While Labrador Retrievers are the Most Popular Dog Breed in America for over thirty years running, in terms of intelligence, they are ranked at No. 7 in the list of Most Intelligent Dogs, according to canine psychologist, Stanley Coren.
Having such an intelligent, loyal, and loving dog for a pet, it certainly is no wonder that Labrador owners want the experience of training their beloved dogs themselves.
If you are that kind of dog owner who wants to take full responsibility for their Lab’s training, you must know the basic rules on how to train a Labrador Retriever. Whether you are teaching your dog basic or advanced commands, these rules will help make training a breeze.
1) Learn to read and understand your dog’s body language
Although they are unable to speak, dogs convey what they are thinking and planning to do through their body language. Understanding these clues will greatly help you while training, enabling you to determine when an undesirable behavior is going to surface and act upon it, as well as allow you to give the appropriate praises or rewards for good behavior.
Let’s take a look at a few behaviors which you may have noticed in your dog. A dog with ears back and flattened against its head and tail between its legs means that it does not enjoy your training. In this case, you may need to switch your training method to something more fun and positive. Tongue flicking and licking is a sign of stress or that the dog may be confused. You may also notice your dog looking elsewhere instead of at you. When you observe this behavior, it is important to bring your dog’s attention back to you and maintain direct eye contact throughout your training.
2) Keep training sessions short and as part of a routine
Labs don’t respond well to long training sessions. You will notice that if your training session goes on for too long, they become easily distracted or lose interest.
You need to keep training sessions short at 15 minutes per day, divided into three short sessions of 5 minutes each. It is important to establish these sessions as a scheduled routine so that your Lab can understand the difference between training and playtime.
3) Keep commands simple and clear
Most of the time, Lab owners confuse their dogs with the commands, especially if there are additional words in them. Dog trainers emphasize the need to keep commands very simple at a single word only so that the dog will not be confused by its meaning.
For example, many owners make the mistake of commanding their dog to “come here”. At times, they may gesture to their dog to “come” or point at their side and say “here”. Simply use “come” instead; remove “here”. Another point of confusion for dogs is when “sit down” is used. In reality, “sit” and “down” are two separate basic commands, with the former the command for the dog to sit and the latter for the dog to get down from something, such as a couch.
4) Practice good timing
It is important to time your praises and corrections immediately after your Lab has obeyed your command or done an undesirable behavior. For example, correcting your dog for peeing on the floor an hour or more after it had done the deed won’t be effective because it can’t relate your correction with an action it had done a long time ago. Instead, observe your Lab and, if you catch it peeing on the floor, correct it immediately (“bad dog”) and bring it outside.
Timing is also important when enforcing a command which your dog refuses to obey. If you command your dog to “sit” and it doesn’t obey, don’t repeat “sit” over and over again. Instead, be firm, look at it directly in the eyes, point to the ground, and command it again to “sit”.
5) Make your training natural
Incorporate natural training as well. If you see your Lab puppy or adult dog respond to a command outside of your training session, make sure that you praise, hug, or give them a reward.
For example, if your dog decides to come over to you on its own and sits beside you, you can give them a praise of “good dog” and cuddle up with them. Make sure that you give your Lab a treat if it goes outside on its own to answer the call of nature.
6) Always maintain consistency
It is important that you remain consistent in your commands to your Lab both in and outside of training sessions. This means your family should also know the same basic commands that you are teaching your Lab. It can get confusing for your Lab if you say “sit”, but your spouse orders them to “get down”.
Here’s another example. While your bed may be off-limits to your dog, your kids might be teaching it an undesirable behavior by letting it sleep on their bed.
To maintain consistency, it is best that you get family members to join in the training sessions with your Lab.
7) Always be patient
There are times when your Lab may not seem to get what you are teaching them. This is often true for puppies. Some Lab owners have observed that the breed tend to act like puppies even when they are adult age, but at some point, they just seem to click together and are capable of following your commands like seasoned pros.
For this reason, it is very important to practice patience. Patience is a virtue especially during house training. In the case of puppies, you can avoid unnecessary correction by taking them out of the house at 30-minute or one-hour intervals so that they can pee or poop in the backyard. This routine already teaches the puppy that it should do its business outside the house.
8) Never hit your dog
Puppies and adult dogs form a bond of obedience and trust with their owners. This bond can easily be broken if you physically punish your Lab for not obeying your command or if they make a “mistake”, such as peeing accidentally inside the house. Negative physical contact with your dog can lead to their being shy or afraid of you or, worse, aggression.
Instead of hitting your dog, always say “NO!” firmly and divert your attention from them. This strongly impresses upon your Lab that what they did was wrong, thus encouraging them to work harder to earn your praise and/or a reward.
9) Plan and take notes of every training session
If you are uncertain with how you should proceed on training your Lab, you can plan the basic commands you intend to teach on certain days. Especially with puppies, you may need to focus on teaching them a single command per day for a few days until they learn it before you move on to another command.
Make sure that you take notes of every training session. You may observe your Lab behaving negatively to some training methods you employ while respond well to others. Knowing what works and what doesn’t and how your dog reacts can help you to plan a more effective training session in the next days.
10) Always make training fun
Always keep training sessions positive and fun for you and your Lab. Never schedule a training session if you are not feeling well or are in a bad mood because your Lab can easily pick up on your emotions.
Because Labs have a lot of excess energy, this may cause them to be distracted and restless during training. Consider taking them out for a run or a walk will help them to release this pent-up energy so that they can focus on training.
Be lavish in giving your Lab praises and hugs whenever they succeed in obeying your commands. While nothing works better than a tasty treat, you should watch out that you don’t overdo it since Labs are prone to obesity.
Let these basic rules help you in training your Labrador Retriever effectively!
