Retrievers

Labrador Retriever  and Golden Retriever puppies are the two most common breeds that families acquire for family pets. And why not? They are both wonderful family pets. However, they do have a lot of energy and if that energy is not contained or trained, most of them will find something to do on their own. And you might not like what they come up with. Most people will start to walk them as much as possible and that is a great place to start but the more you walk them the fitter they will become. Don’t get me wrong….they certainly do need lots of good healthy exercise but they also need some training. Training takes the edge of all that energy in a more productive way and a lot of training can be done while you walk. A dog that has to work at the end of a leash and think at the same time is a tired dog. There are a lot of things that you can train a retriever to do.

They are truly versatile dogs. Their greatest talent is their mouth. They love to pick things up with their mouth and they love to carry things and sometimes that gets them into a lot of trouble.

One of the biggest problems that I hear of regarding retrievers is that they are always stealing the remote, the kid’s socks, your undies or the baby’s stuffed toys. That is what retrievers do….they carry things in their mouths. It is a huge part of who they are. But if you start to chase them in the house, you are putting them in charge of the game. So you need to change that around. Never chase your retriever. Instead let him drag around a very short leash so that you can catch him. When you do catch him, take the object from him and then give it back. Tell him what a good boy he is and take it back again. Then give him something more appropriate. If he won’t give it to you, sometimes blowing in his face will get him to give it up. Start adding words to the exercise, like fetch, come and give and now you are training your dog to bring things back to you instead of running off with them.