Golden Retriever Tips And Tricks

Keeping Your Furniture Fur

• Use a damp rubber glove to rub the hair off your couches or cloth furniture. The friction from the rubber glove will easily rub it into a ball of fur.This can be used not only for furniture but for and cloth-type items like blankets, cars, clothes.
• If you dont have a rubber glove you can try a slightly damp sponge.
• Or if you want to get fancy you can buy something like this lint mitt or these funky pet hair remover gloves!

Pro tip: Keep a rubber glove tucked under your couch cushions for quick and easy access anytime you need it! Thanks, Apartment Therapy for the great tip!

Adolescent Golden Retriever Training

– My Golden Retriever wont respond to my commands anymore!

You have been training your GR puppy for months, he has become the most well behaved puppy in historythen one day, he just wont do what you say! This is classic adolescence behavior and may start happening when your golden is between 8-10 months. Just like humans, dogs also have an adolescence period, and just like humans, they like to test boundaries. During this time it is very important that you continue training basic obedience commands:

If your dog wont answer to your command, gently but firmly keep asking until he does. NEVER give up, otherwise they learn that if they ignore you long enough you will stop bothering them. Adolescence is also a period of physiological changes in the dog, you may notice that they will start interacting with other dogs differently. It is important to continue with socialization exercises to keep all interactions positive. Bring treats with you everywhere and treat your dog for having friendly encounters with other dogs. It may seem like free treats to you, but it is not. You are building a strong and positive association with other dogs, so your pooch will keep treating them nicely.

But The Nibbling Is Kind Of Cute

I can understand that your 8-week-old puppy nibbling on your pant leg or mouthing at your hands may look cute right now. It can be difficult to interrupt something that is so high on the cuteness scale. Unfortunately, we as the owner have to look at the bigger picture.

Any action from your puppy that goes uncorrected right now is going to stay with them for the rest of their lives. What looks cute on a 12-pound puppy wont look as precious on a fully grown large breed dog.

As they grow, their teeth will get bigger and nips and bites will hurt more, possibly even breaking the skin. Do you really want an 85 110 pound Golden Retriever nipping at your hands? Or at your kids? Or even at your houseguests? You have to nip it in the bud and correct the behavior now before they assume it is okay.

This also applies to everyone in and out of the house. Everyone who interacts youre your puppy needs to be involved in the correction, otherwise, it wont work. You, your kids, and any outsiders who come into your puppys environment need to be on the same page and work together.

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Critical Steps To Raising A Golden Retriever Puppy

A Veterinarians guide to the basics of raising a Golden Retriever puppy to be healthy and happy. Congratulations on bringing home your newest family member. Here are some tips to keeping your puppy and your family happy during this precious time.

So, you want to know how to keep a Golden Retriever puppy happy? Following the basic tips below will get you off to a great start. In addition, reading the other articles mentioned in the sections below can give you a deeper understanding.

Why Does My Golden Retriever Shed More In Winter

If it seems like your Golden Retriever is shedding more in the winter than you expect it should it could be attributed to the lack of sunlight and hormonal changes that affect hair growth.

Make sure that your dog is getting enough hydration as dehydration can make shedding worse. If your dog is under a lot of stress or anxiety this could also make them shed more in winter.

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To Raising A Golden Retriever Puppy: Sleep

I strongly encourage you to crate train your puppy. Dogs are by instinct more comfortable sleeping in a den . Staring crate training early will make sure everyone in your household gets the right sleep. Even if you plan on letting your Golden pup sleep in your bed , crate training can be helpful as a safe place for your pup to stay while you are not able to watch them. This is especially important if you plan on raising a Golden Retriever puppy while working. See our article on How to crate Train a Golden Retriever for tips.

To Raising A Golden Retriever Puppy: Grooming

If you are raising a Golden Retriever puppy, you need to be prepared to deal with that beautiful coat. This needs to start early with letting them get used to normal things like brushing, bathing, and dental care.

You should gently brush your Golden Retriever puppy as often as 2-3 times a week for just a few minutes. It is not that they need it, as much as you are training them that the brush is nice and feels good. Wait until they are sleepy and treat it like a petting session at first until they get used to the idea. Here is our favorite brush for Golden Retriever puppies:

Best Puppy Brush

This Hertzko Soft Dog Brush is gentle so your puppy can learn that brushing is a great experience. For the rest of the list of recommended brushes here is the Full article, Best Brushes for Golden Retrievers.

When to bathe and groom your puppy might become obvious. I find that there is not much of a need to put dates in the calendar because they find something to get into that necessitates a bath every couple of weeks.

