Labrador training is the process of teaching your boisterous, enthusiastic Lab to become a gentle and obedient family dog. And my Lab training techniques will enable you train your dog in achievable positive steps.

The Labrador retriever is famous for being easy to train and the Labrador is renowned for their service as therapy dogs, guide dogs for the blind, detection dogs, hunting dogs and much more.

Your Labrador training journey begins the day you bring home your 8 week old puppy, and continues for every moment of the long and lovely years you’ll share together. Because even when you aren’t actively training your dog, they are still learning from you.

The Labrador training information you will need will depend partly on the role you have in mind for your Labrador. All Labs need socializing as puppies, and basic obedience training. But there are lots of ways that you can take training much further if you want to.

You’ll find links to resources on every aspect of Labrador Retriever training listed below, from puppy training to advanced training, with step by step training guides, tips, and advice.

Labrador Puppy Training

A trained Labrador is a pleasure to own, and training your dog should be fun. All the dog training advice on this site is reward based and effective, and provided by experienced Labrador trainers.  We hope you find it helpful!

Labrador Training Techniques

You can find a broad overview of the current most popular dog training methods here.

Recall Training

Basic Obedience Commands

These Labrador training guides focus on a particular command or cue.

Labrador Training Tips and Tricks

Labrador Behavioral Training

Big bouncy, friendly, dogs can be challenging at times. Especially when they are young. Labrador training can resolve your every day problems. Leash pulling, running off and jumping up are all common issues, which you don’t have to live with!

Your Training Questions Answered

Most people have problems at some stage, and with a little help you can overcome them. Before you begin, make sure that you have the right Labrador Training Supplies and Equipment. And don’t forget to join the buzzing community of Lab fans over on our Labrador Facebook Page. You’ll be able to see photos of Labs owned by other readers and share your dog’s story there if you want to.

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209 Comments

  1. I don’t have a Labrador but you’re training techniques look relevant for all breeds so am following:)

    Reply

  3. I just adopted a 1 year old Black . As far as I know he’s never been trained. Even the basic calling doesn’t work. He does come and looks for affection from my cousin and myself. How do I go about the basics?

    Reply

  4. Hello Everyone:1. I have been training my 17 mos. old chocolate labrador from the beginning of our life together. she is really good at basic commands, Crate training(sometimes). I have this issue when we don’t’ pay attention to her. She grabs anything(which we are so careful nothing dangerous to her reach ). But pillow, blankets, kitchen towels. She starts her chase and running game. It gets to the point that I don’t chase her to calm her down. I command her. GO CRATE. But she only goes until I yelled at her. BUT, I don’t want her to be scare of me. ( which I hate the yelling at her). What can I try to resolve this issue?.

    2. When we get into our phones to talk to someone that calls. She starts Barking a lot. ( I know this is seeking for attention ). The same thing when my husband and I carry a conversation. Otherwise, she is a great dog. Please send me links or articles to solve my issues w/ positive reinforcement. Desperate!!! thank you

    Reply

    1. I have the exact same problems with my Chocolate lab. She just gets things and comes and looks at me to come and get it from her. Did you get an answer on your question? Or has your situation gotten any better? Thanks Vickie

      Reply

    1. When you asked, “At what age should I tie my lab puppy?” Please tell me exactly, what are you asking? What does “TIE” does this term mean to you? I ask because the term “TIE” can be interpreted in different ways.

      Thank You for any response or responses you have received.

      Reply

  6. Hi, I have a Labrador, His name is Teddy, he’s 8 months old. He barks in the night. He has a nice shelter with comfy bed and mattress. He sleeps for few hours and then in the middle part of the night he barks and want to come inside. Once he’s inside he quite. Also Teddy loves to bit things like shoes, socks, clothes, furniture.
    Can you help me to solve these 2 problem.

    Reply

    1. maybe try a kennel in your bedroom or in the house! So he is near you but contained! Puppies are like toddlers and they don’t have a lot of self control yet.

      Reply

    2. Our lab also likes to sleep inside. Labs love people and I think can get anxiety when they’re too far from people. We have a crate inside and he is crate trained inside. We usually leave the crate open — there’s a nice bed in it — and sometimes he sleeps in it sometimes he sleeps on the floor. Once we tried keeping him in a doghouse outside when we were visiting my in-laws and he was miserable. So we brought him inside and he was happy.

      Hope that helps! How’s it going with your puppy?

