Teach Your Golden Retriever Right From Wrong
Unlike humans, dogs learn in a different way. Dogs don’t have responses that humans do. That is, dogs don’t think or act with the principle of right or wrong. Unlike humans, dogs behave based on the principle of instinctive response, guided by the action you give them.
If they did something and you gave a bad response, they would know that you didn’t like what they just did. They would think that what they did was wrong and they would avoid doing that type of behavior. On the other hand, if you gave a positive response to what they just did, they would think that what they did was right and would continue doing that.
Letting you dog know that it is doing the right thing leads to a positive response. Hence, you should make it a habit to praise your dog whenever it does something right. You should give it a treat or commend it whenever it starts listening to what you say or doing what you tell it to do. On the contrary, if it is not listening to you or not doing what you’re telling it to do, scold it right away and never give it any reward for its behavior.
Timing is the key when training your golden retriever. You should correct your dog right away once it starts doing something wrong so it will know what it is doing wrong. Not telling it right away that it’s doing wrong might send the wrong impression and make it think that it’s doing well.
If your dog has a habit of running after cars, for instance, you should immediately stop this habit before something bad happens. For it to know that chasing cars is something it shouldn’t do, you should stop it as soon as you see it doing the act and let it know that it’s wrong. Your dog will need time to learn, so you’ll have to keep on correcting it whenever it does something unfavorable.
The same principle is used when your dog does something right, except that instead of correcting or scolding it, you should commend it. The second you see your dog behaving the right way, you should commend it immediately. If you don’t praise it right away and wait till it stops, your dog might think that you’re praising it for stopping. To be safe, always commend your dog whenever it does something right, and correct it immediately when it behaves wrongly.
Training your golden retriever shouldn’t be any problem at all if you take your time and have patience. It may take some time before it learns to do things right, but it will be worth your diligence and patience. Once you have trained your dog, it will obey whatever you say. Training your golden retriever is important for it to mature, grow disciplined, and become the best buddy you can have.