Today I will help you folks and guide you on how to take care of a golden retriever in an uncomplicated and straightforward way. The below-listed guides are well researched and experienced. Even these suggestions helped Rachael to take proper and precise care of her golden retriever puppy (Casey).
Golden Retrievers are energetic, kind, confident, and loving family dogs. No doubt they are one of the top-ranked best family dogs.
To provide the best care for your golden you must be well educated that which things you should follow to keep your dog with a good diet, health, grooming, training, and many more.
Are you looking forward to getting golden to your sweet home or you already have a golden retriever and want to seek some ‘caring’ guide?
Want to know, how Rachael’s pup transformed by going through the proper ‘Care Guide’ that I shared with her?
Well, I’ve got all you need, I just want you to stick with me till the end, don’t just go with headlines, also grasp the content which will definitely help you!
So, let’s dive in and look at what are the main key details that will help you to take extra care of your golden.
Basically, we will be going through 5 chapters that are super helpful and will guide you from the basics so that you get a clear idea and I’ll also reveal my golden retriever maintenance cost, stay with me till the end…
Ready?
Let’s start!!!
Table of Contents
How to take Care of a Golden Retriever: Guide with easy 5 Chapters!
Hey! Go through these 5 Awesome chapters and I’m dam sure that you’ll love it! Even this information, the advice mentioned here applies for the pup too, in short, I’ve also covered ‘how to take care of a golden retriever puppy’
Great!
After being through these 5 chapters let me know your thoughts in comments!
Chapter 1: Health – Care for It!
We all know this phrase, ‘Prevention is better than cure’ and it’s true you should take proper care of your pup so that your golden is always safe, happy, and healthy.
Develop a feeding schedule, serve them the best quality of food and avoid toxic foods.
Here’s a health routine chart (golden retriever puppy schedule) that you should follow and make record of the same type for your gorgeous pup:
| 1. | Daily | Nutritious food, Clean Water, Exercise & Walks, Observe them ‘Is there any health issue?’ |
| 2. | Weekly | Inspect their health and hygiene. Take care of their grooming. For a pup wait at least 5 weeks old before bathing. |
| 3. | Quarterly | Visit vet’s for checkup and advice |
| 4. | Yearly | Vaccination top-ups. |
There are many more things to be considered and all are mentioned in the below-listed chapters section-wise, go through it which will definitely help you a lot, I bet!
Just a random question, Where Does Your Golden Sleeps? Well if he don’t have a perfect dog bed then it can lead to some critical health issues!
Which Dog Bed does Max uses and a detailed GUIDE on the best dog bed for Golden’s is here – List Of 7 Best Dog Bed for Golden RetrieversAfter going through these awesome guide, you’ll soon feel like an expert.
Yes you read it right!
Expert…
Does your retriever has a itchy skin? Or any skin allergy?
Skin allergies can be cured and I’ve went through this situation!
Well, recently I’ve published a article, you may have a look!
Here’s your special link – Best Dog Food For Golden Retrievers With Skin Allergies
Recommended Read – Best Weight Loss Dog Food For Golden Retrievers
Here goes the chapter 2
Chapter 2: Nutrition – A Fitness Fuel!
Well, a proper, good dog food play’s a significant role. So, you need to feed them according to their unique dietary requirements, activity level, weight, etc.
At the end of the day, we all want to see our pup healthy and happy, agree?
Rather than reading a proper diet sheet from the book or on the internet, you should rely on the vet’s advice. Because they are highly trained and well experienced, educated.
They will never misguide you! In fact, they will consult you according to the dog’s body and nutritional essentials.
Here are a few nutrition tips for your dog:
- Don’t serve them cheap dog food instead try to give them best-nutritive food so that your pup fulfills the nutrition requirements.
- Don’t overfeed your dog, it may lead to obesity. Goldens love to eat and you must be aware and strict towards your canine diet.
- The nutritional requirements of each puppy are not the same compared to active adult dogs.
- Feed them the correct amount of good food twice a day. Don’t serve more as it may result in overweight, and overweight further may lead to many several problems.
- Serve them 0.5 oz to 1 oz of water per day for each pound of their body weight, depending on age, activity, weather, and diet.
- Their water should be fresh and clean, regularly changing it 3 times per day and washing out their water bowl daily.
Their tooth can suffer from tooth decay, cavity, swollen gum, tartar build-up, and much such tooth problems.
To avoid all these problems you should take your dog to the vet at least once a while in the gap of 6 months.
Recommended Read – How Much To Feed A Golden Retriever Puppy?
Moving on to, one of the interesting chapter of this guide!
