probably the best criteria to start with when choosing a new puppy. Although this sounds obvious, you need to know before choosing a cute little pup how big it will be as an adult dog. Then you need to factor in how big your space is; having a large dog in a small flat won’t be much fun for either of you. Another thing to remember is that the cost of dog food can vary considerably depending on how big your dog is, so if money is a consideration you need to budget for this.

A puppy should be lively and alert, with bright eyes and a wet nose. If you see it with its siblings, it should be interacting with them. Often, a pup that is by itself instead of in the group has health problems. While it’s tempting to feel sorry or the outsider, you need to think about whether you can deal with any problems at home.

Consider the breed. Dogs have, over the centuries, been bred for many different purposes. This means that each breed has a slightly different temperament. Some are best as working dogs; some as companions. Some are good with children; others prefer quieter adults. Some are nervous; some have placid dispositions. And so on.

Different breeds need different types of care, for example long-haired dogs will need regular grooming. Certain breeds have well-known health issues so consider the long term implications of owning that type of dog.

You’ll find that certain dog breeds are easier to train as puppies than others. So before choosing your new puppy be sure to do your research thoroughly first.

As with the other training tips we’ve looked at, positive reinforcement is the key here. We don’t want to rebuke our pups if they don’t do exactly as we want. We want only to reward their good behaviour.

One easy way to do this is with treats. Get some small, tasty dog snacks that are quick for them to chew each time you give them out, so that you can continue the training momentum. Don’t worry about them getting dependent on the treats as we’ll come to that in a bit.

To begin training: hold the treat in front of the puppy’s nose and then move it up and backwards so that your pup’s hind legs will naturally bend into a sitting position. If your dog simply walks backwards then move closer to a wall. Don’t push him into position.

As he moves into the sitting position you should always say “sit”. Always be consistent with dog commands and don’t overcomplicate them by adding anything extra like names.

As soon as his bottom reaches the floor and he succeeds in sitting, give him the treat along with lots of praise. This positive reinforcement will help him make the association between your “sit” command and the behaviour you expect.

Continue this routine several more times. After a time, start to reduce the treats, perhaps once every other command. Eventually you can phase them out completely. Your dog will still want to sit because you will be carrying on the habit of giving him lots of praise when he achieves the task. Your puppy will love that more than snacks!