Basic games for your labrador
First of all, we need to make one thing clear, a Labrador's learning ability varies throughout his life, a bit like for us adults, have you ever tried skiing as an adult without ever having done it as a child? How did it go?
Have you ever tried to get skates instead after so many years of not using them? How did it go?
In the first case you will surely have struggled a lot, but in the second case after some training you will surely know how to skate again.
Why does this happen? Body skills are learned by doing them and it is only repetition and exercise that can help us also as children we do not have all the fears we have as adults so the same rule applies with labradors too!
That said, let's start with some simple basic games:
- SIT - Stand in front of your labrador with a reward and bring it closer to his nose. Bring it further and further forward with your hand until your labrador is sitting down, that's when you reward him.
- DOWN - When your Labrador is seated, get on your knees in front of him and bring the reward down closer and closer to the ground until he is completely slumped to the ground, then reward him!
- STOP - Stand in front of your seated Labrador and start backing away by repeating the word stop and holding your hand forward, the game must be taught gradually so come back to him reward him whenever he will allow you to back away one step, if he moves start over with the game, sit him down and start again.
Repeat these games every day for five minutes, don't get tired, every day until he does it smoothly, he will be a real pride!!!
