What Is The Average Time Taken To Train A Golden Retriever Puppy
It takes time to train a Golden Retriever puppy, and it helps to build momentum when you start from a young age. Early dog training helps build trust between you and the puppy and makes the whole process much more efficient.
If youve yet to adopt your new puppy, know that the best age to bring him/her home is after the age of 7-8 weeks old. Studies show that separating Golden Retriever puppies from their mother earlier might lead to severe behavioral problems when theyre adult dogs.
On the bright side, you can start house training your new ball of fluff as soon as he/she gets home. As mentioned above it can take on average up to 2 years to fully train a new Golden Retriever puppy, but that doesnt mean it takes two years before they learn to do anything.
Golden Retriever training is broken down into different stages based on their age and emotional maturity level. Here are the stages of training that you should follow until your Golden puppy is two years old:
Mature Goldens At 18 To 24 Months
Training
Training at this point should be well ingrained in your Golden. However, if earlier training wasnt established, this is the ideal stage to focus on it. It helps if you were to provide activities that are fun and enjoyable.
Growth Milestones
Once they reach two years of age, the Golden will have reached the final phase of growing. But male Goldens will need another year to finish their full physical maturation, especially the development of their head and facial structure. In this stage, males and females should be neutered and spayed if you have no intention to breed them.
Making sure your Golden meets the breed standard of weight can be a challenging task. Teenage Goldens require higher numbers of calories. But as their calorie needs peak, there might be changes in their body, especially if they have undergone sterilization. Weight control becomes a challenge.
Their physical activity needs should be met. Goldens have athletic requirements similar to an Olympic athlete. The temperament and traits of the Golden come into full bloom at this point. It may be only nascent at the previous stages, but now it is fully manifesting.
Purpose of training
Golden Retriever Growth And Weight Chart
Usually, male Golden Retrievers are heavier and taller than the female. Thus, the growth rate of males is different from females. Therefore, the chart for male Golden Retriever at different growth stages is as follows:
| Age |
| 55-90 | 20-26 |
In addition, female dogs need 50% more nutrition during pregnancy. Thus, they gain post-pregnancy weight and becomes heavier than male. But if you focus on the diet and exercise of your pal, it is less likely to gain excessive weight.
Do you have a male or a female Golden Retriever?
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The One Week Old Puppy
Your puppy is born fully furred but with his eyes and ears closed so he cannot hear or see. His front feet are strong and he can pull himself towards his mother with them.
He can cry if he is uncomfortable and his mother will respond to his cries by moving him towards her and licking him.
Your puppy spends most of his time sleeping or suckling. If orphaned hell need feeding by hand every two hours!
He cannot regulate his own body temperature and needs his mother for heat, or an artificial heat source.
In the first week to ten days of his life your puppy grows rapidly and will double his birth weight.
How Much Should A Golden Retriever Weigh
Generally, the weight and height of a Golden Retriever vary according to their age and type of breed. Besides this, your pet grows faster within 12 months from its birth. And after that, its growth starts to decline gradually.
Furthermore, on average, your pal should grow 1-2 inches and 1. 5 pounds every week. Apart from this, there is a specific growth chart according to its age and sex like:
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Give Your Attention To Your Golden Regularly
The most important thing to think about when getting a Golden Retriever is to know they will require regular exercise and attention. A Golden Retriever dog breed is very playful and affectionate and needs to be loved constantly. Give your Golden Retriever frequent attention, make sure to cuddle, and play daily, so your Goldens mental health remains in tip-top shape.
How To Stop Your Golden Retriever Puppy From Biting
All puppies bite its completely natural, but I know that doesnt make it any less painful
So if your puppy is biting incessantly, try these four steps:
You can learn more about how to stop your golden retriever puppy from biting here.
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How To Stop Your Golden Retriever From Digging
Digging comes naturally to dogs, so dont be surprised if your golden is a digger.
To stop destructive digging, make sure your golden is physically and mentally stimulated enough.
A tired dog will likely not be a digging dog.
You can also redirect their attention with a toy or a game.
Also, dont leave them outside alone where theyre free to dig to their hearts content if you dont want them to be digging.
But if they really really love digging, you can give them a safe and less destructive outlet to dig, like their own sandbox.