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Cautions When Training Not To Nip

Do not yell at your dog. Firstly, they do not comprehend or deserve your frustration. Nine times out of ten, you arent even actually upset with the puppy you are stressed about something else in your life.

Secondly, and I cannot stress this enough, they do not understand English. Dogs can learn commands but, until they are taught what the words mean, the words mean nothing. It would be like yelling at a French speaker in Russian. Just talking louder will not make them understand off or down.

This brings up another point to watch out for. Be very clear with your commands. If you have already taught your dog that off means get off the couch and down means lay down, then you need to find another word for your command.

I have found that when a puppy acts mouthy it is more a habit to break than a behavior that needs command. You want your dog to keep from nipping and biting all the time, you dont want them to start doing so and then have to give a command to stop it after every incident.

Try to stick to a corrective noise, like the stern eht sound we talked about earlier. This will allow you to curb the behavior and teach your puppy that it wont be tolerated. A command word shouldnt be needed if they learn that boundary properly. Save command words for behaviors that you want to be performed, that way the behavior is rewardable.

Origins Of The Golden Retriever

All Golden Retrievers are thought to share a common ancestry with the Wavy-Coated Retriever, which was, in turn, bred from a combination of the St. Johns Dog and a variety of spaniels and setters. One of the first Golden Retrievers to be bred was recorded by Lord Tweedmouth around 1864. Tweedmouth bred the animal through a combination of Black Wavy Coated Retrievers and a Tweed Water Spaniel, affectionately named Belle.

Following his success, it wasnt long before the newly bred Golden Retriever was gaining popularity as both a working dog and companion to humans. Through importation, the breed soon spread beyond the boundaries of England into the rest of Europe and most notably, North America. Today, the Golden Retriever is one of the most popular dogs in the United States.

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What Supplies Do You Need

If you are serious about training golden retriever puppies, you may need some supplies in addition to the time spent. These are listed below:

• Crate: If you want to crate training with your puppy, you will obviously need a crate. It is very important that this training equipment is at your house from day one. You can choose a soft dog crate or a heavy duty dog crate.
• Baby gates: You dont have to get these, but they are useful. These tools prevent problematic situations when you cant pay proper attention to your puppy.
• Leashes: There are indoor and outdoor leashes. You can choose them according to your goals.
• High-quality food: Consult your breeder or veterinarian about the appropriate food. If for some reason you need a change in the food field, pay attention to the gradation.
• Toys: Golden Retriever puppies have a lot of energy. You might want to buy them some chew toys.
• Bedding: If you buy a crate for your puppy, you need to have some bedding in it for convenience. Anyway, there are crates that come with something like this.
• Treats: These will be very useful during the training. Use them wisely and not excessively.
• Collar: If you get used to your Golden Retriever with a collar from day one, it will be beneficial later on.
• Brushes: This is one of the most important grooming tools. This will help keep your dogs coat healthy which is extra important for golden retrievers.

What Does This Have To Do With How I Train My Golden Retriever Puppy

Its a fair question actually. But there is a logic as to why knowing the context might help you train your Golden Retriever better:

PRO TIP: Golden Retrievers can struggle with frustration sometimes, especially during training sessions, and may start to mouth at you when theyre feeling angsty. If your puppys silly switch goes off and they become mouthy or jumpy during a training session, this means its time for a break.

Shift to some play, and revisit training later we want training to be associated with fun, and not something they begin to dread.

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Fun And Unusual Tricks You Should Teach Your Golden Retriever

So you went out and got yourself a Golden Retriever. And who can blame you? Smart, friendly, loyal, beautiful and as common as a minivan at a kids soccer game.

According to the American Kennel Club, Golden Retrievers were the 3rdmost common breed in the U.S. in 2015.

But thats ok! Im about to share with you 18 ways you can turn your Golden into the talk of the neighborhood!

Make Dog Training A Family Project

Be sure your Golden Retriever has a positive relationship with every member of the familyincluding other pets. Encourage each family member to practice basic skills with the dog, including sit, down, off , stay, come and all done . Encourage everyone to work on emphasizing a default behavior.

You can help other pets feel safe around your Golden by using equipment to separate them as needed when supervision isnt possible.

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My Top 10 Tips For Raising A Puppy

I regularly receive emails from readers with new puppies asking for advice on everything from food to training to exercising to gear and more. Since Im such a dog person and I share so much about our dogs with you, I thought that Id sprinkle a few pet posts in here and there.

Im going to start general today with some of my top 10 tips for raising a puppy. While they are so cute and fluffy, they are a ton of work!

To Raising A Golden Retriever Puppy: Exercise

Making sure your pup has enough exercise is an important part of raising a Golden Retriever puppy. Not only does it keep them healthy but it may also decrease the tendency toward poor behavior and helps them sleep.

There are many things you can do with your Golden Retriever beyond just neighborhood walks, here are some suggestions:

• Swimming. Even puppies can swim, just take the time to introduce them slowly to deep water. Throwing a toy helps.
• Playing catch. Playing ball is great exercise, just avoid tossing things like discs where they may try to jump and injure them selves
• Tug of War. Gentle tug of war is a great game that most Goldens love.
• Playing with other puppies or similarly sized dogs
• Chasing the kids around the yard. Have them drag a rope toy and run . This has the added benefit of exercising your kids too.

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What Do I Need To Train My Golden Retriever

Good news is that in order to train a Golden Retriever puppy you wont need a huge bunch of equipment. But theres a bunch of other things youll need:

• A treat pouch. Say bye to that sticky, meaty feeling in your fingertips.
• A soft collar: Something that is comfortable around their neck, doesnt pull on their hair, and doesnt fall off easily.
• A harness: One that doesnt pull or tighten on your puppy when they walk is fab. Golden Retrievers are strong so a harness will be a good friend when youre teaching them lead walking.
• A 2 metre training lead: Long enough to give your Golden Retriever puppy space to sniff the flowers, but too long so they wander off into someones picnic.
• A piece of non-slip vet bed or a soft mat: For a cosy bed, warm nights, and good dreams.
• Treats: The more smelly, the better. Weve written more about the best training treats here.
• Two identical toys: Great for swaps! The name says it allyour Golden Retriever puppy will love retrieving, so identical toys will be great for all the games we have in store for you in the Zigzag Puppy training app.
• A soft grooming brush: That lustrous Golden Retriever coat will need some grooming especially those feathers on their legs.
• A crate and playpen: Its optional, but youll love it. Trust.

Save Terastallizing For Bosses And Gym Leaders

Terastallizing – the new power-up you can give your Pokemon – changes their type to their Tera Type , and improves the power of all attacks that match that Tera Type. So for example, a Wooper with an Electric Tera Type will become electric when you Terastallize them, replacing their other types, and their electric attacks will do a lot more damage.

You need to be careful with Terastallizing – you’re swapping out your weaknesses and strengths for new ones – but you also need to be careful about when you do it. You can only Terastallize Pokemon with your Tera Orb, and it loses its charge after being used once. It usually needs to be recharged at a Pokemon Center, meaning it’s important to save this power for big threats and enemies. If you want more of an idea of what you’re dealing with in this new mechanic, we put together a full guide on Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Tera types and Terastallizing to explain it!

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Dont Cut A Matted Coat

Cutting your dogs matted fur can be risky since it is close to the skin. Use your fingers to gently hold your dogs skin where the knot is while you gently comb it out bit by bit. This way, you are not tugging on the hairs and pulling at the skin. Conditioner can also make brushing out clumps easier.

Choose Your Training Method And Stick To It

There are a couple of different training methods you can go with.

The most common is voice commands. With this method, youll need to create identifiable words or phrases that you will teach your dog to remember.

Plan these commands out and write them down. Changing commands in the middle of training will only confuse your puppy and set the process back.

Another method is to use an object that produces a sound.

Whistle training and click training work on the same principles as training with voice commands. However, instead of saying commands, you use the device.

Golden Retrievers are very responsive to whistle training. Whistles produce a distinct sound that can be heard from a good distance away.

Though, if you choose to use a dog whistle or clicker, youll need to create your sound patterns and invest in a solid device that can last for many years.

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Week 2 Training Your Golden Retriever Puppy

You made it to the second week! You can start to train your Golden Retriever puppy in some new skills such as the all important leadwalking. Golden retrievers can walk beautifully to heel but it will require some work. Better start them off when theyre young.

As for Socialisation and Habituation work, getting them used to noises, different people and being in the car is what well focus on this week.

• Teach them their name in the garden: The garden will be the ultimate challenge as its packed with blooming distractions. Remember how much they love to sniff?
• Recall training: add a cue word
• Fetch and drop: Again the name says it all. Your Golden Retriever puppy is literally born to get things for you. Its also pretty adorable how they love to pleasewould make anyones heart thud hard.
• Sit Add a cue word!
• Introduce lead walking training: Golden Retrievers grow into strong dogs so youll want to put some work into walking nicely.