Effective labrador retriever training approach is essential in teaching your pet basic commands like sit, stay and down. These commands shouldn't be ignored for they're the very basis of other advance training, such as guide dog training, therapy dog training or search and rescue training, you may want your pet to undergo when the right time comes.
Just like sit and stay, the down command is beneficial in many ways. Teaching your dog to lie down on command also means teaching him to respect you as the owner and leader of the pack. The same command can also help keep your canine friend safe and calm during meal time, when there are visitors coming and several other instances. Furthermore, a labrador in down-stay position is less likely to run across the busy street nor pursue cars or children therefore reduces the risk of getting injury and other issues.
To train your pet the down command, here's one labrador retriever training technique you may want to consider:
Call your pet to "come" to you and give the command "sit". Once in sit position, hold the treat in front of his nose and gradually lower it between his front paws. Give the command "down" right after the treat reaches the ground. Seeing the food bait, your pet will naturally follow but if that's not the case, move the treat further away until he is completely stretched to the ground in down position. Give him the treat and remember to praise and pet him.
Repeat the process over and over until he he can execute the command without difficulty.
Additional tips: You may want to keep the treat inside your fist but be sure that your hand is close to his nose so that he can get a whiff of the bait. This is to inhibit your lab from becoming too dependent on treats.
Excessive treat is not always good for your pet's health thus you may need to control treat rewards. As the training advances, it is best to swap the treat with praise and playtime in a gradual manner.
Choose treats that are truly rewarding, as opposed to using his regular dog food. Homemade goodies as well as small bits of human foods like cheese and hotdog can be used as food rewards.
Make your training fun and interesting and ensure that you end on a positive note to get him associate the training with something pleasant.
There are a lot of labrador retriever training tips that can help you achieve your desired training goal - be it to master the basic obedience or more fancy tricks such as rollover and play-dead. All you have to do is to find those tips and follow them the right way.
Just like sit and stay, the down command is beneficial in many ways. Teaching your dog to lie down on command also means teaching him to respect you as the owner and leader of the pack. The same command can also help keep your canine friend safe and calm during meal time, when there are visitors coming and several other instances. Furthermore, a labrador in down-stay position is less likely to run across the busy street nor pursue cars or children therefore reduces the risk of getting injury and other issues.
To train your pet the down command, here's one labrador retriever training technique you may want to consider:
Call your pet to "come" to you and give the command "sit". Once in sit position, hold the treat in front of his nose and gradually lower it between his front paws. Give the command "down" right after the treat reaches the ground. Seeing the food bait, your pet will naturally follow but if that's not the case, move the treat further away until he is completely stretched to the ground in down position. Give him the treat and remember to praise and pet him.
Repeat the process over and over until he he can execute the command without difficulty.
Additional tips: You may want to keep the treat inside your fist but be sure that your hand is close to his nose so that he can get a whiff of the bait. This is to inhibit your lab from becoming too dependent on treats.
Excessive treat is not always good for your pet's health thus you may need to control treat rewards. As the training advances, it is best to swap the treat with praise and playtime in a gradual manner.
Choose treats that are truly rewarding, as opposed to using his regular dog food. Homemade goodies as well as small bits of human foods like cheese and hotdog can be used as food rewards.
Make your training fun and interesting and ensure that you end on a positive note to get him associate the training with something pleasant.
There are a lot of labrador retriever training tips that can help you achieve your desired training goal - be it to master the basic obedience or more fancy tricks such as rollover and play-dead. All you have to do is to find those tips and follow them the right way.
About the Author:
If you find this labrador retriever training article helpful, feel free to visit Kate Truman's site. There you'll find a lot of information specially created for labrador retriever training.
