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Are Golden Retrievers Easy To Train?


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Golden Retrievers are one of the world’s most beloved breeds of dog, and it is easy to see why. They have warm, loving temperaments, are loyal to the whole family, and are especially good with children.

Golden Retrievers are smart. Golden Retrievers’ high intelligence means that they learn quickly. Compared with other breeds, Golden Retrievers are considered one of the most intelligent breeds and trainable dogs. Golden Retrievers are eager to please and enthusiastically respond to training.

When Should You Start Training Your Golden Retriever?

Puppies start learning from birth. A reputable Golden Retriever breeder begins handling and socialization right away. When you bring your Golden Retriever puppy home (typically) at eight weeks, your at-home puppy training begins immediately; potty training then training will progress to crate training, walking on a leash, and so on.
Many experienced dog trainers generally find Golden Retrievers easy to train. However, keep in mind that all dogs have distinct and unique personalities. Training a Golden Retriever dog requires patience and finding the perfect balance of firmness and love.

are golden retrievers easy to train

Are Golden Retrievers Easy To Train?

Many experienced dog owners will agree that Golden Retrievers are easy to train, and this is down to these four factors:

1. Golden Retrievers are highly intelligent animals, scoring in the top five of the experts’ lists of dog intelligence.
2. Golden Retrievers are fiercely loyal, and just love to make their owners happy.
3. Golden Retrievers respond well to positive reinforcement and they just love treats, so they learn quickly for the rewards.
4. A lot comes down to experience with the breed (from Golden Retriever breeders, dog trainers, and parents): they have been trained well for years. One reason why Golden Retrievers are easy to train because the process has been refined over generations.

There are many ways to train your intelligent Golden Retriever who is suited to all of these types of dog training.

concerns when training your golden retriever

What Are The Biggest Worries And Concerns When Training A Golden Retriever?

1. Golden Retrievers Can Be Mischievous
Golden retriever pups have a real mischievous side, so it is important to stay on top of their behavior. Golden retrievers are so intelligent but can become easily bored; especially if there is not enough mental stimulation. Typically a Golden Retriever needs up to two hours of exercise every day, and which includes mental exercises.

2. Golden Retrievers Have A Short Attention Span
Rather than long training sessions once a week, your Golden Retriever will respond much better to daily short training sessions; 10 minutes at a time. It is important to provide a variety of activities to burn off that Golden Retriever energy.

3. Golden Retrievers Are Social Dogs
Along with the one-to-one training, your Golden Retriever must also be socialized well, with people and animals outside of the immediate family. A puppy kindergarten class is an amazing way to start socialization while making training fun.

How To Start Training Your Golden Retriever?

Training your Golden Retriever at-home should be your top priority. Keep in mind that a young Golden Retriever has short attention spans. Patience and having a positive attitude are keys to successful training and developing a fun relationship with your dog.

What is the first thing you should train your Golden Retriever?

1. To acclimate your Golden Retriever puppy at home, potty training is vital.
2. Crate Training is helpful with your at-home training. Your Golden Retriever puppy must seek the crate as a safe comfortable place.
3. Teaching your puppy basic dog commands: Sit, Stay, Down, Come are essential in helping your dog to adapt his/her behavior to any social situation and make your dog live happily.

first thing to teach your golden retriever puppy

1.

Potty Training

To acclimate your Golden Retriever puppy at home, potty training is vital.

a) Learn The Puppy Potty Signs
Be prepared to let your puppy out when you notice:
– a sudden change of behavior
– scratching or pawing or barking at the door
– sniffing around
– pacing and circling
– making whining noise

b) Create A Regular Routine To Take Your Puppy Out
Take your young puppy out often (typically every hour) to avoid accidents at home.

c) Establish A Potty Spot
Use a verbal potty command such as “go potty” which means “let’s go to your potty area.

d) Praise Your Puppy: Praising your Golden Retriever puppy will encourage more good behaviors and help strengthen your bond.

2.

Crate Training Your Dog

Many people do not prefer crate training and consider it cruel. Yes, not all dogs learn to enjoy being in a crate; and a makes this method ineffective; especially if there are dog behavior issues like severe separation anxiety. Keep in mind to never force your dog into the crate, ever. However, when crate training is handled correctly, and your dog responds well, this method can be essential to your at-home dog training. A crate must be a safe place for your Golden Retriever puppy to feel comfortable and safe.

