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Labrador Retriever Training Tips When Teaching Down Command

2016/5/4 10:22:57

Effective labrador retriever training strategy is very important in teaching your dog basic commands like sit, stay and down. These commands should not be taken for granted for they are the very foundation of other advance training, like guide dog training, therapy dog training or search and rescue training, you may want your pet to undergo when the right time comes.

Like sit and stay, the down command is useful in many ways. Teaching your pet to lie down on command also means teaching him to respect you as the owner and leader of the pack. The same command can also help keep your pet safe and relaxed during meal time, when there are visitors coming and many other circumstances. Additionally, a labrador in down-stay position is less likely to run across the busy street nor chase cars or children therefore lessens the risk of getting injury and other problems.

To train your pet the down command, here is one labrador retriever training strategy you may want to consider:

Call your dog to "come" to you and give the command "sit". Once in sit position, hold a treat in front of his nose and slowly lower it between his front paws. Give the command "down" right after the treat reaches the ground. Seeing the food bait, your pet will naturally follow but if that is not the case, move the treat further away until he is fully stretched to the ground in down position. Give him the treat and don't forget to praise and pet him.

Repeat the process over and over until he he has mastered the command without difficulty.

Additional tips:

- You may want to keep the treat inside your fist but make sure that your hand is near his nose so that he can still smell the bait. This is to prevent your lab from becoming too dependent on treats.

- Too much treat is not always good for your pet's health thus you may need to regulate treat rewards. As the training progresses, it is best to replace the treat with praise and playtime in a gradual manner.

- Choose treats that are really rewarding, instead of using his regular dog food. Homemade goodies and even small bits of human foods such as cheese and hotdog can be used as food rewards.

- Make your training fun and exciting and make sure to end on a positive note to get him associate the training with something pleasant.

There are so many labrador retriever training tips that can help you achieve your desired training objective - be it to master the basic obedience or more fancy tricks like rollover and play-dead. All you have to do is to find those tips and follow them correctly.

Looking for effective labrador retriever training tips? You can get a lot of information from Kate Truman at her site specially dedicated to labrador retriever training.