What About Toilet Training The Golden Retriever Puppies
You can actually start toilet training your Golden Retriever puppies during Stage 3 when they start to gain a little bit control of their bowels and bladder.
But, theres a few things.
Before you start to train your puppies to go outside, you should first housebreak them. And, its not a piece of cake!
Your Golden Retriever puppies will have accidents inside the house, and you shouldnt get cross with them if they do! After all, theyre just babies.
Never scold or be harsh with your puppies or theyll have some personality issues if you do.
So, what should you do instead?
Use the magic of positive reinforcement!
It really does work.
All you have to do is praise your puppy and give him some yummy treats every time he goes outside.
Golden Retriever puppies are intelligent. It wont take too long, I promise.
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What Are Some Problems That Can Arise From Having A Hyper Golden Retriever
If you have a hyper dog, then chances are that the problem has already arisen. As weve established, all dogs have a lot of energy when theyre young and some breeds have more than others. The Golden Retriever is one such breed.
Hyperactivity is the name we give to energy thats unchanneled, and this is where youll find problems that wont just go away. A hyper dog is a frustrated one and will demonstrate lots of unwanted behaviors that are harder to stop the longer they go on.
Chewing, barking , scratching, moulting and even biting and other aggressive behaviors can all be the result of a frustrated dog with too much energy to burn off. But a lot of the time its not just excess energy but boredom, too.
Dogs need more than just physical exercise. All the long walks in the world can still result in a hyper dog if theres no mental stimulation to go along with those walks.
Golden Retrievers are incredibly intelligent, and they love to use their brains.
It means that training and learning games and tricks are ways to channel your Golden Retrievers energy, and you dont always even have to leave the house to do it.
Once your dogs mental needs are met, youll find his physical energy levels arent quite so demanding.
Different Growth In Golden Retriever Types
Golden Retrievers are classified as a sporting breed, and these dogs are often divided into those bred for show and those meant for work. Overall the physical differences are slight. However, the body of the show Golden is typically larger, taller, heavy-boned, and fuller in the chest. If your puppy comes from a working-type background, then dont be surprised if their weight falls a little below average.
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Engage Your Golden Retriever In Daily Physical Activity/exercise
The best way to keep your dog calm is to let them get all of their energy out on a daily basis. At a minimum, your Golden Retriever needs at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. A Golden Retriever can play for hours on end, and they love it! This is why if a Golden Retriever dont get a chance to walk and/or play daily, they could become restless, or even reckless. Something as simple as a daily walk or games of fetch could be extremely beneficial to your dogs overall mental health and happiness.
Golden Retriever Growth Stages
Owing to the beautiful body structure and friendly temperament, Golden Retriever steals peoples attention wherever it goes. Are you planning to own these breeds? Then, you should be familiar with the growth stages of a Golden Retriever to ensure its long and active lifespan.
Golden Retriever is a rapidly-growing dog and has five growth stages. Generally, they start from neonatal, socialization, juvenile, sexual maturity to adults. Moreover, all breeds of Golden Retriever follow the same growth phase with specific milestones at every stage.
Undoubtedly, I will explain each stage of your Golden Retriever in detail further. Thus, I hope these discussions are informative for you.
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Puppy Development And Fear Periods
During puppy development, puppies go through fear periods, in fact, on average they go through 4 fear periods. These are approximately at the following ages:
This is a very important part of puppy development, as if you handle this incorrectly, you could end up with an aggression problem for life. I can’t be specific to the exact age that a puppy will go through a fear period, as all puppies differ, but I can give you some indication of what you will likely see when they do.
As your puppy enters a fear period, he will suddenly become frightened of something that he used to be OK with or used to ignore. His reaction could be hunched down, shaking, backing away, hiding, running away, or submissively urinating. Or, your puppy could display more pronounced behaviors such as growling, barking, hackles up, or showing teeth.
Either way, once you recognize one of these behaviors at the age range mentioned above, you would be wise to stop taking your puppy to new places and introducing them to new things for about a week. And if you can, don’t schedule any vet appointments during a fear period.
Your new puppy can grow up to be everything you want if you recognize these critical puppy development phases so you can prepare and react accordingly.
