A golden retriever is a loyal dog. He will always be there to protect you, your family and your home.

However, training him can be challenging because of his strong-willed nature.

He’s not going to listen to anyone else. You have to take the lead. Even when he wants to obey, it may take some time before he starts to follow orders.

Here are four tips that will help you train your golden retriever.

1. Use Positive Reinforcement

The best way to train your golden retriever is using positive reinforcement. This means giving rewards whenever your dog does what you want. For example, if you want your dog to sit, give him a treat every time he sits. If you want him to lie down, reward him with praise or playtime. If you want him to stand up, do the same thing.

This way, your dog will learn how to obey your commands by doing them in exchange for a reward. It’s also easier to get your dog to follow your instructions as compared to negative punishment. So, if you don’t like yelling at your dog, use this technique instead.

2. Reward Good Behavior

You should reinforce good behavior by giving your dog treats or toys. Give him a reward after he obeys an order. This way, he’ll learn to follow them.

You can also make positive associations between certain actions and rewards. For instance, if you let your dog out of the house, give him a treat. In return, he won’t go out again until you tell him to.

3. Teach Commands Separately

When training a dog, it’s important to teach him separate commands. This way, he won’t confuse obedience with other things, such as fetching sticks or jumping on people.

If you are teaching a new command, start off with very simple ones. For example, “Sit!” and “Stay!”

Once you feel comfortable with those two commands, increase the difficulty level by introducing more complex commands. For example, “Stand!”, “Come!”, “Down!” and so on. Start with small steps and progress gradually.

4. Be Consistent

Training your dog doesn’t mean telling him to do something one day and ignoring him the next. If you do that, then he might become confused about what’s expected of him. Instead, you should be consistent from day to day with the way you interact with your dog.

For example, if you tell your dog to sit, don’t forget to say that every single day. Be consistent with the way you talk to your dog and the way you act towards him. It’s better to do this than to ignore him and expect him to know what to do without any direction.

Also, pay attention to your body language. When you approach your dog, try to avoid raising your voice. That will only encourage him to disobey.

5. Train Your Dog with Different People

It’s ideal to train your dog with different people. This way, you’ll get to see which person is the most effective.

For example, if you live with your parents and want to train your dog, ask your parents to help you. Let your parents show you how to correct your dog when he misbehaves and ask them to explain the reasons why they did that.

Your parents might be more lenient than you would be. They might even let your dog jump on their laps or play with them. But this might just be because they love your dog and want to show affection towards him.

So, it’s wise to train your dog with different people and find out who’s the most effective trainer. Then, you can choose the right person to train your dog.

6. Don’t Forget to Have Fun

Most dogs enjoy playing with humans. So, you should definitely have fun during training sessions. Play with your dog and give him lots of verbal encouragement. This way, he’ll learn that following your orders is really fun. And, you’ll enjoy spending time together.

7. Avoid Punishment

Never punish your dog for disobedience. This will only make him disobedient and aggressive. Also, never hit your dog. That could cause injury and pain, especially to puppies.

Instead, use a firm tone of voice. Say, “No!” (or “Off!”) and point to an object behind you. Then, turn away and walk quickly away. This way, your dog will learn that he can’t disobey you.

Be careful though. Never yell at your dog. Yelling too often will make him afraid of you and scared of all things related to you. Therefore, you should limit yourself to using a firm but calm voice.