How to Train Golden Retrievers for Therapy

To begin, find what motivates your dog. If your pup likes food, then find out if he will work for his own dog food, for carrot pieces, for liver treats, for real meat, or anything else. If you dog likes toys better than food, then find a few different toys that your dog loves, that you can use as rewards. If your dog prefers affection or unusual types of rewards, then come up with creative ways to use those things as rewards during training.

Spend time regularly teaching your dog new commands. Commands that he will need to know include: 'sit', 'down', 'stay', 'heel', 'say hi', 'leave it', 'quiet', 'watch', and 'OK'. Other useful commands to teach are: 'out', 'wait', 'stand', 'back up', 'out', 'touch', 'kiss', 'shake', and anything calm that could bring a smile to someone's face.

Once your dog has learned the meaning of the commands, then he will need to learn how to do them reliably. To help him learn that, practice the commands around mild distractions, such as other family members and friends, neighborhood distractions, and smells in your yard. As Fido improves, increase the difficultly of the distractions, practicing around strange people, other dogs, squirrels, birds, new smells, new sounds, and new sights. Continue to practice around each new distraction until your pup can consistently respond to you and stay focused on you instead of the distraction.

As you practice around different types of distractions, also practice in different types of locations. Fido will need to be able to handle unexpected events, people, other dogs, and environments, so be sure to take him to a number of locations, where he can learn how to focus on you in a variety of circumstances. Some great places to practice include parks, outside of dog parks, outdoor shopping areas, farmer's markets and outdoor flea markets, public dog-friendly events, pet stores, other pet-friendly stores, pet-friendly restaurant and coffee shop patios, friends' homes, hiking trails, neighborhoods, K-9 sporting events, outdoor sports games, and anywhere else that your pup is welcome. Be sure to make the experience positive and instructive during your training outings, so that you are building obedience, focus, and calmness in your pup.

As your pup improves, also work on duration. Teach your pup how to do particular commands for extended periods of time, in a variety of locations, and around distractions. For example, teach Fido how to do a 'down-stay' for thirty minutes while you are at a park or store with people and dogs passing by. This command and 'sit-stay' are especially important for therapy work, because your dog will need to be able to calmly stay with whoever he is visiting for long periods of time.

Similar to practicing around distractions, you will need to teach your pup to ignore other dogs while he is working or training. If your pup does therapy work in places like schools or hospitals then there might be other therapy dogs around. Fido will need to be able to focus on you and whoever he is visiting, rather than on other dogs. This is especially important because if he tries to get to another dog or acts overly excited or aggressive, then he might injure whoever he is visiting with, or distract the other therapy dog from his own work. Bring your pup around a lot of other dogs during training but keep the interactions boring, and teach him the 'say hi' command, so that you can tell him when it is OK for him to meet another dog. Specifically practice 'sit', 'down', and 'heel' around other dogs, so that he will be able to sit or lay down by another dog without acting too excited, and so that he will be able to walk past another dog without pulling on the leash.

As your Retriever improves, work on teaching him to obey your commands from a distance. This can be especially useful if he is visiting with someone doing therapy work and you need to give him a command without interrupting the visit. To do this, practice the command from gradually further and further away. You might need an assistant to hold your dog back or you can tether your dog to something secure with a leash, and then give him the command. If he seems confused when you give the command from further away, then wait five seconds, step one step closer to him, and repeat your command. When he can consistently do the command from the new distance, then add more distance, but only add a few inches to one foot of distance at a time.

To begin, gather some of your dog's favorite treats. If your pup really loves food then you can also use his own dog food for this. If you have the option, then start this method as early in your dog's life as possible. The younger your Retriever is when you start the easier the training will be and the better the result will be.

Introduce your dog to at least one hundred different people. Choose a variety of people to introduce your pup to, including elderly people, disabled people, men, women, children, babies, people of various races, people in hats, people wearing glasses, people in wheelchairs, people with canes, excitable people, quiet people, people who move differently, and people who dress in a variety of ways. When you introduce your pup to each person, have the person feed your dog treats. If he is confident around that person, then the person can feed him treats from his open palm. If your dog seems nervous, then have the person toss treats at his paws whenever your dog is acting brave or calm. If he seems nervous around a particular type of person, then look for those types of people and have those people give him extra treats and praise. Do that until he is no longer afraid of those types of people.

If your dog is still a puppy then allow your puppy to play with other puppies as much as possible. Supervise the interactions and have the puppies take a break from playing anytime that their play gets too rough or one of the puppies seems tired or frightened. Prevent puppies from bullying one another while playing, instead watch them to make sure that they are taking turns chasing one another and climbing on top of one another. Also work on boring interactions with other dogs, especially if your dog is already an adult. Practice three second greetings with other dogs, where each dog is calmly told to "Say hi" and allowed to sniff one another, and then the dogs move away from one another after the three seconds are up, before they get too excited. Also practice going on walks with other dogs, so that your dog can calmly enjoy the company of another dog, while focusing on you instead of just the other dog. Practice having him lay down and sit by other dogs calmly. Rewarding your dog whenever he is calm around the other dog or focused on you. The goal is for interactions with other dogs to be so normal and non-eventful that your dog views them as boring and calm, the same way that your dog views most people that he walks by as boring.

