Training a Chesapeake Bay Retriever can be very rewarding. This breed is very friendly and quite intelligent, making it an ideal dog to train. They do love to swim and retrieve.

All dogs need to follow a strong leader, and in this case that is you. If you don't take on that role, the dog will, and that will put you in a difficult situation. If you have a dog who is not a naturally born leader, he or she will only get scared and confused if you don't.

You can not start any type of training without the dog being in a calm submissive state with total respect and confidence in you! The first thing you should do when you meet the dog is to take him or her out for a long walk, this will win you a lot of points with your new friend! This and other types of positive interaction is the way to win the dogs respect, not by shouting, pulling the leash or other types of force!

Anyone would say that the first thing you want to do when you have brought home your new Chesapeake Bay Retriever is to overwhelm it with love! But as a matter of fact you have to apply the calm submissive state rule before anything! Even before overwhelming your Retriever with love. You have to understand what is important to a dog, and that is not the same thing that is important to a human. You can show your dog as much love as you want, but only after it knows its place in the pack with you as the leader. Don't let yourself be easily manipulated by his or hers big puppy eyes! You can't let even someone that cute get away with anything. Like a child, a Retriever needs to know its boundaries.

In nature a dog pack has its own hierarchy, and that allows them to work as a unit when they hunt and when they interact with each other. A dog appreciates knowing its place in this hierarchy and the dog will consider you and the rest of your family its pack. So don't let your dog down by forcing human feelings on him or her, and remember to always keep your dog in a calm submissive state!

Good luck training your Chesapeake Bay Retriever!