How hard is it to train a labrador puppy?

[BoatingLakeDiva]

I heard they are easy because of their love of food so food rewards and treats are good. What about combatting jumping up, mouthing and pulling on the lead? Are these problems easily solveable?

[horseylady]

Everything is solvable if you are consitent and have solid boundaries. I have retrievers (not labs) the pup doesn't pull on her head, recalls and does send aways. She still jumps up but always gets told not too, she's just excited. Good luck!!! Put the work in and I assure you, you will be pleased with the result!

[BoatingLakeDiva]

so what is the basic difference between lab and retriever behaviour then? They seem very similar - but hten I have not experience of either other than as a child.

[BoatingLakeDiva]

we live opposite a massive park so I am thinking of doing recall training there as it is all enclosed, great for dog walking. Are there any recal tips that I can practise before we can take pup out?

[hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman]

I have an elderly Lab and he is well trained (he does have selective hearing from time to time but he usually responds as asked). I think time and consistency are the key to training (as well as a pocket full of toast in our case).

[Elsathelion]

We have a lab and we were so lucky that our vet gave us tons of good tips about training. We did 5 to 10 mins training with him twice a day when he was tiny to get him used to basic commands and to set up the idea of listening / responding to us.

Our vet said the good thing a out labs is that they are thrilled if they please you so it's it just about treats, they are also rewarded by us having fun with them and praising them.

PM me if you want any details of the training exercises as I think we still have our notes so am happy to dig them out for you

Xx

[BoatingLakeDiva]

thanks elsathelion! , We are very excited. We are getting pup at the end of May

[BoatingLakeDiva]

How old is your dog now Elsathelion? Also a bit confused by the 5 minuters per month rule for walking. How long does that rule apply? Surely not forever!!!!

[OhChristFENTON]

Ooh marking place as DH sent me some puppy pics today. They are ready to home next month - black lab and border collie cross...

[BoatingLakeDiva]

OhChristFenton - I bet you are beside yourselves! I'd be a bit nervous of the collie bit myself - high intensity dogs

[Elsathelion]

Hi, our lab boy is 4 now! And you are right, the five / ten mins a day twice a day was just for the first few weeks until his attention span grew a little. He caught on really quickly and we could tell when he'd had enough.

Once he was old enough to take out for walks, we could then do lots of recall practice out in the park. Before we took him out for the first time, he already knew sit, stay, lie down, fetch and come here as these were the ones the vet said to start with.

We got into the habit of spending time at the end of the walk training him (as advised by the vet) so he was calm enough to concentrate. Hilariously he also picked up words we hadn't purposefully taught him - like 'kisses' and 'upstairs' - but DH puts this down to the fact that I am always chatting away to the hound like a loon so he must hear lots of random words throughout the day!

He loves learning new things even now as they are v intelligent and love picking up new tricks.

So exciting about your imminent arrival! I am sure you will have tons of fun

Xx

[BoatingLakeDiva]

he sounds lovely Elsathelion . How did you train him to do tricks? Was it treats, patience and repitition? I have beenlooking at clicker videos on you tube but still not quite sure how they work. . I am probably being dim but it doesn;t make sense to me. so, are you saying that by the time he was 12 weeks old or so, he could do sit, stay, lie down etc? That's amazing!

[BoatingLakeDiva]

and we are very excited, yes . This four weeks is going to pass so slowly!

[BoatingLakeDiva]

well it is only actually 3weeks 5 days now

[alto2]

They really are bright - our puppy learned the names of all her toys - so if you told her to go and get Piggie (eg) she would bring the right one, even from the other side of the house.

We trained her to ring a bell when she wanted to go out for a piddle, which was useful for a while.

Not jumping up is hard, because when they're little people don't mind, in fact actually encourage them. So you have to be strict with the people not just the puppy.

The puppy training class was hilarious, fun and useful.

Wish we could have another

[BoatingLakeDiva]

she could differentiate between toys? I am getting so excited. I'd kind of like to train her to be a PATS dog. I know that entails lots and lots of socialsing and manners training but I really want to do it. I think wiht a lab you pretty much can if you teach them correctly.

[Elsathelion]

Hi OP, yes by the time he was 12 weeks he could sit, stay, lie down, fetch, come and walk to heel. I'd like to think it was because he is a genius but I think labs are really bright and biddable.



I felt really confident taking him out when he was tiny knowing that he would sit and come back by the time we took him out.

Alto's idea about the bell to signal needing to go for a widdle is a great one - we taught our chap to stand with his nose on the door when he needed to go out!

And ours fetches his lead and collar when you ask him ... And likes taking things to different people in the house so DH and I often give him notes to take to each other and to visitors - he loves learning people's names and showing off! It's also quite handy when I can't be arsed to find DH to tell him dinner is ready!

I agree about the jumping up though - people tended to encourage him to jump when he was small which made it hard to get him to stop but they learn a lot from withdrawing attention - ie ignoring him when he does stuff that you dont like - which seemed to work.

Other than than, I'd just say be really clear in the words you choose for each command, repeat things to reinforce the meaning and have tons of fun as that'll keep your little woofer interested. FWIW, we started off training with treats but then realised that strokes, cuddles and going nuts clapping and praising him worked just as well as a reinforcer. Made us look slightly bonkers but we didn't mind that too much!

How exciting!!!! Not long to go now!

Xx

[mute]

Labs are great if trained well. My lab has walked to heel (no lead) from ten weeks old has always come to call and taught to sit lie down and stay from an early age too.
The trick is to get from good breeder preferably from working stock as they although more active are more eager to please.
Best way to reward your lab is not food as nobody likes a podgy dog. The best way is love and praise as they can't get enough of it and will do anything for more.

[ornellaia]

How exciting I'd recommend training classes - great for (doggy & human) socialisation as well as training. I really enjoyed them and made a few nice dog-walking friends too.

I'm told that labs are born half trained and spaniels die half trained - I only found this out after getting a spaniel of course

[BoatingLakeDiva]

i have got information about puppy socialisation classes near us. As for socialsing, do I have to carry pup about until she can go out for her walks? She will be quite heavy I would think! I want her to get used to cars and trains as we travel about on trains a lot for days out. I'll have to wait until her 2nd jab though won;t i, before I take her on a train? Do I invite lots of friends round over the three weeks we are in doors? Sorry for all the questions!

[horseylady]

Curlies are more aloof than labs (and the other types!) generally bigger and more athletic than labs and will just keep going and working!! No way would the 5 minutes a month walk work for us!!! I just like retrievers as s breed!! Really friendly and trainable!! You'll enjoy him!! I also agree about not letting peoe let the pup jump up!!

[horseylady]

Also my big curly is very sensitive and so kind!! Quite literally a friend so I hope your lab is the same.

[BoatingLakeDiva]

Also, do I let puppy sleep whenever it wants or do i get it into a routine of days and nights. I'm assuming the breeder will ahve doen this but feel so stupid asking them!

[keepthechangeyoufilthyanimal]

Watching this thread with interest as we have just bought a pup home 4 days ago! not a lab but still. Alot of interesting tips on here that I hope I can steal for our little pooch!

[BoatingLakeDiva]

how is your puppy sleeing keepthechange?

[mute]

If you live in a built up area don't take your pup out as you don't want it catching anything. Just keep it at home until it has its jabs. Try to get them done as soon as possible as socialization is very important. If you have friends with dogs who have had their jabs get them to bring them around to yours for socializing.