These are sit, drop, stay, come and walk at heel. Teaching your pooch these commands is easier than you think. The trick is to start when your dog is as young as eight-weeks old.

Be consistent and repetitive – say each command at least 10 times. Set the dog up to succeed and reward with both food and praise. Practice for about 10 minutes each day.

1. SIT Focus your dog on a food reward. This should be something different to its usual meal. Cheese, chicken, cabanossi or liver treats are ideal. Always work with the dog on a lead; that way you have control. Position your dog with its back to a wall, to stop it backing away.

Hold the food reward over the top of the nose and rock it backwards over the top of the head. Your dog will follow the treat and sit. The moment it does, say ’sit’, and reward immediately.

2. DROP With your dog in the sit position, hold the food reward over the top of the nose and extend the treat forward to the ground at a 45-degree angle. Your pet should drop to its belly to get the reward. If it only goes halfway, still give a reward, but repeat until your dog does it properly.

3. STAY With your dog in the sit position, hold up your hand in a stop sign. Walk back one or two steps, make eye contact with your dog, say ’stay’, wait 10 seconds, then go back and reward your pet. Gradually extend both the distance you retreat and the time you wait before returning.

4. COME This is an extension of stay. With the dog in the sit position, and you at a distance from the dog, say ‘come’ and jump up and down excitedly to break the stay command. Reward your pooch when it comes.

5. Walk at heel Put your dog on a lead and make it sit to your left. Hold a food reward in front of your left thigh as you walk forward. This encourages the dog to focus on this position and walk on a slack lead. Use the command ‘heel’ or ‘walk’, reward your dog after a few paces, then go again.