Training Your Retrievers - Basic Training Commands 

Something to think about when choosing a name for your puppy is not to name him with words that are similar or rhyme with basic obedience commands. For example, Sid can be confused with sit, or Harry for here. Your basic commands in obedience training are here, sit, heel, no down, stay and kennel. In more advanced training you will use the words over, back, fetch, dead bird, good, watch, mark or look. Give some thought to the name, because when your dog is all excited and ready to retrieve a fallen bird there will be less of an opportunity for confusion or uncertainty.

Basic Training:

Once you start to work with your puppy teaching him his basic obedience commands. (Here, sit, heel, no, down, stay, and kennel. Remember to always say just one word. Keep it simple for the dog to learn and grasp what you are saying. For example, when you call your puppy using the command 'here' and he doesnt come, do not start screaming, 'I said come here right now!', or when you say 'down', dont say 'I told you to get down!' Keep it simple.

Repetition and Consistency:

Repetition and Consistency are very important when training young pups to obey. So be sure you train the same way each time. I have known some people who needed more training than the dog, be consistent!

When to Start Training:

One of the questions people often ask is when do I need to start training? While there are many opinions on the matter I can only tell you what I do and that is, just as soon as you get your new puppy home. Remember do not use any discipline, everything needs to be fun until he is at least a minimum of 12 weeks old. If you do everything right you will probably never have to discipline him because he will already have the concepts down and will be obeying by the time he is 12 weeks old. This of course is not always true, but for me it has been true more times than not.

Basic Commands:

-Here-

This is probably the easiest of the commands to teach. Since your puppy has a great desire to be with you and is often right under your feet simply try running away from him and the moment he turns to run after you say 'Here,' keep running and saying 'here,' let him catch you, then pick him up and love him saying, 'Good Boy.'

-Sit-

To teach this command I suggest placing one hand under the dogs muzzle and lift up and back gently, at the same time with your other hand push his hind end down. The moment his bottom touches the ground say 'sit.' Then reward him with a treat, or praise him. Another way to train a dog to sit is to walk him on lead at heel while stopping, pull up on the leash and push down on his hind quarters saying, 'Sit.'

-Heeling-

Before you start heel training your puppy needs to be use to being on a leash. Put one on the dog and let him drag it around to get use to a tugging motion. Next secure him to a pole, ground stake, etc. Once he has given in to the idea of being restrained you are ready to teach the puppy to heel. While he is wearing the leash go for a walk, when he tries to walk ahead of you change your direction. If he refuses to walk with you give a series of quick pulls (firmly but not hard) if he still refuses to follow encourage him with a treat if necessary. Once the dog is walking with you start saying, 'heel' repetition and consistency are very important.

-No-

Using a rough tone of voice say 'no' and remove the puppy from the offence or the object you dont want him to have. Then give him the here command and run away, when he turns to follow you pick him up and love him saying, 'good boy.' The reason I do this is because Im trying to take a bad experience and make it a positive one.

-Down-

Drive a tie out stake in the ground. Next run a rope through the eye and clip it on his collar (Do not use a choke collar). Have the dog sit behind the tie out stake; now pull on the rope and he will be forced to lower his head and lay down. At the exact moment he lays down command 'Down.' In the case of a stubborn dog that will not remain sitting you may have to push his hind quarters down while pulling on the rope.

-Stay-

Not all trainers use the word stay. For some trainers sit means stay and do not move until I tell you. But I have found that even the steadiest dog after a while if not watched will leave his sitting position and wonder around. When I tell my dog 'stay' it means I want him to not move for an extended period of time. Place the dog in front of you with a post behind him. Fasten a rope to the dogs collar, next run the rope behind him and around the post and back out to you. Have the pup sit and then walk away. Keep the rope tight in your hand letting it slide through as you walk away. If the pup tries to follow you command, 'Sit-Stay' pulling on the rope. After he has learned what you expect let go of the rope and lay it on the ground, and walk away. If he breaks to follow you be sure to grab the rope and stop his forward progression saying, 'Sit-Stay.'

-Kennel-

This is an easy command to teach. Using a hot dog slice or favorite treat let the dog smell it and then pitch it into his dog kennel, dog box, dog blind or wherever it is you want him to go. It is very important to make sure he sees it thrown. The moment the pup enters the door after the treat say the command 'kennel.'

Till next time.. Read more Dog Training Articles at: www.kysporting.com

Tim Burdon writes dog training articles for his sons website: http://www.kysporting.com. Tim is a professional dog trainer that has trained and raised many successful AKC Registered Labrador Retrievers.