Golden retrievers are one of the most people-oriented breeds who love to please their owners. That’s why several people neglect to put in any effort to train them as puppies, hoping they would turn out to be well-behaved all on their own as adults.
However, it is essential to understand that while golden retrievers are great pet dogs when properly trained, they are bred to be working dogs that retrieve birds in the field. If you don’t mentally stimulate them to accumulate to the environment you live in, you can end up in a lot of trouble later. For example, they might jump at random people or tear up the house, chewing their way through it.
8 Tips for Training Golden Retriever Puppies
If you want to bond with them during their training sessions, you’ll need to up your game by learning positive reinforcement techniques. Not only are golden retriever puppies people-pleasers, but they’re also the fourth smartest dog breed. They also love getting treats. These characteristics make it relatively easier to train them before they grow up. Here are some of the best golden retriever puppy training tips that can help you make their learning sessions more interactive and fun!
1. Introduce a Fun Element
Not all golden retrievers are the same, which is why it is important to exercise patience and look for new ways to retain your puppy’s involvement during their training sessions. Additionally, use a happy tone rather than a stern voice while training them, so your pet thinks this is a fun activity. You can also revamp each learning activity by converting it into a game, adding a fun element for your golden retriever.
2. Make the Learning Sessions Rewarding
Golden retrievers are especially motivated to participate in activities when they already know they would be rewarded for their engagement. It is best to teach your dog to love learning by offering it food treats, belly rubs, or outdoor playtime when it accomplishes a task.
3. Keep Reasonable Expectations
One of the most useful golden retriever puppy training tips is to keep your expectations at bay. While puppies are always excited to learn new things, they might need time to master every challenge you give them.
You don’t expect toddlers to learn how to walk on the first go. In the same way, puppies need constant motivation and praise while they make short progressions. The key is to reward them for their succession and forgive them when they fail in their attempts.
4. Use Clear Learning Techniques
Positive reinforcement is a learning technique that works every time with golden retrievers. It simply means to reward their good behavior while completely ignoring them for things that you don’t like. For example, marker or clicker training is an example of a positive reinforcement you can use to train your pet dogs. Moreover, you can use several other techniques, like luring, capturing, and redirecting, to train your golden retriever puppy for learning the basic commands.
5. Teach Them to Obey You Under All Circumstances
While golden retrievers are quick to understand your commands, there is one thing that you might find problematic while training your dog. Puppies don’t generalize well, so when you teach them to obey your commands, they need to be trained in different scenarios.
For instance, if you’re teaching your golden retriever how to sit in your living room, there is a high possibility that it might not obey your command outside that room. That’s because your dog may have formed the opinion that when you say ‘sit,’ it means to sit in the ‘living room.’ To get your puppy to understand your commands at all places, you need to practice in different locations, like your backyard, your local park, or a marketplace. Out of all golden retriever puppy training tips, this one will benefit you the most in the long run.
6. Be Timely and Consistent
You might want to train your puppy as soon as possible, but this requires a significant amount of time and effort. Golden retrievers generally have a very short attention span, so any training that goes longer than ten minutes can lead them to get bored and lose their focus.
While consistency is required for schooling your puppies, it doesn’t mean you need to make it an unpleasant experience for them by training them for too long. Instead, coach your golden retrievers several times a day every day so they can get more opportunities to learn without getting bored.
7. Make It a Family Project
Training your dog is not a one-person project if you have other family members in your house – including your pets. You need to encourage other family members to practice basic skills with your dog. This way, your golden retriever puppy would understand it is not just required to follow your orders but also the people it lives with.
Besides this, use a leash, a crate, or a baby gate to initially separate your puppy as other pets get used to its presence. These steps would make the other pets feel comfortable around your dog. Once they are familiarized with each other, you can motivate them to spend some time together.
8. Don’t Hurt Their Confidence
Another tip to remember while training your golden retriever puppies is to encourage them rather than punishing them. Punishing a puppy would only hurt its confidence, and it may stop wanting to do anything new with you after that. That’s because your dog would know it’ll get punished for getting it wrong, making it scared of you as well.
Our Final Thoughts
Whether you’re about to train a few-week-old puppy or an adolescent rescue dog, these golden retriever puppy training tips will help it understand what to do and how to behave in its new home. Golden retrievers love to be challenged as they get to participate in things with you, and most importantly, they love the treats you give them for their good behavior. Moreover, these techniques help your golden retriever puppy stay focused while building a stronger bond with you with each passing day!
