For your puppy play and exercise are inherently linked, because their idea of play involves jumping, romping, stretching, and any type of physical activity. And if you’re not careful it may get you in shape too!

Now as you begin training remember the value of play in the growth of your puppy, while using gentle but firm training and direction. Puppy hood is a challenging but charming time for you as an owner and before long it will be over. So enjoy the joie de vivre of play with your adorable little puppy as long as you can.

For your new puppy, training should start as soon as possible. Obviously your first concern when it comes to training your puppy is house training. The faster you can encourage the dog to go to outside the faster you’ll retain your sanity. This is your dog's first experience with training, so you want to point out to your puppy what you want and hopefully they’ll try to accommodate and be rewarded for success.

Puppy Crazies

You’ve probably seen the occurrence in young dogs of “puppy crazies", or in older dogs, "the mad minute"! This seems to happen more frequently when your dog has been cooped up in the house or in the car.

You open the door or take them off the leash and like a cork off a champagne bottle they’re off. Now as long as the situation is under your control, it’s hilarious to watch and safe for your dog.

When They’ve Had Enough

You should be able to judge when your new canine has had enough exercise. Once crazy time is over and the dog is calming down, perhaps panting, tongue hanging out, and coming back to your side – it’s to cool it down.

Don't allow a puppy to overdo it, especially the large breeds, while bones and muscles are still developing. Over-exercise at this age causes joint problems in later life, so it's just not worth it. Err on the side of caution.

Ah Yes, Toys

Your puppy should have its own toys. Making them aware what’s okay to play with - and what’s not - ensures your couch or shoes don't get chewed. Plenty of chew toys means they get relief during their difficult teething period while avoiding mayhem and destruction.

When making judgments about how safe a toy is for your dog, look at its bite size. This way you can be reasonably confident nothing is small enough to be swallowed. Also, keep an eye on the chewed toys and make sure they haven’t disintegrating to the point they become dangerous. If it's obvious the dog loves that toy, replace it with a new one just the same.

Be careful when it comes to small balls or children's toys. Many dogs love toys they can tug of war with, so be very careful not to encourage your dog to become possessive about this type of toy. This can encourage bad habits like food guarding in later life, depending on your puppies temperament or breed.

How about Fetch?

It's always good idea to play "fetch" with a young dog. You’ll see if the dog prefers a ball, Frisbee, or rubber ring. Some dogs chase anything thrown in the air, while others like things rolled along the ground.

Learning to play fetch is a great outlet for your dog because if you're out in the park together it ensures they’re usually occupied with the game, and not getting into trouble elsewhere! On the other hand, fetch does to some degree encourage chasing behavior.

So keep an eye on that and don't let it get out of hand. It's cute to see a big dog chase a squirrel up a tree, but not when it decides a Yorkshire terrier is more interesting prey!

As with all things, incorporate training into play and make training fun. Enjoy your little pup and guide him right, and he will become a rewarding and lovely adult dog.

That’s because with a dog training is a must if you want an enjoyable 12-15 years together!

I’ve only been able to touch on a few ideas in this article, so if learning the fastest and healthiest training methods is important to you I recommend you check out some of the excellent dog training ebooks available today.