Hi everyone 
Just got a dog today, it's my first dog too.
It's kind of hyper right now, I'm not sure if that's normal.
And it also tries to eat the tomatoes and chillies in the garden.
Is there a better way to train it than just saying 'NO' or 'DON'T'?
EDIT: Some details.
It's breed is a Lhasa Apson cross. It's about 2 years old. It's a small-ish dog, but really fast.
And will it calm down in a few days?
Many thanks.
Smaller dogs are some of the most hyper. You should've looked into breeds more apparently. Since it's 2 though, maybe it'll calm down in a year or so.
If you're finding him hard to catch since he's fast, I suggest a choker chain and a leash on him at all times. Try saying no first, and if he doesn't listen, the leash should be in easy reach for you to grab it, and give a jerk, and say no again. Do NOT just plain choke the dog or drag him around by the choker. Give him a treat if he listens to you.
Is there a better way to train it than just saying 'NO' or 'DON'T'?
My dogs' a middle size mixed Irish Wheaten Terrier, and yet he stil almost never listens after 3 years.
You're guess is as good as mine.
Lemme see if I can help you a bit… If he is hyper, then that means he needs plenty of exercise. Lots of energy to spare so playing fetch with him or leaving him to run around in a park is a good way for him to spend it.
If you want him to obey to certain orders like 'Stay' or 'Sit', you have to specifically train him for them. For example, take a leash like Al said and take him out for a walk every day. Stop at times and say the order, keeping the leash tighter and closer to you when you stop as to gently force him to stop with you. When he stays still for a while, give him a treat or a good pet on the head and an excited, pleased 'good boy'. Dogs understand your voice's tone. When you see that he has learned that a bit, take it up a notch. Keep saying stay while releasing some of the leash and walking a bit further and if he stays, then reward him again. For 'punishment' a stern, disappointed tone is usually good enough for my dog, but you could get one of those (horribly annoying) whistles to use or something. This is one of the ways to train him and teach some good habits. It's a young dog so you can train him for sure. You just need patience~
Good luck!
my friend trains her dog to stop before they cross the street in hopes that if she ever gets lost, she won't run into traffic chasing after squirrels.
Sit is easy.
when he stands just say "Sit" if he doesn't do any thing, gently press his ass down and say "Sit" again. And then you say something like "good boy", stroke him a bit, let him stand up again and repeat that. And don't forget to give him treats.
Some dogs can also learn with hand signs.
For example when I stood in front of our dog, looked at her and clapped my hands, she would jump up to me and "hug" me 
Some more stuff:
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/dogs/dog-training/training/commands.html
And I wouldn't recommend to let the dog learn "Down" out of the sitting position. We did that with our dog and so our dog was not able to lie down without sitting first. So you always had to do "sit" and then "down".
Also how much the dog listens to you and does what you want to depends on how much the dog trusts and loves you. If he doesn't love and trust you, you won't have much success.
And I think you shouldn't use fear to make the dog do what you want to. Fear IS a good way for a dog to listen, but also a cruel way, I think.
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The dog's hyperness is probably partially due to the new environment of your house. He wants to explore it all and see what's up. Also, dogs explore with their mouths. As humans, we explore with our hands. When we see something new and want to see what it is, we touch/hold it. Dogs use their mouths instead. If he liked the taste of the tomatoes and chillies, he'll probably keep trying to eat them. To train him not to do this, I would take him to the area and as soon as he looks like he's going to try and eat them, give him a stern "ah-uh!" If he stops, give him a happy "yes!" or "good boy!" and give him a treat. If he doesn't listen, gently pull on his leash to get him away, don't give a treat, and try again. Repition is key and don't be surprised if it takes a couple weeks for him to really get it. It might seem like a chore but I have a great time training my dog 
Look at it as fun and remember that it serves as bonding time between you two and helps him see that you're in charge
If he remains hyper after a couple days, you definitely need to exercise him (actually, you need to do that whether he's hyper or not), like Chrissie said. Dog parks are great because they can run around a huge area that's fenced off so you don't have to worry about them getting away. But playing games in your own home or going on walks is great, too.
Good luck and I really hope you enjoy your new friend!
Thanks for all the feedback! He's not hyper all the time anymore. And I've managed to teach him 'sit' and 'fetch'.
He's not exactly toilet-trained though… Does anyone know how I can toilet-train dogs?
And also, he doesn't seem to eat his food. I googled this, and found that some dogs don't eat their food because their testing you and want you to give them something better. But it's taken him two days to finish half a day's meal.
What can I do?
if he's testing you, he will eat eventually if he's hungry. maybe he's jsut nervous being in a new place. you get butterflies in your stomach too sometime. unless he's sick. you'd probably be able to tell if he's sick though.
potty training, I'll leave for someone with experience.
I've never potty trained a dog because mine lives in the backyard. But from what I've read, keeping the dog on a regular feeding/watering schedule really helps because that way you can roughly guess what time they'll have to go potty, and you can take them outside at that time. Also, if they have an accident, take some of it and place it in the area you want them to go at. Then, clean up the accident area very very well, use some of that special spray that removes pet odors if you can (even if you can't smell it, they might still be able to).
Try and google some tips and techniques, you'll probably find some helpful info
You don't toilet train dogs.
Unless you mean make sure they know only to shit and piss when you let them outside, so they don't do it inside.
My old beagle, on the first day we had brought him home, run straight for the bathroom to pee. 
He was still an untrained puppy so we didn't pay much attention to that. Years later, he wouldn't pee or poop around in his cage, apart from one certain area at our old place and then later in our new place, he did everything straight in the drain hole. Heck, I remember when my dad took him to mate with another beagle, he was so disgusted by how dirty the cage of that dog was, he stood on one frigging paw and wouldn't approach the female until the cage was clean. He was so crazy my little Tommy boy.
Well, anyway. Best way to not have your dog mess your place up, is to pick a certain hour for walking him and don't change it for a while. Pick at least an hour after he eats or in the morning when you wake up. My pekingese for example, knows that when the sun goes down and it's dark, it's time for his evening walk and will jump all over the place like a puppy. Also your dog will slowly learn that outside = toilet and will let you know when he wants to go out of his normal time. Tito always sits there and whines at me if it's urgent. XD
When a dog poops inside, you put their noses to it. (not IN it, eww, just close to it.) They'll generally know they did bad, and usually they'll learn after just a couple times that "not supposed to go there."
They're also pretty good about not going in a smaller room if they're in there with no obvious outs, they don't like pooping where they sleep, but they will eventually if you leave them in one place for too long.
having a regular time to take them out helps a lot too. Eventually they get it down to a schedule. If you take them outside every day at 7AM, 2 PM, and 8 PM, then you'd better keep taking them outside at those times. Often they'll whine and remind you its time.
bobby! Bad boy! Out!
that's how you do it
You are still having difficulties in training him Al? Maybe you should use the paper after all..
need a bigger roll than that, Chrissie - you know better
And when this manga closes out, and Luffy's arm stretches back to deliver that last punch, I wanna feel the crunch of the dream coming true.
@dirt:
need a bigger roll than that, Chrissie - you know better
Here ya go
roll it up for me
heeeere, bobby, bobby
All this talk of training dogs is foreign territory for me, i've had my dog Banjo for almost 12 years now and not once have I told him to 'sit' or 'come here' but still he knows what I mean when I say it, same goes for when he poops he goes to the very back corner of the yard and does his business. So I was wondering if it's weird? I mean I got him as a 2 week old and it seemed that he already knew what he was doing