Chapter 3: Training – Way to Obedient Dog Personality
So this is really an important & interesting part if you are a new pup parent then this is a really helpful piece of knowledge.
Seriously!!
Just think that if your dog is not well trained he will just be inactive, always pulling on the leash while on the walks, locked in a room when a guest comes and creating a nuisance all around in your house…
You don’t want your dog to behave like this, right?
So, that’s the reason I always try to say: ‘Please train your dog at the early stages, so that by the time they grow up they are fully well trained.’
Let’s start from the basics of training, excited?
Well, before starting let me clear one of your doubt and that is,
Hey, Lily when should I start training my golden retriever?
Here’s your answer: If you are totally new and want to become a golden retriever parent make sure that if you are adopting a pup, the pup is 7-8 weeks old because studies have shown that separating the pup from their mom may lead to behavior problems later on.
When to start training?
Well, you can train him as soon as you get him. Train him to the finest until the next 6 months!
The Basic Training
As your pup is new to the house, let him firstly know that as you speak out his name he should pay attention to you.
Practice this, and if you speak out his name and he pays attention to you, praise and treats him. Repeat this process until he completely is trained with his name.
Secondly, teach him the basic commands.
1. Sit
So, just have a treat food in your hand, now move your hand up to the nose of your pup and let your pup’s neck go up and up and then speak ‘sit’.
He will not listen to you, but as you keep on repeating he will know that instead of stretching my neck I’ll sit and have my treat, and in this way, he will sit.
Repeat this until your pup obeys your command ‘sit’ even without the treat!
2. Down
After learning the ‘sit’ command you should go with this ‘down’ command. Basically you need your pup to lay down once you say ‘down’.
For that, you need to take the treat and now place it under her chin and take your hand till the ground and then let the pup have it.
Do it 4-5 times and then, later on, say ‘down’ and practice it.
Repeat this until your pup obeys your command ‘down’ even without the treat!
Similar to this there are many more commands like:
- Stay
- Come
- Heel
- Wait
- Take it, Drop it
- Out
- Settle Down
- No
- Leave it
- Off
- Watch Me
- Don’t Touch
- Many More
These are some basic commands as your pup catches all these commands perfectly you can move on and teach him more advanced commands.
You should first give them basic training like sit, speak, come, down and etc. These are basics and are important, few people just ignore these basics and start going towards a higher level of training. You should do the training of your pup according to his age and skills.
Here are a few training tips:
- Make Your Training a Regular Part of Day
- Be Consistent with your Training
- Make Dog Training Clear
- Make Dog Training Sessions Fun
- Make Dog Training a Family Project
- Make It Rewarding
- Make Dog Training Progressive
- Make It Secure
While the training you’ll be needing:
- Little Patience
- Fun Attitude
- Toys Variety
- Treats
Summary: Also focus on basic training.
There are 3 types of training which will help you once you are done, these training should also be considered:
- #1.) Golden Retriever Potty Training
- #2.) Socialization
- #3.) Golden Retriever Puppy Biting
These 3 points are well explained at the end section, where I’ve recommended you an awesome & informative book.
Now I think after reading this chapter you are super clear how to train your dog!
Then too, be till the end, I’ve something for you!
Now imagine if you train your dog and his behavior will change and he will always obey you. He will never be locked again when guests come, and also he will enjoy the walk and will not pull you on the leash.
Sounds Great!!!
Pro Tip: I’ve written a deep well-researched article on Best Leash for Golden Retriever Puppies, and have also explained some FREE training recommendations to make your dog walk on leash obediently.
Wait!
Want to train your Retriever like a pro? Well, check out this article which I published this week – Best Golden Retriever Training Books
I hope that now I’ve cleared all your doubts to the question you probably had, how to train a golden retriever?
Happy 🙂
Moving to the next informative chapter!
Chapter 4: Exercise – A Physical Importance
Exercise? Yes, these energetic dogs require regular exercise of almost 20-30 mins a day. Go for a walk, can play some games with your pup in the park or in the backyard of your house.
Also, make sure that you don’t give more time than recommended to your canine during the exercise which may cause a few joint problems. Be safe and make your mind well educated before you start exercising with him.
You can try these 5 Best Joint Supplement For Golden Retrievers if your Golden is experiencing pain or discomfort in their joints.
Golden Retrievers were developed as a sporting breed (History).
And also remember that ‘The younger the golden, more exercise they will need.’
Play and Fetch
Goldens are really intelligent and as we have talked about that… they need a good amount of exercise, so Play & Fetch is really good exercise!
You can go to the park with the frisbee, ball or any toy, I recommend a ball!
