New Year's resolutions are often made without really thinking about long term commitment to those goals. Getting your Teacup Maltese Puppy       into a routine for obedience work, no matter what age he or she may be is a simple and easy New Year's plan that won't take up a lot of your time but will actually pay off in a better behaved, more well adjusted Teacup Maltese Puppy       within just a few training sessions.

If you have decided to invest in a puppy in the last year, or perhaps even took the ownership plunge as part of a family Christmas present, it is really never too early to start obedience work. Puppies a few weeks old can quickly begin to recognize and respond to their name and some basic commands such as sit and even lie down. They are not likely to be able to develop more complicated routines, but even housetraining is a form of obedience work, as is crate training and providing socialization opportunities.

The area where you are going to work on obedience with a Teacup Maltese Puppy       or a puppy is not critical, but it should be an area that is familiar to the dog and is relatively distraction free. An area that is familiar to the Teacup Maltese Puppy       is less likely to draw the Teacup Maltese Puppy      's attention away from you and a distraction free area helps with focus. Once your Teacup Maltese Puppy       or puppy has the basics down, you will then want to move him or her to different areas to practice commands and skills even when there are minor and major distractions. This will come with time and is not the place to start your obedience work.

If you have other dogs, it is important to be able to work one on one with each dog. Perhaps another family member could take the other pet to another room or take them out for a walk to give you time to work alone with the new Teacup Maltese Puppy  . Of course you can also reverse this and spend some one on one time with the older Teacup Maltese Puppy       as well, obedience refreshers are important as well as essential even for older Teacup Maltese Puppy      s.

Never try to work with your Teacup Maltese Puppy       or puppy immediately upon getting home from work or being away from the house. The dog will be excited just to have you home and will not be able to calm down and focus. Give them some time to adjust, perhaps take them for a walk or a play in the yard to burn off that stored up energy. When they are calm and relaxed, that is the time to get busy with obedience work.

Start with the basic come command. Always say the dogs name, make eye contact with the Teacup Maltese Puppy      , then give the "come" command. Hold a small treat in sight of the dog or puppy if they don't naturally move towards you. As soon as they get to you give them the treat. Don't hold the treat up or encourage jumping, bend over and have it at the right height for the dog or puppy to easily take. Most dogs or puppies will have a limit to how many times they will repeat the same command before becoming bored, so only do each command once or twice in a row and move on to something else.

Once the Teacup Maltese Puppy       or puppy is approaching you on command, the next step is to teach sit. Sit is actually very simple if you work with the dog instead of against him or her. As the dog is approaching you hold the treat at the dog's forehead height, just above the muzzle level. When he or she is at the treat say "Fido, sit" and move the treat back to an imaginary spot above the middle of the head between the ears. The dog will naturally trace the movement with his or her muzzle up and back and the hind end will crouch into a sitting position. Immediately give the treat and lots of praise and attention.

By pairing the sit command after the come command is mastered, your Teacup Maltese Puppy       will always know that the way to get attention is to come to you and then sit. This will prevent the bad habit of jumping from ever becoming an issue.

Once you have sit and come mastered, you can then move on to more complicated commands such as lie down, shake a paw, roll over, fetch and of course heel on a leash. These commands, just like the come and sit command should be taught by saying the Teacup Maltese Puppy      's name, giving the command, then giving a reward and lots of praise for doing what is asked.

There are some things that people should never do in basic obedience training with a Teacup Maltese Puppy       or puppy. They include: