What Makes The Lab Tick?
Labrador Retrievers are the product of long generations
of breeders who used stringent selection for an animal
that is intensely motivated to retrieve and plunge themselves
into icy waters, swim against the hardest current, and
swim back carrying a heavy waterfowl back to its hunter.
Having such a genetic ability to accomplish this job
takes strength, endurance, determination, and the mental
toughness to ignore any pain along the way. Sometimes
the prey may still be alive and trying to fight its
way out of the dog's mouth.
The Strong-Willed Psyche Of The Labrador
Retriever
The pressures of performing their hunting abilities,
as described above, not only sharpens and strengthens
a Labrador's physical body, it also shapes the dog's
psyche. Motivation and determination is something that
can only cause a dog to be so driven that they can make
the fall (find the position) of a fallen bird, search
for it regardless of the terrain, retrieve its prey
under any circumstances, and then bring it back successfully
to the hunter.
You Can Learn From This Hunting Behavior
This determination that Labs have when out in the hunting
fields is a great way to understand the its behavior
in the home. Some of you may be wondering why it is
important to know just how incredible your Labrador
retriever can function outside when hunting game, even
if you do not take your dog out for such activities.
The key is to understand just how fiercely intent a
Labrador Retriever's vision is as a hunter and then
use that information to help you train and understand
your dog when he becomes stubborn at home.
All too many Labrador owners experience frustration
when their dog refuses to obey commands in the home.
The reason is because these dogs act in a certain way
and respond to certain behaviors that all links back
to their hunting genetics.
They may react and make decisions that are only natural
and good for their hunting skills, but not good for
whatever training purposes you are intending at the
moment. For the truly committed Labrador owners, it
would behoove of you to learn and study its genetic
hunting abilities and better understand this dog's mental
psyche when making decisions. Your training will be
an easier and much more pleasant experience.
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