Now your pooch might be great at fetching but you know what, there are some goldens who would chase the ball and do not bring it back, bring it back but not letting that ball drop from their mouth and few other problems while fetching. Follow few below-listed tips if you are facing these problems:
- Start from the end – When we throw the ball or a frisbee, the dog chases and brings backs and gives to us, right? But what if the don’t do this? First, teach your dog to give the ball back to you from his mouth. So keep on practicing this until you don’t get the desired outcome.
- Use the same thing (ball, frisbee) during all exercise sessions – So that your champ recalls in his memory that once this thing comes I need to be ready and fetch.
- Increase distance once he fetches in a proper way.
Done with the Play & Fetch!
Golden in a Pool
Interesting right? Hell yes, I love to swim and often I take Max to the swimming pool. Goldens are really great swimmers, make sure that you take them out to a pool, lake, or a tub. Any water spots may work, as a pet parent make sure that you don’t take them to a spot where water is not good.
Mental Stimulation
Well, you need to give them stimulating toys that will help your pup to be happy. Goldens are intelligent (I might have repeated this for the 100th time I think 😉 ) You can try giving them puzzles which further solved should be treated.
There are many dog puzzles and stimulating objects in the market which may help you towards mental stimulation.
Now, moving forward as we are done with the exercise part!
Chapter 5: Grooming – Not to be Undervalued
As we know the golden retriever is especially famous for his flowing, golden thick coat and soft fur.
But you should take proper care of golden retrievers while grooming. Cutting their nails is really a crucial part, and during that, your pup needs to be calm. Also, cutting the hairs around the neck, body, and legs. Then, giving a bath with good quality dog shampoo. Cleaning his ears and apply flea and tick preventatives.
Let’s break it down and let me explain to you each of these terms.
1. Coat Grooming
You know you should brush your dog every week, this helps in to reduce the amount of hair your dog sheds.
Try to brush him at least once a week from head to toe. If you brush him daily, really great! Keep it up.
Follow these steps before giving your pup a warm bath.
- Brush your golden from head to toe.
- Remove the tangled hair with the brush.
- Give a warm water bath with a good dog shampoo.
- Again brush, comb your pup after the bath.
Were these steps helpful? Let me know in the comments.
2. Trimming the hairs
You can do this yourself, but if you are not good at it I don’t recommend you to do this! Check out this detailed guide on trimming your golden: Trimming Your Golden Retriever’s Coat.
You can visit the vet first and should take a good piece of advice, so that next time you do it yourself at home, you do it like a pro with no harm.
3. Grooming of Nails
Well, you can get yourself a professional best dog nail cutter for yourself and do it. Make sure that you don’t cut the live part of the nail. Again I’ll recommend that you should go to the vet for the first time and then later on you can do it yourself with proper guidance.
4. Check your pup’s ears regularly
It is really important to check your Goldens ears on a daily basis. Due to moisture inside they trap in, can develop infections.
You should examine inside your dog’s ears if the color of the skin is healthy well and good then it’s OK.
But if not you should take your pooch to a veterinarian.
5. Dental Care
This part should not be ignored as seen most of the people never take their pup for dental care which is really not a good sign. Just like us, dog’s teeth are also important for chewing and much more stuff.
Some people just go for coat care and brushing, but they never think about the things that I mentioned above they too come under-grooming and each part of your pup should be properly groomed.
Now, after this caring guide that I’m sharing with you, I’m dam sure that you will take proper care of his and will keep him well-groomed.
Note: Also apply flea and tick preventative.
Always observe them as they move (daily), goldens are sometimes prone to developing hip dysplasia.
Would you like to go more deeper in how to take care of a golden retriever, training guide from basic to advance, pro health care tips and many more?
Well!
I would recomend you this book:
Best Recommended Book for you!
Zak George’s Dog Training Revolution: The Complete Guide to Raising the Perfect Pet with Love
- George, Zak (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
Last update on 2024-04-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
This book is really great, and if you are looking forward to seeking more knowledge about dogs, dog training, health care essentials, and many more cool tips for you so that you can enjoy with your dog, this is a great book to go.
If you don’t know who Zak is, let me tell you that ‘Zak is the world’s most subscribed dog trainer on YouTube.’
Even if you are a new pup parent this book is great and will help you!
Final Thoughts
Once you are done with the routine chart that I’ve mentioned at the start, it’s really easy to get in that routine.
Of-course, starting days will be hard to stick with routine but you’ll get the grip on!
I hope that I’ve served you the best knowledge that you were trying to search for! All the 5 chapters were immensely informative and now I think you might know how to take care of a golden retriever like a pro!
Now I would like to hear from you, let me know in the comments!
Also,
Your one share can make my day 🙂
