Once you bring your new little friend home, one of the vital things to do is to train it on what rules guide your home and how you expect it to behave.
Training a new puppy can be a daunting task, even for an old-timer. Hopefully, this article gives you some insight on how you can successfully do that, especially if you are a beginner.
Is It Easy To Train Golden Retrievers?
It is never really easy to train a dog, but new owners of golden retrievers may find it relatively easy to train their puppies.
Golden retrievers have been found to be much more obedient as compared to other dog breeds. Also, retrievers are very intelligent dogs that grasp lessons easily so you shouldn’t have that much difficulty training your retriever.
Nonetheless, you’ll need to be patient and show lots of love (you can give your retriever puppy some treats when he does well at some point).
What Age Is Best To Start Training Your Golden Retriever?
Most breeders start selling puppies once they are 8 weeks old, while Guide Dog puppies are trained right from when they are 7 weeks. Thus, there is absolutely no reason you can’t start training your dog immediately after you get home from the breeder.
Again, because golden retrievers are so clever, they’re going to grasp your lessons really quicker than you might think.
Training your dog right from the puppy age has also been found to be essential, given their high energy levels and excitability. Like kids, they are curious and eager to learn.
Some Tips For Training Your Golden Retriever Puppy
As a new retriever owner, you might be wondering how to get this training bit right. These tips should help you;
- You will need to be patient with your new puppy and not rush through the lessons as it may take a bit of time for your dog to grasp them. Take it a step at a time until it finally gets it.
Once your dog understands and is able to execute a command, reward it with a treat. This boosts your retriever’s morale to even learn more. Rushing through the lessons gets both you and your dog nowhere.
- You can use your retriever’s abundant energy to your advantage during training. For instance, if you’re trying to get you dog to sit, you can leave to exercise for some time, take them for a walk or short run or even offer them a chew toy. Once they seem tired, it’ll be easier to get them to sit.
- You should start training your dogs as soon as they come home. This gets them accustomed to the rules of the house at an earlier stage. After the first day, you need to continue at the same time as the day before.
Consistency is key. Make sure you let them know what the rewards and consequences are for any action of theirs and keep this up. This instils discipline in your retriever and trust me, you would want this.
- It is important to expose your new retriever to various different situations in your home and environment so they get used to it from the start. For instance, you can expose them to being left alone, to other dogs etc.
- You may want to try different training tools for your dog to see which they respond best to. Try something like the clicker training method and if that doesn’t work for your retriever, you can try rewarding his good behaviours with treats to see if he’ll like that.
Also, whereas some dogs would love crate training, others will love the freedom of roaming around your home. See which one your dog seems to like.
- Take your dog a dog park or a kennel to socialize with other dogs, as it is important your new retriever learns the various dog behaviours. Your dog will make new friends as well as learn boundaries. Remember to keep them on a leash until you are certain you can trust your dog to behave.
- Exert your dominance so your dog knows who the boss is. You should find ways to execute some consequences when your dog is being stubborn. You cannot always pat them on the back.
- Reward good behaviours with treats. Each time your dog behaves himself, you should give him some dog food to let it know you appreciate his good behaviour. You’ll be surprised how your dog will even be more obedient moving forward.
Conclusion
Training dogs comes with its own challenges, yet it is relatively easy to train a golden retriever given their intelligence level.
You should start training your retriever puppy once you get home. Be patient and reward your puppy when it performs well.
You can always hire the services of a professional trainer if you’re not sure you’ll be capable of training your puppy.
You are the reason we write content like this. You can support our work by sharing this article with your friends on social media.
Kindly subscribe to the push notifications to avoid missing important posts like this.
Have thoughts to share about this post? Let us hear from you in the comment section.
