Bringing your new puppy home is an exciting time but there are steps that you can take, even at this early age, which will make your life considerably easier in the future.

If you have a dog cage or puppy crate available it is a good idea to get your dog to see it as a place of safety and enjoyment. It should never be used as a punishment and if your puppy goes into the cage to sleep it should be left undisturbed. A few exciting treats and chew toys kept in the cage that are not available outside will help ensure your puppy sees it as a nice place to be.

Having a puppy that is happy in his cage can have a lot of advantages:

If the house becomes busy with children or visitors it will keep the puppy safe and out from under foot.

You can leave you puppy when you need to go out, safe in the knowledge that your belongings are safe from tiny teeth and that your puppy is safe from the dangers that a house can present.

It can also help with housetraining your pup. A dog will try to avoid soiling the area where he sleeps and so will try not to dirty the crate if given the opportunity to relieve himself elsewhere.

You need to decide where you would prefer your dog to toilet. As far as the dog is concerned, until you have trained him to understand your preferences, any area away from his bed is suitable and he will see nothing wrong with using your bedroom floor or the area behind the settee.

Bear in mind that you cannot punish a dog after the event. There is little point in shouting at your dog for soiling in the wrong place if you don’t catch him in the act. It causes confusion in his mind as to why he is being punished.

As a general rule puppies tend to go to the toilet immediately on waking up and after eating or drinking. Rather than trying to be available as soon as your pup wakes up from a nap, it is easier to waken him after he has slept for a reasonable amount of time and take him immediately to the area that you want him to use. Praise enthusiastically when he performs. It can be a good idea to start using commands for toileting at this stage. Merely say the word that you have decided to use as the pup performs the relevant action. In time you will be able to use these words and your dog will eliminate on command. I used to use Pee for urination and ‘Get busy’ for defecation. As you can imagine it can be very useful to tell your dog that he needs to go to the toilet now, especially when you are in unfamiliar surroundings, before a long car journey or when time is short. Make sure you (and anyone else who will be working with your pup) are consistent with your commands otherwise your dog will get confused. Make sure everyone uses the same words.

Border Collies are intelligent animals and can also be taught to obey hand signals.

Once your pup has performed in the chosen toilet area DO NOT take him immediately back indoors, unless the weather is really bad and the puppy wants to go inside. Play with him for a few minutes, otherwise he will soon link the fact that going to the toilet means an end to the sniffing around in the garden and he will be reluctant to relieve himself outside and put an end to the fun. Much better to teach that the fun happens after you have performed.

Puppies grow 20 times faster than adult dogs and so have very different food requirements. They need to be fed a higher protein food and have small amounts given at frequent intervals to avoid stretching their small stomachs.

Feed 4 small meals a day up to 4 months old; 3 meals a day from 4 to 6 months, reducing to 2 meals a day at 6 months. It depends on what sort of regime you intend for your adult dog whether you keep it on 2 meals a day for the rest of its life or reduce to just 1 meal a day at about 9 months.

Any food not eaten within 20 minutes should be removed. Clean fresh water should always be available.

Make a point of staying with your puppy sometimes while he eats. Talk to him, stroke him and even handle the food in his bowl while he is eating. Occasionally lift the bowl and place a particularly tasty treat in it before giving it back to the pup. This is a special treat for allowing you to remove his food. My dogs are quite happy for you to take the bone out of their mouths, praise them and then give it back. A vital requirement is to stop your dog getting into the habit of guarding his food especially important if you have children or grandchildren who are associating with the dog.
Treats can be given as a training incentive, however, care should be taken and the ingredients read before purchase. A lot of commercial treats contain high levels of sugar, colourings and milk products. These should be avoided. Ordinary chocolate is not good for dogs, if you must give chocolate, only use those specially formulated for dogs. Grapes are also bad for dogs.

Treats should never account for more than 15% of the dog’s daily calorie intake.
All treats should be earned!! They are a way of rewarding good behaviour. They lose their effectiveness if given too freely without being earned.

All training should be done using reward and praise. There is never any need for harsh treatment and punishment.

It is never too soon to start basic training. What is cute and amusing in a tiny puppy does not have the same appeal when your dog is adult and weighs 20kg. Basically, if you don’t want your adult dog to do it, do not let your puppy do it.
Biting at hands, feet and clothing should be discouraged at this age. A simple way to do this is to react as another puppy would – make a loud squealing noise and refuse to play for a few minutes. This quickly gets the message across that the fun stops if you bite.

Allowing your dog onto beds and furniture. This is purely a personal choice. Just be aware that a dog has no way of differentiating between wet/dry and clean/dirty. He will become very confused if he is sometimes allowed on to the settee, but at other times it is forbidden and wrong.

Get your puppy used to you handling him all over.
Pick up his feet and examine between his toes.
Look into his ears
Look at his teeth
Even examine sensitive areas such as the anal and genital areas.

If your dog grows up accepting this as part of his life, the vet’s job is made considerably easier. Ask other people to join in and do the examination and handling for you sometimes.
While your puppy is young and adaptable, expose him to as many new experiences as you can.
Trips in the car, public transport, markets and busy streets, the countryside, sheep, chickens, cats, bicycles, pushchairs, noisy children playing, other dogs and strange people of both sexes and wearing a variety of clothing.

A puppy will easily learn your rules at this age. My dogs learn very young that other dogs, people and children are fun. That chickens and cats must not be chased and that a trip in the car means an exciting walk at the journey’s end.