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"Some people believe that a shadow is merely an absence of light. I believe it is part of one's soul" - Criss Angel Mindfreak

Basic Training information:

Sit

1. Start with your puppy facing you. Place a treat in your open palm, fingers pointing up, using your thumb to hold on to and cover the treat.
2. Place your open palm on the puppy's nose so it smells the treat.
3. Slowly lift your hand up over the top of its head to lure the puppy's nose due north.
4. Keep your palm on the puppy's nose. Removing and whipping your hand back quickly usually results in the puppy not sitting, or prompts it to get up.
5. Done correctly, the puppy's body follows its head, causing its butt to tuck under into a cute little sitting position.
6. The second the puppy's butt touches the ground, click or verbally mark the behavior and immediately reward with praise and the treat.
7. Work this in five-minute sets, four to five times a day for a couple of days. Once the puppy understands the sought after behavior, raise your palm slightly off its nose.
8. On the third day, follow the same procedure as your first practice, but place the treat in your other hand for the second repetition. Lure the puppy into sit with the hand not hold the treat, mark as before, then give it the treat from your other hand.
9. When the puppy consistently responds as desired, add the verbal command word "sit" to build an association between the word and behavior.
10. Randomly vary luring with the treat above the puppy's head while holding it in your other hand, until the puppy readily performs with or without the treat use directly as lure.
11. Always maintain a consistent hand motion as you gradually begin raising your hand farther from its nose. This motion will become your hand signal for "sit".
12. As your puppy becomes proficient, praise readily, but gradually reduce the number of times it receives a treat for performing the cue. Never completely eliminate treating your dog for responding correctly, because anticipation of an occasional reward keeps your dog keen.

Lay down

1. Begin with your puppy's butt close enough to a wall to prevent it from backing up as you face each other.
2. Hold a treat between your index finger and thumb, with the rest of your fingers open, and let your puppy see it.
3. Put the treat right at the puppy's nose to prevent it from walking forward.
4. Encourage your puppy to sink into a down by moving the treat slowly downward between its front legs, tucking the nose and head toward the chest.
5. If necessary, apply a light pressure to its shoulder as you feel the puppy give a little when its head moves down. Don't push or try to force it into a down.
6. If your puppy's front end goes down while its rear end stays up, patiently wait or repeat the steps until both ends hit the ground. Immediately mark the behavior and gibe your puppy a treat.
7. Should your puppy just not get the rear and front connection, move yourself to one side. As you lure its front down, use your other arm to gently fold its beck legs, just under its rear.
8. Regardless of how much help you give, mark and treat the instant your puppy reaches a prone position.
9. When your puppy consistently responds, introduce the verbal command word "down."
10. As with the sit, gradually remove the lure, treating from your other hand.
11. Slowly bring your hand movement farther away from your dog, until a downward sweep of your open palm signals the down.

Stay

1. With your puppy wearing a buckle collar, tell it to sit.
2. Gently hold the collar and place a treat about 1 foot in front of the puppy.
3. Initially, every puppy tries to get the treat. Keep hold of the collar to prevent forward movement.
4. Unlike other lessons, use the command word right away, and quietly tell the puppy to "stay".
5. The second the puppy relaxes forward pressure on the collar, mark, the behavior, pick up the treat and give it immediately. Don't let the dog go to the treat or it may think it's being rewarded for getting up.
6. If necessary, further emphasize the stay by placing your hand on the puppy's chest, encouraging it to hold the position and earn a reward.
7. Ask for a stay for only a second or two until the puppy shows signs of understanding.
8. Increase the length of the stay before adding distance, with progressions limited to a few second increments. Keep working on it slowly until your puppy can get to 15 seconds.
9. Increase distances literally step by step, reducing time initially for each step taken, and gradually, increasing it as the puppy's confidence builds.