Training your Golden Retriever is not just about schooling him in the skills of coming to heel, sit or rollover. Although training your dog is a necessary requirement, it should be fun, fulfilling and rewarding, both for you and your dog and an activity that benefits and includes every family member. Essentially house training your Golden Retriever is important for your sanity and sanitation.

It can take a lot of time and patience to properly train a Golden Retriever, especially in the early days when several training sessions a day are essential. Dogs learn at different speeds according to their level of ability, but on a positive note Golden Retrievers are one of the more receptive breeds. Like all breeds, however they respond more quickly and more reliably to positive incentives rather than to fear or punishment. Training your Golden Retriever is more than just an exercise in learning and understanding for a dog.

Obedience training for your Golden Retriever is the best way to keep both you and your dog happy and should not be optional. Done correctly, it will build your relationship and bring about a change in character within any dog, which eliminates nearly all behavioural problems. Although it can get frustrating in the early days you should always carry out the training with a positive attitude and reward your dog when he gets something right rather than punishing him for forgetting.

A Golden Retriever, especially a puppy, will develop his own schedule and behaviour if left unsupervised. Use verbal reprimands instead of punishment and reward good behaviour with lavish praise. Severe punishment tactics can actually cause behavioural problems in itself and in many cases bring about the opposite behaviour than what you are trying to achieve, even compounding existing ones. Using positive methods to define behaviour is fun for you and your Golden Retriever and if he is clear about where he stands and his function within the group will have no behaviour problems.

If you feel that training you Golden Retriever is beyond you a dog trainer maybe the answer. Searching for a reputable dog trainer can seem difficult, but the first place to explore would be your kennel or veterinarian’s office. The first obvious skill to look for in a trainer is knowledge, but additionally successful trainers must have commitment, patience, and flexibility. Experience gained through the amount of different dogs he has had through his hands is also very important. He must be discerning, enthusiastic, and comfortable around dogs and most of all is able to relate to people, as well as dogs, in a class or one to one environment.

By using a professional dog trainer you will actually see and hear the correct way of housetraining and handling your dog directly from somebody who is experienced in the task. Bear in mind that most dog trainers, especially a problem dog trainer spend most of their time training the owners, so be prepared for this.

Golden Retrievers, like all dogs, do not understand the spoken language unless it's paired consistently with something meaningful to them, but they are effected by your emotions even when they don’t understand them. Be consistent in your commands and keep in mind your enthusiastic praise is the best training tool you have and will help him understand. The dog must understand that it is the bad behaviour that you don't like, not the dog itself.

A well trained Golden Retriever will give you years of pleasure and loyalty. However, when examined closely you will discover that you as the teacher will gain even more from this relationship with your canine pupil.