Q    My dog, a Lhaso Apso, keeps jumping over the fence to get into my neighbour's garden. He has a front and back garden to play in. He is also taken on regular walks. I put him in his cage for 10 minutes and he whines which I ignore. However he persists in doing this and will not come when called. Any ideas please to help us train our dog not to jump over the fence?

A    Some breed of dogs are just typically jumpy especially the smaller variety. Prevention is the key and the easiest option would be to just build up your fence so it is higher, but in reality that isn’t going to help your dog with his behavioural problems. It is great to see that he has a front and back garden to play in and that you spend the time and effort taking him on regular walks.

I think the most important and beneficial thing you can do is teach your dog the command to ‘come’. This would have to be one of the most important commands that every dog should learn first. It is crucial that you gain your dog's obedience in order to show him that you are the pack leader. Without that respect for you it will be difficult for him to follow orders and keep out of trouble.

The ideal time to start this training is during his feeding time. As we all know dogs are always more than willing to come to you when you have a big bowl of tasty food in your hand. To start training, simply hold your dog's dish of food in your hand and without raising your voice firmly ask him to ‘come’. When he comes to you for his dinner, lavish him with lots of praise for his obedience and response. This will create a positive connection between coming and eating. By ensuring that you do this on a regular basis for at least 5 minutes, 3 times a day including times when you request him to come to you when you don’t have any food in your hand. Remember to reinforce his good behaviour with lots of praise and pats. He will soon learn this as a natural command.

Once your dog has mastered the ‘come’ command you can use this when you see him near the fence by saying ‘no’ in a stern voice to grab his attention and then adding ‘come’ after it and thus rewarding him for his obedience when he returns to you with perhaps a small treat at the beginning of this training and then just lots of lavish praise once he has started to master the command.

Q    How to bring a new puppy into the house?

A    There are no hard and fast rules but here are a few tips when Chelsea Handler had the same question.

Q    We just bought a puppy and have found out he is deaf and are unable to train him because he cannot hear us, shall we take him to the pound?

A    Please don't take your puppy to the pound, he needs a loving family to look after him and even though he is deaf, you can still train him by teaching him with hand signals. It may take a bit longer and be a bit of a challenge, but can quite easily be achieved with a bit of patience and rewards. I think your dog will adjust quite easily with just a little help from his beloved family.