TRAINED GOLDENS
Why we do it.
The love for a canine, is unlike any other relationship on this Earth. To even make that relationship even better, we provide amazing Trained Goldens.
After fostering many many dogs over the years, we have learned a few important truths. A trained dog is a happier and healthier dog (less drama, more loving, less fear of being in a dangerous situation). A trained dog is more enjoyable to be around, who wants to yell at their dog 12 times, or listen to it yap for hours. And a trained dog, when rehomed, is almost always a lifelong adoption (when a dog is housebroken, knows 'no', etc., the companionship is much more enjoyable for everyone).
By rescuing, training and rehoming dogs, we save lives and impact individuals and families in undescribable ways.
What we do.
What we do is simple. We rescue, train, and rehome dogs. Most of our dogs come from shelters or rescues across the U.S. and sometimes abroad. On some rare occasions, we will purchase puppies or rescue Goldens from breeders. Most of our dogs are Golden Retrievers (either the more widely known 'American Golden' (golden in color) or the 'English Cream Golden Retriever' (a cream or white color). We also occasionally rescue, train and rehome others in the Retriever family such as Labrador Retreivers.
How we do it.
Our first step is to litteraly search shelters and rescues across the nation and around the world for the next perfect Golden that needs to be saved. While this may seem easy, it is not. Goldens are rarely surrendred to shelters, thus options to rescue are VERY limited. Our Rescue (Volunteer) Team is very proactive in saving lives.
Because the dogs are hard to come by it takes months of specifc individual training for each dog. We train in a home environment vs a warehouse shelter environmnet, increasing its quality of love and training. Because of this approach, our availability to offer premium dogs is very limited and in high demand.
The next step is lots of loving over time and obedience training. If the dog has bad habits (excessive barking, chewing, fear of humans maybe from past abuse, etc.) we spend the time to re-condition the dog and teach it the good habits it should know. We base the foundation of our basic obedience training on AKC's CGC program. Over months of time with specific daily training, along with 24/7 behaviour fine tuning, each Golden slowly becomes the next 'perfect' Trained Golden.
Lastly, the final step is finding the perfect home for each Golden. Our dogs are in high demand, so it takes time to place each dog, not just in a great home, but in the perfect home and family for the rest of its life.
Why, Trained Goldens?
OUR 'TRAINED GOLDEN' TRAINING
Lets face if, very few dogs owners actually take time to train their dogs. We provide that amazing service for you, saving you hundreds of hours.
If an owner, does take the time to self train a dog or hire a professional trainer, training is very limited to the 7 basic obediences: sit, stay, down, come, off, heel and no. At Trained Goldens, we recognize there are so many more training needs that both the dogs and the humans need. That is why we have our 21 training obedience disciplines, as described below..
Trained Goldens, has a rare business model. We recognize the need to rescue, the need to train, and the need to rehome dogs in the best home possible. We combine those needs to offer a premium trained canine companion. We are one of very few companies that do this across the nation, and the only one on the West Coast.
Young or old, this may be the most frustrating obedience skill to us humans, if the dog does not know or obey. Who wants to step in pee/poop?
Goldens are clean dogs. They do not want to create any waste in their (your) home as much as you don't want them too. They simply need to be taught when and where to go and they will strive to please you by following those directions.
Understanding their physical needs (they do need to do their business a few times per day vs holding it for days), along with giving some guidance (it's okay to eliminate here, vs not here) combined with their desire to please (I really don't want my humans angry with me), this skill can be mastered for a lifetime.
House breaking (pee/poop)
Name Recognition / Look
Every dog should know its name and respond when addressed.
All commands start with the dogs name, then the command. It's frustrating if you have to call the dog multiple times. Rover. Rover, come. Come. Rover, come. Rover, come here boy. Rover, please come here. Come on Rover come to Dad. Dang it Rover, get (bleep) over here now.
Very often with rescued dogs, there is no information on it's previous name, so teaching the dog it's new name is part of the exceptional 'Trained Golden' training.
Crate Training
Many people think of a dog crate as 'doggy jail', and thats so far from the truth.
Crate training is an essential obedience for every dog.
Dogs need a safe place to call home. In fact we call our dog's crate, his/her 'bedroom'.
Dogs need to be comfortable in a crate prior to needing to be in one such as in transport, at the Vets, at the Groomers, or simply at home if anxious, or in need of a safe environment while the plumber or handyman is working with tools and dangerous materials.
Socialization
All dogs need to be socialized, and this is one of the training essentials at Trained Goldens.
Dogs need to be comfortable around one or more dogs (and other animals) of all sizes, breeds, and temperments to avoid stress and aggression.
Dogs, regardless of past history, also need to be comfortable around all types of humans: male, female, young, old, all races, individuals or groups.
Touch
Regardless of past issues the dog may or may not have had, it needs to be able to accept touch on every part of its body by known and unknown humans.
This includes: nose, mouth, teeth, snout, eyes, ears, head, neck, back, sides, belly, legs, paws, pads, nails, private areas, and tail.
This is important so someone does not try to pet the dog and accidently touch a sensitive area and get snapped at or bitten, but also important so the dog is used to those areas when being touched while loved, examined, treated or groomed.
Sit
Sit is one of the most basic commands every dog needs to know.