Whens The Right Time To Start Training Golden Retriever Puppies
Speaking ideally, you should start training your Golden Retriever Puppies at Stage 4.
But, there are a few things you need to keep in mind.
First and foremost, you should never be too harsh with your Golden Retriever Puppies while youre training them and always try to make it seem more like a game than commands.
And, secondly, never punish your pups! This can really have a bad effect on your puppys development of personality!
And, it may even lead to some conduct disorders.
So, take a chill pill.
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When Are Golden Retrievers Supposed To Stop Chewing Or Biting
Puppies learn from their mothers, and while they love to bite their siblings and parents when theyre tiny puppies, they soon have that behavior knocked out of them !
But when we take puppies home with us, they lose that parental guidance and so its up to their new owners to curb the biting. Puppies will go as far as youre willing to let them.
Playing with them is a vital way to curbing biting, especially if the bites are too forceful.
By this point, with correct training, they will know that as the owner youre in charge, and you dont tolerate them biting, unless its extremely soft and only ever in the contect of play.
But chewing is another issue. Dogs have very strong jaws and as they mature and they lose their baby teeth, they find relief in chewing and can even clean their teeth this way.
Your Golden Retriever puppy will begin to explore the world with his mouth between the ages of 3 and 6 months, and chewing begins as a way to curb the ache of teething jaws.
The problem comes when all their adult teeth have come in, but your dogs still chewing.
Training Training And More Training
Training your golden is very rewarding for both you and them, and as an added bonus it helps to keep their hyperactivity to a minimum. Golden Retriever dog breed is especially intelligent and is fairly easy to train, and sometimes they just need a little help with self-control, which can be taught. Obedience training will allow you to mentally stimulate your dog while also letting them learn the proper commands and times for things. For example, you can teach them to stop jumping on people or the furniture by teaching them down, or sit. Also, as you get more in tune with your Goldens personality, you can teach them to calm down when they are in a hyper state and then reward them by going outside with them to play or giving them a treat. The more training you give your dog, the more well-behaved they will be and the stronger your bond will become.
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Stage : I Dont Wanna Do It
Would you like to take a guess as to which stage this correlates to in human life?
Teenage!
And you know how teens are, right?
Well, thats how your Golden Retriever puppies will be like. Just not as awful and catty.
During Stage 5, these tiny Golden Retriever puppies wish to become individuals of their own and may ignore a few of your commands.But, theyre still good boys and girls!
In case that happens, Ive got you covered. First of all, you should never be harsh or cross with your Golden Retriever puppies. Thisll make them rebel even more.
What you should do is to add positive reinforcement!
Feed them some yummy treats when they obey your commands and all will be well yet again in puppy land.
Dont let your Golden Retriever puppies become spoilt brats.
Theres another thing. And it involves biting.
Golden Retriever puppies start to learn that they can do a whole lot of things with their mouths and may even start biting you.
Never entertain that
This is the right time to nip such bad behavior in the budbefore it even becomes an issue.
This is not a drill!
Moving on
Puppy Timeline In Review
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Why Do Golden Retrievers Behave The Way They Do
I think every owner has a duty to learn what makes a dog tick.
Even though weve integrated dogs into every aspect of our lives, theyre still dogs and not human. They have different instincts, drives and needs that fuel their temperament.
The key to raising a well balanced and well obedient dog is first understanding what these different behavioral needs are, then finding acceptable ways to satisfy those needs.
With that in mind, these first few articles discuss why you should learn to understand your dog and where does a dogs behavior come from:
How To Calm The Savage Teenage Beast
Youre going to need to make some changes in your household. This includes your daily routine. Your fun-loving teenage dog should still be free to explore while living within a new set of rules and parameters that keep her from creating chaos.
Start by adjusting your feeding schedule.
Are you still free-feeding? If so, youre going to need to set specific meal times.
This means putting the food down at specific times in the morning and evening and only leaving it down for 20 minutes before you pick the dish up again.
Make any necessary adjustments to your dogs diet now, too. Hes growing and maintaining a high level of energy, and that may mean he needs more or less food.
Talk to your vet if you arent sure what type of food your dog should be eating during this stage.
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