3.

Start Teaching Your Puppy Basic Dog Commands: Sit, Stay, Down, Come

a) How To Teach Your Puppy To SIT
Training your puppy how to sit is a very important basic dog command to learn. Using a lure method (a treat or toy), your dog will learn the desired dog command.
To teach your dog to sit, stand in front of your dog and hold a tasty treat by your dog’s nose. Keeping the treat close to your dog’s nose, slowly lift your hand from your dog’s nose towards his/her forehead. As your dog raises his/her head to follow the treat, his/her bottom will go on the floor. As soon as your dog sits, praise and give him/her the treat. When your dog will sit easily for the lure, it is time to add the verbal cue of the “sit” command.

b) How To Teach Your Puppy To Stay
Using the verbal cue and hand signal for the stay command, the goal is for your puppy to remain sitting.
Ask your puppy to sit. Place your hand out, with your palm facing forward and in front of the dog’s face while saying ‘stay. Keep your hand out and keep saying ‘stay’ while taking one or several steps back. After 3-5 seconds, go back to your puppy and then reward him/her for staying sitted. Once your puppy mastered the stay command, increase the number of steps and seconds. As soon as your puppy lie down, praise and give him/her the treat. When your puppy will lie down easily for the lure, it is time to add the verbal cue of the “down” command.

c) How To Teach Your Puppy To Down
Your goal to teach your puppy the down position is to lie down on his stomach or be in a relaxed disposition.
Ask your puppy to sit. Hold a treat close to your dog’s nose and move your hand slowly to the ground. Your puppy will follow your hand and eventually will lie down.

d) How To Teach Your Puppy To Come
The (recall) come command is crucial for your puppy to learn. Start indoors, hold a toy or treat and call your dog’s name and the word come. Praise your puppy as he/she is coming to you, then reward with the toy or treat. Lots of fun ways to teach your puppy the come command. We will discuss more in a later post.

While your Golden Retriever puppy progresses with these basic dog commands, start teaching leash walking and heel training. We will discuss this dog obedience training in a later post.

repetition key to dog commands training your golden retriever puppy

Repetition is key to mastering any dog command.
Be consistent, patient, practice, and praise your dog for good behavior.

How Long Does It Take To Train Your Golden Retriever?

Training takes time, lots of patience, and a lifetime commitment. There are always new things to learn. Incorporate dog obedience into your daily routine and explore other dog sport activities. Continuously stimulating your Golden Retriever helps with his/her energy level and enriches your relationship.

Are You Ready To Easily Train Your Golden Retriever?

Not only are Golden Retrievers are intelligent and easy to train, but their temperaments mean they make wonderful companions. By putting in time and effort and giving your Golden Retriever the attention and exercise they deserve, the training will pay off.

3 Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know and #BeSleepypodSafe


There are many dog commands that you can teach your dog, but there are a few essential basic commands that every dog should know. Teaching basic dog training commands will make both you and your dog happier and your relationship stronger.

Does your dog know these three basic commands

This post is sponsored by Sleepypod. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Sleepypod products, but Golden Woofs only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers.

Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

3 Essential Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

1. Sit is the easiest to teach and the foundation to learn other commands.
How to teach your dog to sit?
a) Stand in front of your dog while holding a treat 2 to 4 inches above his nose.
b) Move the treat toward the back of your dog’s head.
c) As soon as your dog sits, praise him and provide the treat.
Optional: Pair the voice command “sit” with a hand signal. After your dog knows the vocal command, you can start to wean off the treats and use only the hand signal (watch the video from akc)

2. Down is taught as soon as your dog has mastered the sit command. Teaching your dog the down command provides the foundation for many other advanced commands. Most importantly it helps establish you as the leader in the relationship you share with your dog. The down command is very handy especially when you and your dog are in a potentially unsafe situation. The down also keeps your dog calm in stressful situations.

How to teach your dog the down command?
a) Get your dog to sit while holding a treat about an inch in front of his nose.
b) Say the verbal command down and while luring your dog into a lying down position.
c) When your dog is all the way down (truly down and on their side), praise him and provide a treat.

teaching your dog down command

3. Stay command means don’t move from a sit or down position until released. Stay is a vital basic command a dog should know.