Having a dog calmly sit, vs running around or tugging on a leash while you try to pick up poop, look for keys, open the door, talk to a friend, etc. is a basic but vital skill to learn and obey.
Sit / Stay
Used in conjuntion with the sit obedience skill, sit is a basic essential skill that each dog should have.
Dogs need to be under control, so if you ask then to sit stay, they should sit stay till released. AKC's CGC test includes this as a must, to pass the test.
No one wants a dog that will ignore you, pulls on the leash or is running around on its own while you need it sit stay while you open a door, talk to a friend, or enjoy a coffee.
Lay Down
Lay down is another important obedience skill to learn and know.
There are times when you simply need your dog to laydown and relax wether its to calm him/her down, to keep him/her in one place for a moment to be examined, loved, or maybe take a picture.
Come (also called recall) is an essential command that every dog needs to know.
Use of the command come is used instruct the dog to come to you for many reasons: personal/emotional, follow you, time to eat, help him/her avoid danger, etc.
Come
Heel
The term heel is both used in a sitting position and while walking.
While sitting next to you, the dog should be on your left side and his/her front legs near or slightly behind your legs.
While walking, the dog should continue to walk next to you, at your pace in a similar location so he/she can follow you, not lead you.
Loose Leash Walking
Walking your dog should be a great experience for both you and your dog, not a tug of war.
When walking your dog, your dog should be in a heel position walking along side and following you, not pulling and dragging you.
Loose Leash Walking
Walking your dog should be a great experience for both you and your dog, not a tug of war.
When walking your dog, your dog should be in a heel position walking along side and following you, not pulling and dragging you.
Loose Leash Walking
Walking your dog should be a great experience for both you and your dog, not a tug of war.
When walking your dog, your dog should be in a heel position walking along side and following you, not pulling and dragging you.
Loose Leash Walking
Walking your dog should be a great experience for both you and your dog, not a tug of war.
When walking your dog, your dog should be in a heel position walking along side of you or slighlty behind following you, not pulling and dragging you.
You lead should have that "j loop"
No
"No" is an essential commnad to teach every dog.
Most times, dogs know what is right and wrong, and a simple "no" will stop the activity wether it be jumping on someone, barking, chewing on something not allowed, not following a command, etc.
Goldens are especially smart and sensitive so a normal tone "no" typically works. A loud or screaming "no" might be too much for this sensitive breed.
Despite the trend of positive reinforcement training, giving a dog boundaries and saying "no" is fully acceptable and protects them.
Leave it / drop it, is an important obedience skill to teach every dog.
Very often dogs will get into things that may harm them so the leave it / drop it command is for their safety.
Additionally, it teaches them to obey you when they may be food motivated.
Leave it / Drop it
Stand (for examination)
Stand is another important obedience to teach every dog.
Ever have a 75lb dog sit or lay on something and you can't get him/her to move? It's not fun.
Stand is also very useful for Vet and grooming visits, when you need to examine or groom a different side of the dog or access its underside or all of its legs.
Guarding
Sometimes dogs like to guard things such as their food or toys which is very different from simply playing with.
It's important to teach them that you are the provider and they should not growl or hide items from you, or worse maybe a child simply reaching out, wanting to play.
Guarding also promotes a selfish or possessive negative temperament, or reaction that no one wants to see in a dog.
Reaction to food
Many Goldens are food motivated, meaning they will do almost anything for a treat or for food.
It's important to use that motivation in a positive way.
A dog should not be aggressive at all around food or guard their food.
A Trained Golden should patiently wait till food is placed in front of them, then released to eat. A Trained Golden should also be able to 'leave it' and stop eating on command and not race to any dropped food.
Reaction to people
Goldens are one of the most family loyal dogs and energetic.
You can expect your Golden to greet you when you return home wether its been 5 minutes of 5 weeks.
A Trained Golden will be excited to see you but should not jump on you or another person. Also a Trained Golden should never be aggressive to a stranger.
By far, they are not a watch dog, but a loving dog to everyone it meets.
Reaction to noises
A Trained Golden should be reactive to a loud noise such as an item dropped on the floor and turn its head, but should not be fearful and run and hide.
Sometimes rescues have a horrible past that needs to be overcome, or may not even show up for months.
One exception is that many canines are very fearful of fireworks and need to be away from the sound and smell for hours or get a sedative from a Vet.
Tricks
Let's face it, there is not many things more adorable then a dog doing a trick or maybe dressing up.
Tricks are not an obedience skill that Trained Goldens typically have, but very often we include them as a fun special extra.
Sitting up, shake, high 5, and other tricks are always fun and entertaining with friends and family.
On the wide specturm of canine training, one extreme has an undisclipined yappy dog that never responds and on the other extreme is a military responding dog that will jump to attention at every command.
At Trained Goldens, we pride ourselves on having well behaved, happy, loving trained dogs. We don't encourage or want robot acting canines that occasionally, or never, wag their tails and enjoy chasing a ball at the park.
Every dog encompasses all of the training above, but every dog is unique and easily masters some skills while may have challenges with others. Some dogs pick up a skill in minutes, while others may take months to learn. Bottom line is we want our Trained Goldens to be happy trained dogs that have an amazing fun life and enrich the life of the family that adopts him/her!
Our service is unlike any other, anyplace in the world. We rescue, train and rehome happy Trained Goldens!