Take your dog to as many different types of locations as possible, and reward him for calm behavior, focus on you, and exploration of new things that he is unsure about. Great locations to take him to include parks, outdoor shopping areas, friend's homes, pet stores, other pet friendly stores, pet friendly outdoor restaurants and coffee shops, outdoor farmer's markets, pet sporting events, pet friendly public events, outdoor sports games, outdoor flea markets, neighborhoods, hiking trails, fields, pet friendly beaches, outside of dog parks, and anywhere else that your dog is welcome and safe. Especially practice going to locations that resemble places that you will be visiting later for therapy work. For example, if you will be visiting hospitals, then go to places that include lots of people, sliding glass doors, elevators, carts, people in wheelchairs or in beds or with canes, and places with strange objects. You will probably need to go to a variety of places to get your dog used to all of these things, but make sure that you do not exclude places that resemble the future environments that your pup will be in.

Spend time introducing your pup to a variety of sounds. If you take your pup to a variety of locations then that should help him get familiar with different sounds as well, but be sure not to exclude different sounds, especially unusual sounds that he will hear later while doing therapy work. If there are sounds that he does not encounter while going to a variety of places then you can play recordings of those sounds for your dog while playing fun games or feeding him treats, to help him to like the new noise. Start by playing the sound softly while you reward him, and over several weeks gradually increase the volume of the sound while you continue to reward him.

Introduce your pup to a variety of smells by taking him to lots of different places. If there is a particular smell that he will have to tolerate later while doing Therapy Work, that he does not encounter during other socialization, then spend time introducing that smell to him by including that smell during play or training sessions or while giving him rewards. One example of a smell your dog might encounter, is the strong smell of antibacterial cleaners in most hospitals. Most dogs will not be bothered by that smell but an especially sensitive dog might need to be prepared for it ahead of time.

Whenever you introduce your pup to something new, keep the experience positive by speaking to your pup in an upbeat, happy tone of voice, by offering rewards, and by maintaining a confident attitude yourself. Also play fun games or have structured training sessions while in the presence of the new thing. Reward your pup for calm reactions to things, for bravely exploring something that he is uncertain about, and for paying attention to you.

To begin, grab lots of small treats that your dog loves, or pieces of his dog food if he loves his dog food, then call your dog over to you from a calm location.

Gently touch various parts of your dog's body and give him a treat every time that you touch him. For example, touch his ear and give him a treat, touch his paw and give him a treat, touch his tail and give him a treat, touch his abdomen and give him a treat, touch his nose and give him a treat, touch his thigh and give him a treat. Repeat this with every area of his body, especially his tail, ears, paws, abdomen, and face. Be gentle and make the experience pleasant for him by giving him treats and praising him. Be extra gentle with areas that seem sensitive, and spend extra time practicing touching those areas, to help him overcome his sensitivity to being touched there. Do not do this on your own if your dog has ever shown any form of aggression or is likely to bite you, instead hire a local trainer to work with you to treat the aggression and desensitize your pup to touch.

When your pup is comfortable being touched all over and even enjoys it, then practice rubbing him in different areas while giving him treats. For example, run the palm of your hand down his spine and give him a treat, run your hand down his tail and give him a treat, gently rub his face and give him a treat, run your hand down each of his legs and give him a treat each time, and run your hand down the front of his neck to his abdomen and give him a treat. Practice this with each part of his body until he is relaxed and happy whenever you rub him in those places.

When your pup is comfortable being touched and rubbed, then focus on getting him comfortable with more unusual forms of touch. For example, gently open up your dog's mouth and give him a treat, gently fold back his ear and give him and treat, gently look into his eye and give him a treat, gently squeeze his paw and give him a treat, gently wiggle or tug his tail and give him three treats, one at a time. Practice this until those types of touch no longer bother him as well.

When Fido is comfortable with all of the previous forms of touch, then get him comfortable with pressure, in case someone such as a child tries to hug him during therapy work. To do this, carefully hug your dog's shoulders while feeding him treats. If you have a hard time hugging him and giving him treats at the same time, then recruit an assistant to feed him the treats while you hug his shoulders. Practice this until he is relaxed while being hugged.

After your dog is completely comfortable being touched, rubbed, examined, and hugged by you, then recruit a gentle friend to help you. Have the friend practice all of the previously mentioned steps with your dog while giving him treats each time, just like you did. Have your friend start with touch, then when your pup is comfortable being touched by your friend, have him practice rubbing, then examining next, then hugging last of all. Practice with one person at a time, and watch carefully for any signs that your dog is frightened or tense. Have your friend go slow, and make the interaction fun and relaxing for your dog. Do this with as many people as you can, practicing with only one person at a time.