Do you want to find out if golden retrievers can be trained easily? The short answer to your question is “Yes.”
Because they are smart and loyal, golden retrievers are easy dogs to train. They love people and can be a joy to have around.
They were raised to hunt dogs and to work with people, so obedience is a natural part of their DNA.
Streak, a golden retriever, won the 2018 AKC National Obedience Championship. There are many things you should know if you are thinking of getting a golden retriever.
This article will teach you:
- Why they are difficult to learn
- How long does it take to train your golden retriever?
- These are 3 easy tips to help you train your golden!
- And much more
Continue reading to learn more about golden retrievers training.
How Golden Retrievers Can Be Easy to Train
According to Dr. Stanley Coren’s The Intelligence of Dogs book, they are the fourth-smartest of all 138 breeds. It’s not only their brains that make them so easy to train.
What would it do to you if they were intelligent but didn’t have the motivation to follow your lead?
A second trait that makes goldens easy to train is their friendly nature. They are loyal, family dogs who enjoy spending time with their owners and obeying them.
They were originally created to retrieve dead birds from the fields and marshes. Since then, they have been obeying humans for hundreds of years.
Finally, there’s another reason they are easy to train. Golden retrievers love treats! They love to eat (although it can sometimes lead to obesity), so a delicious treat will encourage many goldens to learn quickly and to obey.
Training your golden retriever is not always easy.
It’s hard to train golden retrievers
You might have thought I was crazy if you said golden retrievers were easy to train when Oliver was six months old.
Sometimes, I believe Oliver is a part hyena when he runs around wild and mischievous.
You’re not the only one feeling this way if you have a golden retriever puppy or “teenager” dog.
You’ll soon understand what I mean if you are about to get a golden retriever puppy!
All breeds of golden retrievers can make it difficult for puppies. They mature slowly and don’t settle down until they are about 2 or 3 years old.
It’s not all bad news. They are totally worth it! They will bring joy and love to your family beyond what you can imagine. Golden retrievers are mischievous and love all things.
Golden retrievers are so attached to people that even if you try to teach them to walk on a lead in public, they may get distracted by trying to say hello to everyone.
This can be overcome, but it’s something you will have to overcome when training your golden retriever.
How long does it take to train a Golden Retriever?
This is the question that every golden retriever owner wants to know about training them.
What time will they be trained?
This is a difficult question because it’s hard to define what “trained” means for golden retrievers.
It is possible to train your golden retriever puppy to sit within a few days and to potty train them in two weeks. However, it would be difficult to train a 10-week-old golden retriever puppy.
You should also remember that your dog may not be able to sit still in the living room without being distracted.
These very estimates of the time it takes to learn certain skills and behaviors are provided:
- Potty Training: Two weeks to a few Months
- Crate Training: One Week to a Few Months
Sit for a few days (this means they are sitting at home without distractions. It will take longer to train them to sit in stimulating environments).
It will take a few days to get them to sleep (they are laying down at their home without distractions. They will need more time to learn in stimulating environments).
How to walk on a leash without ever pulling: It takes a few weeks up to a few decades (yes, it may seem long but they’ll get better with time).
Many stories, anecdotes, and unproven biases exist about which breeds are more difficult to train. Asking a variety of trainers and vets will likely yield a range of answers.
In the 2018 AKC National Obedience Championship, which was also mentioned earlier, there was a mixture of males and females who placed in the top 10.
Here’s the thing that matters more than sex: their personalities and genetics.
Dogs that come from well-behaved, biddable (aka easy-to-train) parents are more likely to be well-behaved and biddable.
However, they will likely be more difficult to train if their parents are untrained and poorly behaved.
3 Tips To Have An Easy-To-Train Golden Retriever
Here are three tips to help you get an easy-to-train golden retriever.
- Find a good breeder. A good breeder will only breed healthy dogs and most likely produce them. A good breeder will also socialize your puppy as soon as possible.
- Socialize your golden. You can make your dog more comfortable by exposing him to different animals and people. This will help them become more confident and easy to train.
- It’s important to start early. Start training your puppy right away. They’ll soon get used to you and you’ll have a lot more fun together.
6 Tips For Training Your Golden Retriever
Here are six tips to help you train golden retrievers.
- It’s important to start early. This tip is obvious, even though we have just spoken about it. Your puppy will be trained early so they don’t develop bad habits.
- Use positive reinforcement. Your goal is to get your dog to do what you ask.
- Start small. Start small and gradually increase the difficulty to teach a new behavior.
- You should train in short, but frequent sessions. For puppies, five sessions of two minutes are better than one session of ten minutes.
- Participate in a puppy kindergarten class. This class will teach the basics as well as socialization.
- Make it enjoyable. You can make training more fun for your golden retrievers. They love to play and have fun.