Labrador Training: Starting Them When They're Young

The Labrador Retriever happens to be the most popular breed in the world. It's amazing how well they can adapt to various circumstances whether it be as a work dog or a household family pet. They certainly have shown themselves to be very gifted dogs in many ways. Labrador puppies seem to be some of the cutest breed of puppies a person could find... maybe I'm just a little biased. Anyway, they are definitely cute.

My once Labrador puppy, Murray, was the sweetest and cut the latest puppy you have ever seen. He has since grown up but a while ago it was certainly nice to be able to snuggle up with him. He certainly did some really funny things back then and still now. It would be interesting to find out what puppies think when they encounter each and every new thing they come across.

The downside of having a Labrador puppy can also come from them being so inquisitive. They, like other puppies certainly seem to be interested in almost everything. This can be good but also often times is bad. Before you know it, many things in your house could be chewed up. It seemed like shoes are often top of the list. They certainly have time and time again shown their intelligence by what they can do but they also need a tremendous amount of dedication especially when young. As with most all puppies, they can definitely be a handful in the beginning. You'll have to establish control from the beginning (Try using a crate or cage  like it talks about here at this Labrador Puppy Training page).

One of the main goals of every dog owner should be to gain control of their dog through training. It's definitely better to have a well mannered pet that fits well into your family as opposed to having one that continually disobeys and gets into trouble all the time. Of course, even the ones who are well mannered still get into trouble but at least the owner will have control.

Your Labrador puppy will not be the only one who should be trained, but also the owners. Of course, there will usually be one person that has the main responsibility for the pet. He or she will definitely need to be trained to the full extent, however, the rest of the family or to residents should also be taught to some extent. In fact, they should all be eventually dominant over the Labrador... or in other words pack leaders. Otherwise, there will likely be control problems that arise. In any case, each person of the household should be well informed about the dog commands, how to deliver them and along with the exact terminology, noises and/or hand signals. Everyone doing it the same way will help reinforce the dog's memory and actions through repetition. As learning will improve faster and he will also be less likely to become confused.

It's important to note that training your puppy will start from the moment you pick him up from his original quarters. You asserting your control from the beginning will be the start of his training. He needs to know that you are the boss, Master, and/or pack leader.

Formal training (training which happens and specific training sessions) your Labrador puppy should happen within a range from three to six months old. The basics should be taught first. These will be used as a basis for advanced commands. First, your dog should have already learned his or her name if he has already lived with you a certain amount of weeks. You should have continually used his name repeatedly in order for him to learn it. If not, a fast way for him to become accustomed to his name would be to use his name while being ready to give them a treat when he noticeably gives you his attention. You don't necessarily need to give him a treat every time but it will help initially for him to give you his attention. Using his name to get his attention in the park will be a good exercise since many distractions there will occur. You simply wait for him to be distracted, call his name, wait for him to focus on you and then you give him a treat.

Secondly, you want to teach him the “sit” or “come” commands to start out. If you teach him to sit first, you later want to teach him to come directly after him learning the first command. Most will start out with the “sit” command. However, both of these commands are important in order to keep control of your dog. Controls are important not only for him to obey or behave appropriate in public, but also for him to remain safe. Puppies at their young age don't know when danger is nearby. For example, many are not aware that running into the street is unsafe. Therefore, those commands of “sit” and “come” are very important.

Later, important commands of stay, heel, down and others should be added. Additionally, you'll be able to teach your dog other commands or even tricks that can be fun for the whole family and your friends to see.

Which ever command you teach, it's important to make it interesting and fun for the dog. Even if you get a little impatient or irritated with him not learning the command as fast as you would like, you should never let him be aware of your agitation. If ever you feel this way, you should continue the training session again at a later time. In the same way, if you see your Labrador puppy getting bored, losing focus or seems to be disinterested, stop the training session in order to continue later. You always want your dog to be focused on you, the trainer when he is learning. If not, try again some other time.

After the training session, it will be an advantageous time to play with your dog. One of the most interesting things to Labrador puppy will do in their younger years will be playing with their master. If you can reward him after training by playing, he will eventually associate his training as being a good thing because playtime comes directly afterwards. Of course, most dogs will simply be intrigued with training without even needing playtime but why not use a little time to enforce his association of training with the fun.