When you look down at your brand new, small and tender puppy peacefully sleeping in its little bed, it's hard to think that in just two to three months it may grow to be 40, 50, or even up to 100 pounds depending on the type of breed. And although its behaviors may cute at the moment, like jumping up and putting his front paws on your body, these actions will be far less enjoyable when your dog is all grown up and literally knocking you over.

What could be more adorable than a tiny 10-week-old German Retriever walking down the street with its owner, pulling at the leash as it excitedly greets anyone who walks by? These little puppies put so much effort into seeing what's going on and are almost always greeted with a pat on the head and a smile from passing strangers.

Puppies are like children in many ways. They need constant care, supervision, and a lot of affection. Having both together, your kids and your dog, especially during playtime, require extra supervision and patience. The key is to teach your child how to play with the puppy and for the puppy to understand that he needs to listen to the child the same way he listens to you and the other adults in the family.

A dog crate is a metal and plastic cage for your dog to sleep in or be in while you are away, the crate helps give your dog a secure place to live while in your home and a place to retreat to when things get a bit to hectic as they do in many family homes today.

In major dog shows like Westminster in the United States or Crufts in the UK, there are over 130 different breeds of dogs that take part in dog show competition. It may look easy but there is more to show dog training than just ‘sit’, ‘stay’ or circling around the show ring. Every dog breed contains a select portion that is more ‘ideal’ than its companions. The first selection criteria is ‘conformation’ where arrangement of legs, tail, head, ears, etc, that are set appearance. Puppies often do not exhibit measurable signs of these components. For this reason, show dog training begins life with the offspring of other notable show dogs.

With a show dog offspring in hand, the next step is establishing a dedicated training regiment. Training commences with a course of daily training sessions that span several months or several weeks. The first step is establishing basic expected behaviors and move forward to more advanced behaviors. At all times, the trainer maintains a keen eye towards the dog’s progress.

Responsible dog owners know that it is extremely important to train your dog in order to make sure that you can both live together in a happy, safe, and comfortable environment. Training shouldn't be seen as ordering your dog around but should instead be viewed as teaching your dog to understand you. Remember that evolutionarily speaking, dogs are pack animals, and would be able to communicate with its pack-mates. Alpha dogs would use different postures and actions to command the lower-ranked dogs. This was the natural way that they functioned socially.