How to train your LABRADOR to be a good family dog

Train your LABRADOR: Known for being lovable pets and great dogs, Labrador Retrievers are great pets. As one of the best family dog breeds, they are also popular for being friendly toward children.

The Labrador must be trained, though, to become an excellent family pet. Families do not come naturally to dogs, so they do not know what to do or how to act in them.

Even so, training your Labrador to be a family dog is extremely important, especially when you have children around. You’ll need to teach your lab good manners if you want them to play around safely.

What makes Labradors such great family dogs?

Before we talk about how to exactly train your Lab, let’s talk about why they’re such great family dogs, and why they’re so popular with children.

1. Gentle

Labradors are known for their gentle nature. Children can play with them without fear of being attacked. This is the opinion of many Labrador owners.

However, this does not mean that Labradors cannot be aggressive. To ensure that your lab stays calm and well-behaved, it is essential to train it correctly.

2. Playful

Playfulness is one of the best characteristics of Labradors. They are perfect for families with young children. By playing with your lab, your kids can have fun while your lab can let off some pent-up energy. Since this study has found that Labrador Retrievers can respond well to play signals given by their owners, this is especially promising.

It must be said, however, that a Labrador’s playfulness isn’t endearing to all households. A Lab might not be as useful to families with young or elderly children due to its high energy level.

Your Lab can cause injuries to your loved ones if he or she is not trained properly.

3. Easy to train and intelligent

Additionally, Labradors are known for being easy to train. Their trainability is one of the major reasons why they are so popular. Since they are easy to train, they are more attractive as house pets since they can adapt relatively quickly to domestic life.

4. Social and good with people

Aside from their gentleness and playfulness, Labradors are also incredibly popular for being people dogs. Labradors are friendly and are better at socializing than most dogs. The chances of them acting aggressively are slim, as they can easily be introduced to other people.

Train your LABRADOR to be a family dog

A Labrador must be trained before it becomes the coveted loving and playful dog that many families want.

Dogs will act like dogs, so it is unrealistic to expect your Labrador Retriever to automatically act like a domesticated animal. It takes a conscious effort on the owner’s part to instill good manners and house training in the lab.

Ideally, training should take place within the first six months of a Lab’s existence. It will ensure your pup has a great understanding before he ages and learns more bad habits that will be hard to correct.

Here are some tips for training your Labrador pup to become a family member:

1. Start early.

Ideally, your Lab should be house-trained as early as eight weeks old. From the moment they enter your house, you need to start acclimatizing them to the environment and gradually teach them how a dog would behave at home.

Training the potty should be the priority. It will take time and patience, but you should get your puppy potty-trained as soon as possible. In addition to being beneficial to you, you will also save yourself a lot of time later on when it comes to cleaning up the mess they leave behind.

2. Crate-train them.

The decision to crate train a pet is a personal one. Any Lab owner, however, can gain undeniable benefits from crate-training their pet.

Among other things, it helps with the potty training and house training processes. It also teaches your Labrador the value of space and how he or she can have one of his or her own.

Getting your Lab used to crates will also provide you with a lot of convenience in the future. Crates make transporting your pet from the vet to the beach much easier than without one.

You should take note, however, that a crate should not be used as a punishment. Generally, punishments in dog training are frowned upon because you are not supposed to teach your dog what not to do. The goal is to show your dog the behavior you desire.

3. Obedience training

Your dog’s domestic life will be easier if he receives obedience training from a very early age. In this way, they will be able to follow your simple instructions without you having to repeat them constantly. The better the dog, the better the owner.

Remember, however, that obedience training is not for you to exercise full control over your pet, but to guide it. It could be an unfamiliar situation that you will need to guide them through or follow the day-to-day rules in the house. Regardless of what you do, obedience training is a valuable skill.

4. Observe the progress of your Labrador as a family dog.

Think again if you think training your dog will take a short time. Training needs to be continuously reinforced over time to be effective. If you want to teach your dog how to sit or stay, you have to constantly apply it in their everyday life.

During the early stages of training, it will be difficult and time-consuming. Considering a puppy is still learning how to deal with the house, it needs a lot of attention most of the time. The task of training a puppy will take up a lot of your time, but the results of your constant effort will be well worth it.

5. Give them love and attention.

The Labrador breed is known for its high level of energy. Their energy could become pent up if they do not get a lot of attention, and they might lash out destructively.

Although they may chew on people, this does not mean they’ll attack them aggressively. And you don’t want that to happen to your furniture or shoes.

Your Lab will live a happier home life if they get the proper amount of exercise and play. Keeping up with a Labrador’s needs takes dedication, so you have to stay committed.

6. Positive reinforcement

You may not be as effective as you thought at punishing your dogs for bad behavior.

A study that looked into this concluded that positive reinforcement is the best method for training dogs. Owners should praise their dogs’ good behavior instead of punishing them for bad behavior.

You can train your dog to understand that good behavior is rewarded with praise. They will be more likely to obey you or follow your instructions if they are obedient. Your relationship with your lab can be based on understanding and care rather than punishment and fear, which is good for both of you.

7. Treat them like family.

Being a family dog is very much a personal journey for you and your Lab. Your lab should be considered a member of your family since that is what they are. You should use the dynamics of the family to operate your lab since they are now a part of your group.

Teach them in a way that will fit the family’s overall scheme. Labradors could have difficulty adjusting their energy levels in families with very young or old members. You must train your lab in a way that is appropriate to your family.

Conclusions

It is impossible to create a comprehensive guide to training your lab to become a member of your family. The guidelines we can give you are only rough guidelines that you should consider following and not necessarily take as rules. It is helpful to give advice, but only if it is done in a loving and considerate way.

Dogs should be loved and cared for; they are not objects to be displayed when convenient. Consider them part of your family as the first step in training your dog to be family-friendly. Make sure they are well taken care of, and they will thrive.