Labrador Retriever Group Training Class

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to get your dog to obey commands, especially while in the presence of people and other animals. We enrolled our new yellow labrador puppy in a group training class when he was about seven months old, and we are so glad we did. We enrolled in a class administered by our City, with about twenty dogs in it. The first several weeks primarily consisted of walking around in a big circle outlined with cones for about an hour. It seems silly but the mere presence of the scent of the other dogs and all the activity at the park was so distracting to a young, active, and eager puppy! Here is a picture of the training class in action:

The class was one day a week for 12 weeks. Each week we were given homework and were instructed to work on various things with our dog. To tell the truth, we were not very impressed with the quality of the instruction, but we were happy because Buddy had a chance to learn be be around other dogs. He showed significant improvement. We would highly recommend this form of training.

Pinch collar for labrador retriever training dog walk

We were having trouble with our labrador puppy; He wouldn't walk properly on a leash. This was not a huge surprise to us, as we did our research and knew that labs can tend to be crazy, yet loving masses of energy. So, we consulted our pet store and our in-laws and settled on a training 'pinch' collar, pictured below.





It might look inhumane at first, but believe me, when it is used properly, it is a very valuable tool. Read the directions carefully before using it, then be prepared to actually be able to take your labrador retriever for a relaxing and enjoyable walk. Don't worry if it doesn't work right away, stay consistent in your discipline with you dog and he will learn through repitition. My wife was 5 months pregnant and could take an enjoyable walk with our 6 month old labrador puppy thanks to this product.

Our new yellow labrador retriever puppy

In July 2007 we got a Yellow Lab Puppy and we named him Buddy. If you have seen or heard of the movie Marley & Me, you have a vague idea of what we experienced. The first night was nearly unbearable as he cried nearly all night long. The second night wasn't much better. We told ourselves things would get better and stuck with it. He was so cute and everybody always has good things to say about labs. He was immediately part of the family and every day got easier.

We tried to get a lot of books so we could read as much information as possible in order to train him as quickly. We decided it would be a good idea to crate train him so he would grow to love his bed. This was also very difficult but it wasn't long before he would be happy to go to his bed.

Needless to say, we love our puppy and could not be happier with our decision to add him to our family.

If you are thinking about adding a labrador puppy to your household, make sure you do your research and are really up to the challenge. We have been told the 'puppy' phase lasts 2-3 years. So far we are 18 months into the experience and we love it.

I'll make other posts sharing our experience with dog training classes, helpful resources and books, and our training collar. Stay tuned...