      Reply

      1. Dogs are naturally pack animals and their INSTINCTS tell them not to be separated from their PACK. Solitary confinement is a cruel mental torture for anyone including and especially for dogs. They should preferably sleep with their own species or in the same room with humans. Make sure you remember to respect and provide the needs of the species. Animals are not just there for our enjoyment or entertainment.

        Reply

    3. HI,
      I also have a 12 month old labrador. He is really naughty too. But, my dad useally trains him and the only thing he uses to tame him out is to say NO a lot of times……You should try that. it will stop your pups barking at night problem.

      Reply

  7. My one year old black lab mix is not well behaved. When he was just a few months old I trained him and he was very well behaved. He only started to misbehave after my sister brought her pit bull into the house. My sisters dog had no training what so ever and i believe that he picked up most of his bad habits from the other dog.
    On the same note my dog is a very easily frightened dog. Any time another dog is being yell at for something bad he cowards down. I haven’t had my dog for his whole life, i had gotten him when he was about four months old. Hes always been easily frightened. i would love to know a way to break him of the habit of peeing when hes frightened or even when he is excited.

    Reply

  8. I never write reviews, I cant tell you how impressed I am with this site. I just got an 8 week old chocolate lab named Hollie 12/14/2018. She is a doll, but a typical puppy. I’m finding this site to be very helpful and insightful. Especially with already having another black lab (hunter 4 yrs) I used the online guide for sitting it only took Ms. Hollie 10 minutes to learn to sit!!! I plan to continue to use all the suggest training methods! Thank you!
    -Bekki and Hollie

    Reply

  9. We have a 6 month old chocolate lab he is following commands as sit & stay. He walks very well, we can not get him to stop jumping on us as well as the biting at our ankles. Any suggestions how to stop this behavior?

    Reply

  10. I have a 9 week old female lab. She barks and yips alot!!! And for no apparent reason. We are working on the biting and nipping, but no success on this barking. Our previous lab never barked so this is a new problem for me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated by me and my neighbors!

    Reply

  12. i have a black lab who is 1 in november & is eating my walls she is only left for 3 hours a day then someone lets her out she is also not toilet training very well at night some times she is dry and we make a huge fuss of her but sometimes she just poos in the middle of the floor when there is puppy mats im thinking this is never going to end HELP

    Reply

  13. Hi
    I have a 3 month old labrador puppy. When in the kitchen he pokes his nose whenever the fridge is opened. One day when I opened the fridge he jumped up and licked up a cake which was kept in the bottom row.

    Please suggest how to stop the pup poking his nose into the fridge each time.

    Thanks

    Reply

    1. Unfortunately, Labs love to smell, they love to track and when the fridge opens up there’s a whole ton of smells and tasty ones at that, seeping out. Your best bet is to claim the space in the kitchen as yours. Do not allow your puppy in the kitchen when your in the kitchen. That will also cause problems in the future if you allow this to continue. In most kitchens, the floor material will change and that line is the first place to start, once you cross that line, don’t allow them to enter with you, make it so they can not enter over this line. Be patient as well, 12 weeks old, he still is learning his new world and wants to explore. But work on this not only when you have to be in the kitchen, make it part of the training. If he stays outside that line award him with a small treat and great praise. A great treat I use for the kitchen is Sweet potato or Peanut Butter ice cubes, Keeps their attention for a while and it’s not the fatty processed treats you buy at the store. Hope this helps and I wish you all the best. Also remember to drain your puppies gas tank through a good steady exercise regime for better training results and a healthier Lab.

      Reply

  14. I have rescued a 1 year old lab with NO training. She jumps, BAD, and she cannot walk on a leash and isn’t housetrained. Any suggestions? I love her personality and she has already adjusted to my children (except for the jumping)! Any suggestions on training an older puppy would be nice.

    Reply

  15. I have a 3 month old Black lab. When we try to put a leash on him he just wants to bite it, and hold it in his mouth. Is he too young for leash training? We have a couple of acres and he has not been on a leash before. Any tips?

