Why Train?
Training a dog to possess
proper manners and skills is extremely important. With training, a dog will be well behaved throughout its life. If left untrained, she will do what she wants and what she thinks is right, which many times does not correspond with what a person thinks is right. A dog will be extremely
hard to train later in life if she has improper behavior cemented in her head. Besides, why should such an intelligent creature's brain capacity be squandered? Because labradors are so intelligent, there are many versatile uses for
them in society,
from helping hunters retrieve game to sniffing out drugs for police officers. Dogs are happiest when they are doing something productive that pleases people and they love to be integrated into the lives of human beings. So, if they have manners and are well trained from the start, they will be accepted all that much more by the family they live with and by society.
When to Train
Training for the puppy begins with the mother. She teaches them right from wrong and shows them basic socialization. That is one of the reasons why it is so important to leave the puppy with her as long as possible.
The ideal time to start training the puppy with people commands is at seven weeks. This is because they are very impressionable and receptive at this time, and their minds are like sponges, soaking up and learning a lot of information.
Who Trains?
Some people prefer to have
their dog professionally trained. This might be a good idea if they are short on patience or time, while others might have it professionally done if they have a specific job in mind, such as a show dog or a superbly trained hunting dog. Yet other people look forward to spending the effort and reaping the reward of training their dog. This becomes a time of bonding that is very special, and many would not hand this over to a professional trainer. If done correctly, an owner-trained dog may very well behave and obey the same way as a professionally trained dog.
Session Lengths
Because training starts when the puppies are young (usually seven weeks) they will have a
short attention span. This means that training sessions should be kept short and built up to longer lengths as the puppies mature. The sessions may be 15 minutes, some may be five minutes, all depending on what the puppy is capable of handling. But regardless of the length the training starts out with, it should always be increased, along with the pup's knowledge.
Using Treats
Many people use treats to train because it provides quick results. Of course dogs will do what you want when you want if there will always be something tasty to eat as a reward. But this shapes behavior wrongly. This causes the dog to think that it only needs to perform the job if there will be a treat backing it up. Most good trainers stand behind the method of having the praise following the job or command be the reward.