All these three commands are very useful especially in introducing KORU BEAR to how fun a car ride can be and be safe. On a previous post, 5 Tips: Introducing Car Rides to Your Dog; it’s essential for your dog to learn how to sit or lay down in the back seat while buckled up with a dog harness like Sleepypod Clickit Terrain.

Basic Commands Every Dog Should Know

Every dog (and owners too) must be proficient to these three basic commands and be trained to execute anywhere/anytime. These essential training commands could one day save your dog’s life.
Does your dog know these three basic commands?

Puppy Training | 4 Reasons Why Train Your Puppy At Home #RaisingPuppy


It’s exciting to get a new dog especially a puppy. When SUGAR passed away, we did not expect to adopt puppy KORU BEAR. We went on immediate adjustment mode; from senior care to puppy care. We reminisced Sugar’s puppy training moments and quickly implemented it.

Puppy Training 4 Reasons Why Train Your Puppy At Home

Puppy Training Made Easy with Raising Your PuppyTM is sponsored by Robin K Bennett Raising Your PuppyTM and the BlogPaws® Pet Influencer NetworkTM. I am being compensated to help share information about this online course, but Golden Woofs only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Robin K Bennett is not responsible for the content of this article.

Good Puppy Behavior Begins At Home

When we adopted KORU BEAR, he was six months old, and we had to help him build his confidence level.

We know that training KORU BEAR basic obedience at home is an excellent confidence-building activity. Puppy training requires a great deal of time and patience. It can be exhausting but also has considerable benefits.

4 Reasons Why Train Your Puppy At Home

1. Dog training is a critical part of dog ownership and developing a Positive Bond with your dog.

Puppy Training at Home Positive Bond

2. Puppy Training Made Easy with Raising Your Puppy
There are many resources available online for new puppy owners. Robin K Bennett Raising Your PuppyTM stands out from other online puppy training courses. Why? Robin Bennett provides a step-by-step guide on what to do from the moment you bring your puppy home to six months of age.

Raising Your Puppy Robin Bennette

3. Utilizing an online puppy training like Robin Bennett helps you Train Your Puppy At Your Own Time. I love that Robin offers a weekly printable checklist “What to Do This Week”, puppy-raising goals and milestone check-in’s to ensure your puppy training is on track. Also, the 100+ short 2-3 minute videos are effective especially for a visual learner like me. What I learned from these videos, I can apply to my daily activities with KORU BEAR.

Robin uses positive training methods – clicker accompanied with lots of praises and treats. Positive Training Techniques Builds TRUST and RESPECT between you and your dog.

Also from Robin’s training materials, it amazes me that a puppy can actually earn a Novice Trick Dog Title. So far from Robin’s list “How Smart Is Your Puppy”, KORU BEAR can perform 8 tricks out of 23. It’s on my list to accomplish these skills with KORU BEAR.

4. You’ll be happier and your puppy too. A Well-Trained Puppy Grows Into A Good Happy Dog.

well trained dog happy dog

Puppy Socialization is the Key to Creating a Well-Trained Dog. According to Robin Bennette “in order for socialization to be effective, your dog needs positive associations with the novel things he encounters.” Robin provides a fun idea list – “Scavenger Hunt for Puppies (and adult dogs too)” people and places your puppy must meet and visit. A list that KORU BEAR is working hard to achieve. Every day on our puppy training, he is happy working on his fears to become a confident well-trained dog.

Dog Trainer Robin Bennett

Robin Bennett is an expert on dogs. For over 20 years, she has been “reading dogs,” teaching families how to train dogs, and working in the pet care industry helping others keep dogs safe. She is a certified professional dog trainer, author, and consultant. In Virginia, she founded one of the largest dog training companies. Robin is also the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, the premier dog training association with over 5000 members.

INVITATION Raising Your Puppy Online Puppy Training Course

Are you a new puppy owner? We invite you to JOIN Robin Bennett and her puppy, Ranger in their online Puppy Training Course, Raising Your Puppy. You’ll receive ongoing guidance, tips, and advice for every week of development from 8 weeks to 6 months of age. You’ll have access to an exclusive Facebook group of puppy parents.

