Training Labrador retrievers is often easy for anyone to do because of their
level of intelligence. With a little work, motivation and patience, you will have your dog obeying simple commands before you know it. Knowing which simple commands your dog should know and a general idea of how to teach the commands will help you on your journey to train your dog. As long as you are willing, your dog can learn these tricks and more.
Sit is one of the most important commands to teach your dog. This command will keep it safe on walks and give you control over situations. To teach your dog to sit, snap your fingers over its head while you say the word “sit” in a firm voice. As your dog looks up at your hand, it will sit down. Give your dog a treat when it obeys you. Eventually, your dog will sit on the word instead of needing to snap.
Another important command to teach when training Labrador retrievers is stay. For this command, you will need to make your dog sit first. When it is sitting, hold your hand with your palm flat toward your dog. Say, “Stay!” firmly. Slowly back away from your dog. When it stays, give it a treat. If your dog doesn’t stay, repeat the process. Over time, your dog will stay when told.
Once your dog is capable of staying on command, you will need to teach your dog to come when you are ready. The easiest way to teach this command is to use the leash. Tell your dog to sit and stay, then back away from him. When you are ready for your dog to come, tug gently on the leash as you say come. After a while, you can remove the leash and work on the command using hand gestures instead of a tug on the leash. Your dog will quickly learn what “come” means.
Your Labrador retriever will be able to learn other tricks, as well. The way you teach those tricks requires you to repeat the action and the command to go with it. Labrador retrievers are quick to learn many commands and tricks as long as you provide treats and work patiently with them. The basic commands of sit, stay and come are essential to ensure the proper behavior of your dog in many situations. Training Labrador retrievers can be a very rewarding experience.
