Having an untrained dog is wasting the pet's innate learning abilities and is probably something we usually ask ourselves when an animal comes into our home. The same thing happens in the case of the golden retriever, and despite the fact that it is a breed of dog with an enviable character, it also needs good training to not only be able to get the best out of it, but also for its owner in order to live. in harmony and without added complications.
A golden retriever is a very intelligent dog, and if the training is appropriate, it is normal for them to behave practically like one more person in the family. In this sense, if you have a golden retriever but you are not an expert in this breed, follow our tips for training a golden retriever that we offer on our site so that you can everything is much easier for you.
Training a golden retriever puppy
Training experts say that the highest rate of success in dog training is when they are started training as puppies, something that is quite logical because the same thing usually happens with us, humans. But it also gives very good results to start training a dog between 6 months and 6 years old, but yes, the animal's learning capacity will be less as it gets older.
It is in patience that most amateur trainers fail, who often do not insist when they do not see, in short periods of time, good results when it comes to changing their pet's behavior. Therefore, it is best to start at an early age. If, for example, we train a golden retriever puppy at an age between between 8 and 20 weeks old, he will have his maximum learning capacity and he himself, once he learns something new, he will look for more things to learn. At these early ages, the dog's body has not yet begun to produce hormones and that implies a higher success rate in dog training. The lack of hormones will cause your puppy to focus more on what you say and, if he is properly socialized, not on other dogs, people and other related distractions.
It is normal for golden retriever puppies to follow us from one side to the other and take us as a total reference. The puppy will react in the same way that we do with other people and other animals, so that if we greet someone energetically, the pet will do the same and if, for example, we were nervous when meeting a friend, the dog will respond in the same way.
When the dog begins to produce hormones, that is when his greatest instincts for prying begin to emerge, and that is when we will realize whether there was prior training or not.
Teaching hygiene habits
We must choose the place where our pet is going to relieve itself and its training to relieve itself outside the home. It includes areas such as grass, earth or cement, while at home it will be better to opt for newspaper. The best and most effective thing to teach the golden retriever is to always do his needs in the same place because changing it may be more difficult for him to internalize.
Puppies especially need to relieve themselves quite frequently and, above all, when they are very young we should take them out every hour and a half. As the puppy gets older, we can do it less often.
Training your puppy to go to the bathroom isn't particularly complicated, but to remind him don't forget to use positive reinforcement through congratulations and treats whenever he does well to make sure he understands that you like his attitude.
When your golden retriever puppy arrives home, the ideal would be to provide him with an exclusive and well-defined area for him, since leaving him the whole house may be too much space at first. A good technique is to prepare a place that is not excessively large so that the dog can relieve itself, and arrange its bed in the opposite place so that it can sleep peacefully. In this way he will quickly learn that his needs have to be done outside the house or on the newsprint when there is no other choice.
Training technique to get their attention
To start training the golden retriever and teach him something, what we have to do first is get the dog to pay attention to us Search a certain word when you want to teach him something and when the animal pays attention to you, walk towards him and give him a treat while saying “very good” or “good dog”.
Wait a minute or two and repeat the same thing but this time holding a treat in your hand and staying 30 cm from the dog. Just show him the treat while saying the same word to get his attention, such as "learn."The dog will approach you, you will do the same and give him his treat.
The third time do the same, but stay at a greater distance from the dog so that he is the one who has to approach you. Don't forget to congratulate your pet when giving the prize.
In this way we are able to take the first steps of training, since we make the dog understand that if he pays attention to his owner, he will get a reward. Likewise, it is important that in teaching to capture the attention of the golden retriever the same word is always chosen. "Attention", "attentive", can be good words, although you can choose any other that you feel comfortable with. The important thing is that the same is always repeated to the animal and it cannot be confused with one of the commands that you will teach it later.
Basic golden retriever training recommendations
It is best to train your golden retriever daily in short sessions, 3 to 5 sessions a day, lasting a few minutes. It is not convenient for the sessions to be too long, since we want the greatest concentration of our pet and if this is the case it can get bored and not be as effective.
When you find yourself in a negative mood, tired or in situations of great stress, do not practice training with your dog, remember that animals capture our energyTraining should be enjoyed and your pet should be praised warmly and sincerely every time he does something right. Finishing with an exercise that we know will be positive is also recommended.
It is also important to know that we should not call the golden retriever to come to us in order to scold or correct him, since dogs only understand the present and, in this way, we will only get him to associate the punishment with the act of coming towards us. Without a doubt, the consequences of this will be negative, since the dog will begin to fear us.
Carrying out a dog training course may be a good idea if you like this world. Both parties, owner and animal will undoubtedly benefit greatly.
A golden retriever is a dog with high learning abilities and outstanding intelligence and character, but that does not mean that it does not require good training, since there may be cases in which they acquire bad habits.
The importance of consistency when training the golden retriever
When the golden retriever has learned to relieve himself where we have stipulated, is correctly socialized and we have managed to internalize the chosen word to capture his attention, we can continue with his education and move on to the basic commands. Among all of them, the order "stay", "sit", "come here" and "by my side" stand out to make both coexistence and walks with the golden retriever become something pleasant and positive for everyone. To find out how to teach your dog each of the basic commands, don't miss our article in which we offer you all our tips and tricks.
Without a doubt, and as we pointed out in the previous section, the key to achieving training the golden retriever, and any another dog, lies in perseverance and patience. If we are not constant and we do not work with the dog on a daily basis, we give it the attention it needs and we do not play with it, we will not be able to obtain the expected results. Likewise, not all dogs learn as quickly or internalize all commands in the same way. For this reason, we must bear in mind that it may happen that he assimilates where to relieve himself with little effort and that, on the other hand, it takes him several days to understand that he must lie down on command.
Dedicate time to your golden retriever, offer him all the care he needs and you will get a companion willing to give you all his love and loy alty forever.
