Change Your Golden Retriever's Habits
Teeth
Teeth are among the most common areas of concern when training golden retrievers. The puppies love to chew and choose to chew any chance they get. Most people provide chew toys, but there’s one way to alleviate the pain of teething without sacrificing your golden retriever's instinctive need to chew.
First, fill a clean old sock with some ice cubes and tie a knot on the sock. Then, place the sock with the ice cubes in the freezer. Give this sock to the puppy once it starts to chew on things. You may keep several socks with ice in it in your freezer so your puppy will always have something to chew on. Never leave your puppy alone with the sock, though, as it might swallow pieces of the sock and this might result to serious health problems.
Leashes
A lot of people prefer to attach the leash to the dog and then drag the dog in the direction they want it to go. This is not a good way of leash training. Instead, you should first let your puppy get used to the collar and the leash. Let it move about freely inside the house or within your yard with its collar and leash on, dragging them along.
Once it gets used to the leash attached to it, pick the leash up and try calling your dog. Praise it once it starts to come over so it knows that it is doing the right thing. It will take some time before it gets used to the leash so be patient when leash training your dog. Leash training your dog shouldn’t be any problem, only if you are patient and continue to praise it whenever it does things right.
Digging around
Golden retrievers love to dig because it’s in their nature to do so. However, you might find it frustrating especially when your dog starts to dig holes in your yard or in any other place where it shouldn’t dig. Digging is natural for them and you should never punish your golden retriever for digging.
You should allocate an area where it can dig—a kiddie pool or sandbox filled with sand or soil will be great. You can bury a treat, a bone, or a toy in the place you allotted, so it would learn where it should dig. This way, your dog will only head to that area whenever it feels the need to dig. When your golden retriever grows a little older, you should invest in obedience training classes to help it become more disciplined when it comes to digging.
There you have it. These are just some tips for training your golden retriever puppy. Patience is indeed a virtue when it comes to training your dog. Golden retrievers are very smart, but they will need some time to learn. Be patient. Soon, your golden retriever will start to do things right and you’ll realize that all the hard work is worth it.