Many types of dogs vary significantly from each other. The golden retriever is a favorite among many owners due to various reasons.
Firstly, they look gorgeous with their golden brown fur and floppy ears. They are among the top most beautiful dogs in existence.
They are big dogs who work well as domestic pets. However many people think that retrievers are hard to train, but that’s not true.
With patience and dedication, you can quickly train your golden retriever and make it a good buddy.
What Will We Learn?
How To Train A Golden Retriever?
Golden retrievers are great companions, so they make excellent pets. If you have recently acquired a puppy, the next step would be to start dog training.
Whether you’re training your retriever to sit, lie down, or drop it, there are a few things that you have to keep in mind when training it.
Sometimes, training a golden retriever can be challenging, especially if they are stubborn. It makes training a hard task, and even simple things like walking with your dog could be difficult.
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10 Important Retriever Training Secrets For Retriever Owners To Know
Training a golden retriever may feel challenging. However, it can be shorter if you give it time and be patient throughout the process.
1. Make Training Sessions Fun And Rewarding
Your golden retriever should not feel as if it is being pressured towards doing something it doesn’t like. It is your job to make training sessions fun and exciting.
Your golden retriever will learn a lot through games, and you must retain your dog’s involvement and intrigue during training.
Ensure to use a happy and calm tone instead of a stern one. Most importantly, have patience while training your golden retriever.
You should also make training a rewarding task to look forward to. Food is the primary motivator for dogs, so ensure you reward your dog with food and toys once it successfully completes a task.
2. Focus On Safety
Safety is essential when training any dog, be it a golden retriever or any other breed. A dog collar is the best way to do this, especially for walking and training.
Golden retrievers are large and energetic dogs. Therefore, you should be mindful of this fact when selecting a particular dog leash for it.
A gentle leader headcollar would give you extra leverage when walking your retriever in an exciting environment.
3. Make Dog Training Age And Skills-Appropriate
You should ensure that the training you do suits your golden retriever’s age. You wouldn’t try to solve complex math problems with a toddler. You shouldn’t do the same with dogs.
You should ensure your training expectations are reasonable for your retriever. Your puppy might need about 3 to 5 minutes of short training sessions because they are still very young. Their brains and bodies still need to be well-developed.
Even if you have a recently acquired golden retriever, it may need to be ready for high-level training. That is because it’s yet to adjust to the new environment and its new family.
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4. Make Training Part Of The Daily Routine
Daily practice makes perfect. The same applies to dog training. Regular training will ensure that your golden retriever will grasp concepts and commands quickly. Therefore, ensure that you have daily training sessions with your golden retriever.
You can utilize training as part of your dog’s daily routine. For example, if it’s dinner time, practice the ‘sit’ command when you put the bowl in front of your dog.
If you are about to take your dog for a walk, call its name before you pick up the leash. You can also practice the ‘down’ and ‘stay’ commands after going for a walk with your dog.
There are many different ways in which you can include dog training as part of its daily routine.
5. Make Training Progressive
Training should begin step by step and move towards advanced commands and techniques later.
You can begin with a simple command for your dog to do for a specified period. After that, you can make it progressive by increasing the time duration and asking it to remain in the same position until released from it.
This progressive training is what works well with any dog. It helps the dog grasp commands much faster than any other way.
6. Make It A Lifetime Commitment
Training your golden retriever is not something that has an end to it. It is continuous, and you need to keep learning while teaching your dog too.
Therefore, you should do training with a lifetime commitment. Teach your dog about obedience and to listen to your commands. It will also enrich the bond between the two of you.
Dog training also provides the excellent mental stimulation essential to ensure that your retriever uses its high energy levels in a helpful way.
7. Stick To A Schedule And Be Consistent
Golden retrievers are high-energy dogs. Therefore, precision is of utmost importance during training. You must be precise during training and reward it at the right time. If not, your dog might become unruly.
Start by setting a time for training every day. It need not be a specific time, but around the same time every day. It will help your retriever look forward to training when the time is up and be responsive. If you’re precise with your routine, it will know when to get to business.
8. Bring The Energy During Training
As golden retrievers have a lot of energy to release, they must run around most of the time. They love to play and explore their surroundings.
So, you must ensure that you match their energy levels during training. It may sound next to impossible, especially after a long work day. However, there are some ways in which you can appear to be highly energetic.
Retrievers love to play games, and you can play something like tug-of-war. It will keep your retriever highly engaged.
Even if you don’t have the energy, you can still communicate with your retriever in a happy tone to make them feel excited and happy.
9. Make Training A Family Affair
Your golden retriever should get along well with every family member, including other pets. The best way to do this is to let other family members participate in training.
A simple way to do this is to let each family member practice basic commands like ‘sit,’ ‘lay,’ and ‘down’ with your dog. Encourage all family members to work on highlighting a default behavior.
You can help make your other pets feel safe around your retriever by using dog leashes, baby gates, and crates. Speaking of crates, choosing the right one for your golden retriever is crucial. The crate should be spacious enough for your dog to move around comfortably, yet secure enough to ensure safety. If you’re looking for recommendations, IPet Guides offers a comprehensive review of the best dog crates for golden retrievers. It will help separate other pets from your retriever whenever required, especially when supervision is impossible.
10. Make Training Clear
It’s essential to be clear on your instructions when training your golden retriever. The clicker training method is excellent for helping communicate clear feedback when your dog does things right.
The method effectively uses a particular sound to identify a specific behavior. Special dog clickers let your dog know when it has earned a reward. It helps your dog understand and repeat the behavior.
With clear instructions and training methods, your golden retriever will be more responsive during training. It will lead to a higher success rate in training your furry friend.
About The Golden Retriever
The golden retriever is a Scottish gundog that is renowned for its beauty. It sits right at the top of America’s most popular dog breeds.
The golden retrievers work well as hunting dogs and enjoy participating in search-and-rescue operations and competitive events.
It is a medium-sized muscular dog that has golden brown fur. Its lustrous coat makes it one of the most beautiful dog breeds. It has short ears and a straight muzzle. The golden retriever is an intelligent dog that is joyous and playful.
Final Thoughts
Training a golden retriever may sound challenging and be so too. However, with the right tools and techniques and a little patience, you are well on your way to having an obedient pet.
Retrievers have a lot of energy within themselves that they need to release as much as possible. Therefore, you need to ensure they release that energy by running around and playing.
Retrievers also need clear training instructions and reward-based systems to help them become responsive during training sessions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Golden Retrievers Easy To Train?
Golden retrievers are intelligent and quick to learn. Therefore, they can grasp commands fast during training. However, most owners say you need time and patience to train a golden retriever fully.
What Training Strategy Works Best For Golden Retrievers?
The clicker training method is the best for training golden retrievers. However, some retrievers also do well with reward-based training. It could change depending on the dog.
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