Why is Dog Training So Important?

Written by Greg Moore 09/12/2024

You dream about owning a golden for years and now your dream is realized! Your puppy just came home with you and life is good. Your family loves him; your friends love him; your neighbors love him and pretty much anyone you meet loves him. He is happy, playful and loving.

As he grows into a larger golden you notice a few things that bother you just a little bit and now you start to consider dog training. Sometimes he jumps on you when you aren’t expecting it and it throws you off balance. Occasionally, when he is excited, he accidentally knocks over your 5 year old child when he jumps up to lick his face. He pulls a LOT harder on the leash than you though possible for such a young golden. And he has continued his playful mouthing, but it now hurts a bit more than it used to.

While he is still playful and loves to chase balls or chew a bone, he now gives you a stare and sometimes growls when your child gets too close. This makes you nervous and you kind of laughingly tell him “Oh, that’s not nice now is it?” and hope he gets the idea that you aren’t so sure about this kind of behavior.

Then one day, he has a bad experience with an out of control neighbor dog who is aggressive and fights with your beloved golden. He makes it out all right with only a few bites and a slight limp which gets better after a few days. But now when you take him on walks he lunges against the harness and is very aggressive toward other dogs…especially dogs that are about the same size as the one that attacked him.

His aggression gets worse over the next year and now at 2 years old, your dream crashes down around you as you realize that you just can’t control your golden anymore and need to find another home for him. He now has anxiety, aggression, resource guarding, playfully bites way too hard, jumps up on anyone he sees as his way of greeting them, and makes his owners miserable when they walk him as he constantly lunges against his harness. On walks he is always looking out for other dogs and wants to tear into any dog that passes by.

What Went Wrong?

Every one of these bad behaviors is a true story that was communicated to me over the years by owners of our goldens. Each one wanted the best for their dog, but didn’t know what to do. Some were able to correct their bad training habits while for others, sadly they didn’t feel capable of keeping their golden.

Two Big Problems Vaccines & Dog Training

The first thing that can go wrong is brain damage from either over vaccination or a contaminated batch of vaccines. I know of four of our goldens that were negatively impacted by vaccines, so much so that they were impacted long term. One got a rabies vaccine and that night was staggering and drooling just like he had rabies. He took over a year to recover from this injury.

Another one got 7 vaccines, an antibiotic, heartworm, and tick and flea medication all at one vet visit and became aggressive toward the family so much so that they had to put their golden down. The owner was a neurologist and identified the symptoms of brain damage in her dog. There were a few other cases like this over the years, but they were equally devastating.

Having covered the less common aspect of behavioral problems, let dive into the main reason why most dogs end up in these situations.

Well Meaning, But Lacking Understanding

Dog Training 101: Most people who end up with dogs behaving in one or more ways described above have a basic lack of understanding dog psychology. To begin with, you are supposed to be the leader of the pack as the owner of your golden. He is to look to you for guidance and understanding in every way. You are to command obedience and he will happily submit. He will love you for taking the decision making off his shoulders. He wants to know what his boundaries are and when you, as a dog training expert, tell him his boundaries, he can relax knowing that you will take care of the situation.

Take time to look through these helpful resources so that you make your golden retriever happy which will make you happy! Click on each of the links below to learn more.

1. Harness vs Leash and how to us the leash: We love certain kinds of leashes and harnesses.
2. How to Stop Pulling on the Leash
3. Resource Guarding: This can be easily corrected.
4. Dog Mouthing: Cute when small but not so fun when older!
5. Dog Biting
6. Surviving the First 24 Hours With Your New Puppy!
7. Nuisance Barking

If you need help with any aspect of training, we offer consultations either in person or over video call!