If you Sign-Up in the next two weeks, you will receive three great bonus items at no cost: 1) How to Handle Loose Dogs and Dog Fights pdf 2) Loose dogs and Dog fights checklist to use on walks, and 3) Dog park safety mp3

Robin Bennett’s Raising Your Puppy online puppy training course has been a tremendous help to us in training KORU BEAR.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Robin Bennett. The opinions and text are all mine.

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog


Obedience training is an important part of any dog’s life.
A well-mannered dog is a happy dog.

dog obedience dog trainer

Our Facebook pal, Nacina Dawn, owner of Destiny & Me Golden Retrievers and Puptopia, shared with us some fundamental reasons on why you should train your dog. Nacina specializes in training puppies with a positive and holistic approach that uses every aspect of the puppies life, to create an environment that is happy and safe for everyone involved.

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog

5 Reasons You Should Train Your Dog

1. Interaction with Others
Your dog learns from every interaction with you and with the environment. Wouldn’t you like him to learn to make good and safe choices with a thoughtful program? For instance, if your dog jumps on people to greet them, and then gets pushed off, or told “no”, he is being reinforced for jumping up because he gets the attention that he is seeking. It is so much better to only give him attention when he is sitting for a greeting.

Training using rewards is incredibly bonding for you and your dog

2. Bonding
Training using rewards is incredibly bonding for you and your dog. A great benefit, considering that you will be living together for hopefully many years. Training together creates clear communication- We speak a different language than dogs, but they are always trying to interpret us anyway. Why not make it easier on you both and find those words or signals that you both know so that there is no confusion?

dog training bond with your dog

3. Safety
Training can literally save your dog’s life. See that potentially poisonous mushroom? Leave-it saves the day. Someone left the door open, and your dog is following you into traffic? Stay can save lives. Are there little kids or frail seniors in your social circle? Off or even better, sit to greet, can prevent falls and injuries. A reliable recall can get your dog to your side and out of trouble in no time. Yes, these things take effort and time but are a very worthwhile investment.

a mannered dog is a happy dog

4. Well-Mannered
Having a trained dog means that he gets to be a bigger part of your life- A well-mannered dog would be much more welcome at your friend’s house, at social gatherings, and other places where you like to go to have fun. Often, a reliable recall is enough to get the ball rolling for “Dog is Copilot” trips.


On our trips and hotel stays, KORU BEAR always practices basic dog obedience.

5. Your dog will love it!
Positive-reward based training is using games and equates to making it incredibly fun for both you. Marker training encourages dogs to enjoy the learning interaction, become more confident, and can produce speedy results. Training should absolutely NEVER involve the use of force, pain, or fear. That means NO shock collars, NO prong collars, and NO choke collars, no hitting, no yelling, and no actions that could harm your dog or your relationship. Pet Professional Guild is an organization that provides educational materials you can use as a resource to train your dog.

a Trained Dog is a Happy Dog

Do you train your dog? Make training work for you and your dog. Incorporate training commands into your dog’s everyday life.

Teach Your Dog To Unroll A Yoga Mat


Two weeks ago, you saw Sugar do Yin Yoga. Many of you asked “how did Sugar learn to unroll a yoga mat?” Sugar used her Golden Nose.

dogunrollyogamat

5 Things You Need

1) Yoga Mat
2) Small Tasty Treats : Sugar’s favorite is Zuke’s Mini Naturals
3) Your Dog’s Attention
4) Patience
5) Calming Music

9 Steps To Teach Your Dog To Unroll A Yoga Mat

1) Find a spacious place
2) Have your dog in a “down” position.
3) Place treats on the mat (spaced it accordingly).
4) Roll the mat, leaving a piece of treat for your dog to see.
5) Guide your dog’s nose to the first treat (close to the first roll).
6) Guide your dog’s nose to the rest of the treats.
7) Always remember to have FUN teaching your dog a new skill.
8) Be Patient.
9) Make sure to praise your dog.

Teaching your dog to unroll a yoga mat is a FUN skill to learn. Give it a try.

Watch Sugar’s Yin Yoga video, check our 1/17 post Yoga with Your Dog

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