    Reply

    1. I have raised a lab puppy named Luna who grew up to be the best dog at walks and walking right by my side and here’s why; I starting walking her around my neighborhood TWICE a day from the moment she came to my home, I made sure that the leash was kept as short as possible and lifted above her head so she won’t bite it (she couldn’t see it) and any time that she would stop, I’d say “Let’s go!” And run a little bit, and always made her walk right by my side. Within a week she didn’t even need to be on her leash without walking by my side.
      NOTE, it is very important that you leash train OUTSIDE of your home and backyard, the puppy needs to be somewhere new and unusual where it looks for you for comfort. Last week I just adopted another lab, an 8 week old chocolate named Henry. We just took him on his first walk yesterday. At first he sat down and did not want to go, but with the leash held high, short, and lots of “Lets go’s!” He was loving the walk within minutes and was trained by the time we were done. Have patience and remember the two most important things are taking the pup to an unusual place, and keeping his leash held high and short so he stays right next to you and does not bite or even see the leash.

      Reply

  16. useful site, thank you.

    My black lab pup is 3 months. She will poop outside when I remember to take her outside every 2 hours daytime. At night she is continent for 7 hrs in her crate BUT today she ate her own poop off the carpet. HELP. Why did she do that?

    Reply

    1. Labs will eat EVERYTHING. Shoes, paper, couches, including their own poop. In fact, most dog breeds eat their own poop. If you don’t want this happening, I reccomend picking his poop up everytime he goes outside and throwing it out. These dogs are bred to put things in their mouths, and they most certainly will put poop in there too.

      Reply

    2. Some dogs really love to eat food, and some when they see undigested food, they’ll eat it. It isn’t bad for them but just nobody wants to eat their poop, and with dogs as an exception. Don’t worry, he’ll live 🙂

      Reply

  17. Someone, please help me. My beautiful, golden, 1 year old lab girl eats rocks. WHAT?? you say ? Really?? Not possible – well, true….she eats rocks. I am terrified that she will die. We live in rural PA on acres of land and she has always had free run. All of a sudden , this is a new thing. Now, I’ve put a soft muzzle on her when she goes out. This is killing me. Can someone give me ANY advice or give me a better idea or tell me how to train her not to do this????

    Reply

    2. Any retrieving dog is bred to put everything possible it can in their mouth. And they love picking up rocks. Each time you catch your dog with a rock in its mouth, you can teach it “Drop”, which will come in handy with a multitude of things later. Also, don’t worry to much about him getting sick. Unless it’s a giant rock, or something toxic, dogs bellys are really acidic and can break down pretty much anything. And if they don’t you’re more than likely to just see it in their poop.

      Reply

  18. Hey,I have a 4 month old black labrador and he keeps jumping on my boyfriend and bitting his pants, I can see that he is playing but there are 3 weeks now and we don’t seem to manage him.We all leave together, but I give him the food and water and I play with him, but every time my boyfriend gets out to play with him after few minutes he starts bitting.Any advice? Thank you !!!

    Reply

  19. I have a year old male lab. I am having trouble with him roaming and stealing stuff in neighbors yards. One neighbor has complained . I don’t want to chain him up all the time. Any ideas what I can do?

    Reply

    2. The answer to your question is to find another home for the puppy where someone will love and pay attention to him. You should never be tying a puppy up at this age, if you have to tie up a puppy, you should not have gotten a puppy.

      Reply

  21. Hello, how are you? Thank you for sharing all this content.
    Would you have any teaching content to vaccinate my dog? Thank you!

    Reply

  22. Hi,

    I am just giving a background on my pet lab to start with.

    “In mid-Aug this year, I got a 44 days old male fawn lab pup (in India I have checked many pet shops are providing these pups in between the age range of 36-48 days), he was weighing 2.5 Kg at that time. From day one my pup is active and having his food 3 times a day. He is very active, bites, eats and licks everything which reaches his mouth. Probably because of this in 2nd week of bringing him home he had diarrhea and it was a nightmare for me for a week. We immediately took him to vet and he was completely fine in a week.

    I could able to train him on commands like sit, sleep, shake hands and even Hi Five. But as we live in a flat in 10th Floor and also due to my busy schedule and my wife currently 9 month pregnant we are unable to take him regularly outside for a walk (which I know is necessary) for his discharge.

    He is crazy for food, and become restless at exact time of his food time. Now he is 4 months old and all his initial 3 vaccinations has been done. He weighs 20 Kgs now and is healthy. He becomes hyper active when he sees or meets children. I have to keep a close watch and a tight hold on his leash whenever he is around children.

    Most of the time we keep him in his crate which is large enough for him to stand and can easily stress his legs. Only for giving him food and potty we take him out and sometimes for playing with him till he gets exhausted and want to rest. Rest of the time he lives in the crate only and he is comfortable in it.”

