Knowledge About Training Labrador

 This is the article Labrador's training guide, of course, other dogs are also applicable, but the number of training may need to be adjusted according to the dog's IQ.

According to the American Kennel Club (AKC) statistics, the Labrador Retriever is the most popular breed in the United States. Labrador Retrievers are gentle, family-friendly, and very easy to train. We can often see Labrador retrievers being trained as guide dogs, police dogs, treatment dogs, etc. They come in three colors: black, chocolate and yellow. Labrador dogs are high-energy animals, so please don't raise a Labrador if you don't have a lot of free time.

Training preface

1. Never hit your dog

Beat or slap Labrador Retriever, it will become scared or depressed. The purpose of our training is not to punish bad behaviors. The key to our training is to reward good behaviors. Because Labrador is born to like to please his master, we only need to teach him how to do it so that we can be satisfied. 

2.During training, Labrador’s food cannot be too good. 

Try to make it focus on the snacks you feed, rather than the dog eating well, full, and not interested in the snacks given by the owner.

3. All passwords for training must be clear, short, not muddled, and fixed.

Commands cannot be changed frequently, and family members must unify all commands, otherwise the dog will not understand what we mean.

4.Once Labrador repeats a certain action frequently, it will do worse and worse.

This is because it is too easy for them to get rewards. We try to give rewards after doing it 4-5 times. Let him know that if he doesn’t do it, doesn’t do it fast, or is not good enough, it’s hard to get rewards, and finally let him focus more on you. 

5. The start time of Labrador training is 8-12 weeks

Labrador is very excited at this time. At this time, your close relationship is very useful for future training. First of all, give it a loud name, such as Lala! We can start with the simplest training

6.Strictly control the training time, preferably twice a day, no more than 15 minutes each time,

The shortest intervening time is 20 minutes. Training for too long will make Labrador lose interest in training, and training for too long can only be counterproductive in the end!

Specific method

1. Fixed-point urinary and defecation training (training after meals, the effect is the best)

Spread newspapers outside the doghouse, in a fixed corner or in the toilet. In order for Labrador to understand that it is the place to urinate and defecate, you have to put a little bit of its excrement (such as urine) on it. Let the newspaper have a familiar taste.

At the beginning of the training, the scope of the newspaper should be as large as possible, and then slowly teach Labrador that it can only be solved in the newspaper.Remember to compliment Labrador immediately when he gets it right. If the Labrador fails to excrete in the designated place, we must scrub the accident site clean and don’t let this place become his toilet again.

2. "Sit" training (the effect is best when implemented before meals)

In the beginning, the command to "sit down" was incomprehensible to Labrador. You must press down on its crotch with your hand, and at the same time issue the command to "sit".Repeated practice, plus the gesture of pressing down, in the future, as long as Labrador sees your gesture, Labrador will understand!

3. Increase distraction training, once you have learned basic information such as "sit" and "leave".

Add distraction training, increase noise, or add another dog. When the dog is distracted, we have to use new commands to attract its attention. At this time, if Labrador does well, we must reward him in time. In fact, this is to increase the confidence of Labrador, and then we can train it on the street and in the park.

4."Handshake" training (implemented before meals, the effect is the best)

Make sure that Labrador is very familiar with the commands and actions to sit down before implementing. When it sits down quietly, please lift up your left or right hand gently, and call the handshake command at the same time, repeat the operation. When Labrador can understand and listen to his handshake command, it’s done. Repeat the training, don't do it too hastily, teach another one when you are not familiar with it, this is the biggest taboo in training.

5. "No" and "Good" training

When you see a Labrador dog behaving badly, stop it immediately. And issue a "no" command to let it know that this behavior is not allowed. On the contrary, if a Labrador has good behaviors, he should immediately praise him for issuing the "very good" command, and stroke his head or neck to let him know that the owner likes his action.

When training a Labrador, be patient and repeat the training. Although the Labrador is a very smart dog, it can usually be mastered by teaching it a few times, but remember to form a habit and must repeat the training.