Train Your Labrador to Respond to Their Name

In most cases, training your Labrador should be somewhat easier than training other dogs. Labradors often will be used as hunting dogs but sometimes even more frequently used as service dogs. You'll likely see labradors assisting people who are disabled and blind. They also happen to be superb family pets. However, since they can be fairly active, they definitely will need some decent exercise. In every one of these cases, it will be very important for them to know their name. So let's talk about training your Labrador to respond to his or her name.

You'll want your dog to respond to his name in basically any environment. The easiest environment will be at home in the midst of no distractions whatsoever. Therefore, you might want to start training him to understand or know his name in this environment of the home. It will be easier if relatively few distractions occur when first training him to know his name.

There are some tools you'll need to use when doing this. If you are away from home, for example, in the park, you'll definitely need a leash and collar. In every case, you'll need some type of reward like food. It's better not to use his own food because you want to offer him a special treat. It's possible to use people food but if you do care about your dog thoroughly and you have the money, you might want to buy some specially made dog food or treats used specifically for training.

At home while training him to learn his name, wait for him to be temporarily distracted from his attention on you. At the point he becomes distracted, not giving you his attention, call his name. Wait for him to establish eye contact with you. Once he does this, reward him by saying “good” and giving him one of your treats. Continually do this for a few times up to five or six.

In some cases, he might immediately look at your treat instead of your eyes. In this case, do not immediately to him the treat because he essentially is not doing what you want. You want him to maintain eye contact for more than a brief moment. You don't want him going through the actions only to get the treat. You need him to establish eye contact which is more than just a glance. You only will reward him after he establishes this eye contact.

When you feel he has advanced to the point of learning his name and responding every time, it will be important to escalate this training to a higher level by taking him to the park where many distractions occur. You'll want to do the exact same thing as before. This time your dog will likely be distracted by children playing in the playground, other dogs barking, etc. You want these distractions to happen to help reinforce his learning of establishing eye contact when you call his name.

Basically, you wait him to respond in any situation when you use his name. He should immediately give you his attention for further commands if needed. Remember that using his name for his safety could be the most important reason for him to learn this task. For example, there will always be a possibility of him getting loose. At this point, him knowing his name becomes a major safety requirement so that you can adequately protect him if the need arises.

All dogs will generally learn their name even if you do not go through this training. If you simply use the dog's name on a continual basis, he or she will eventually respond. However, if you really want to reinforce the dog's response, it will help to go through the steps listed above. Many dogs will learn their name eventually but not necessarily feel required to respond to their master every time. This training will help reduce those occurrences of disobedience.