    Now my questions are:

    1. Currently we are collecting his potty and urine discharge by directly placing a container beneath him as we know by now that when he is ready for discharge. The problem is that we don’t want to make this as a practice and want to find a solution to this. Whenever he is in his crate he do notify us for his nature calls and never dirty his crate except 2-3 times when we didn’t reacted to his call. We want him to also notify us when he is not in his crate and we can take him to bathroom or find a different way. We are also thinking to train him for doing it on a potty pot or a container which can be cleared by us later and will be a one time activity for us. But we are not sure if this will work out. Do you have any idea how others deal with their pets having same situation or living in a flat where the pet has limited access to go out.

    2. He still bites (softly, but the teeth are sharp and can hurt at times) while playing or cuddling and I am worried, as, soon, we will be having our baby. My lab should not hurt the baby or get jealous. How to make him friendly and train him how to be around a baby.

    My vet and the pet shop owner both are saying that he is too young for giving training and should wait till he gets to 5-6 months old. So please suggest if you can advise for any other alternatives.

    Please advise.

    Thanks!!

    Reply

    1. Hi, Liffin….

      Do watever you can to get your puppy outside at regular intervals, likely every 2-3 hours. I have a 7 week old lab puppy, and this has helped to relieve the issue of voiding in the house.

      While their teeth may be sharp, labradors are RETRIEVERS. The light biting is called mouthing. These dogs are instinctly bred to do this, as they require to apply gentle pressure when retrieving game such as birds and ducks. They are considered sporting dogs.

      I firmly believe that puppies can be trained from an early age, around three months. Reward your pup for good and obedient behavior.

      Best of luck!

      Reply

    2. I was in an apartment, with my lab, in a similar situation.
      I used to work from home, so even though my wife was in office, I used to take my dog out for a walk once every 3 hrs and never tied it nor locked it in. Fortunately my puppy got very well potty trained, also is good with strangers and new family members, even kids.
      The secret is a 1 hr jog every morning followed by an hour of fetch, which makes his sleep almost 3-4 hrs without disturbing me, and after he wakes up, he eats relaxes, learns well and socializes, secret of a good dog is excercise and training

      Reply

  23. Hi I have a 4 month old lab who every time I put a leash on him he refuses to move. If he even sees me get the leash he runs to the nearest corner to evade me. I have had him for a month and no amount of praise or treats gets him to move. I am at my wits end. If I drop the leash he will pick it up and follow me but the minute I pick it up he sits down. And I thought I was the stubborn one. He will walk with me without the leash fine. But there are leash laws where I live. Any advice?

    Reply

  24. Oh my gosh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I love my lab, but yesterday when I was walking her, she pulled so hard I face planted. This website is amazing. Thank you for all who contribute. Bella and I started training today and I could already see her starting to respond. Your whole attitude toward dogs is spot on! Thank you!

    Reply

  25. hy i have a labrador 12months he is very nuaghty never listens to me and never learns earily he amerian lab ratriever i want an advice to make dog well manered.please reply as soon as possible

    Reply

  26. I enjoy reading your articles, but can you help with our 4yr old lab gun dog, a rescue dog, that is scarred of barking dogs. She will mix with & play with quiet dogs, but runs away when she hears a dog bark. Any ideas of how to stop this?

    Reply

  27. I have a 6th month male lab & 8yr old. My 6th month does not get the message to go to the door to bark or cry that he needs to go out to potty. I am the one trained to keep putting him out to go. How do you train them to bark to go out? I have not tried a bell yet. Also he will poop in my dining room when he needs to go & sometimes pee. Can’t seem to get it across to him. I tried letting him smell the poop, swat on butt & tell him no he is bad. That was a waste of time, did it the next day. Help

    Reply

  28. Hy I have a 5yr old black labrador which I got of my nephew 2yrs ago but everytime I go out she howls for hours not good on neighbour’s really need advice to try and stop her I even leave music or TV on for her but nothings working

    Reply

    1. Hi Carole, You might find the following articles helpful:
      https://www.thelabradorsite.com/combining-a-labrador-puppy-with-full-time-work/
      https://www.thelabradorsite.com/how-to-cope-with-a-crying-labrador-puppy/
      Although she’s not a puppy, if you follow the advice given above then you should see an improvement. You might also want to consider have a session with a professional behaviorist to see if they can suggest anything specific that might help. Best wishes, Lucy.

      Reply