Five of the easiest dog breeds to train

When you are considering buying or adopting a new dog or puppy, there are a lot of different factors that you will need to take into consideration, as well as what type of appearance appeals to you and what sort of temperament your dog will have! The size of the dog, their activity levels, the history of the breed, what type of coat they have, how territorial they are and much more are all important things to think about before you make your final decision, and there is one other very important factor that you should look at carefully as well: How easy or hard the dog in question is likely to be to train.

Your experience around dogs and whether or not you have ever trained a dog before should be taken into consideration here, as otherwise, you may well find that you are biting off more than you can chew! There are certain breeds and types of dogs that are generally considered to be a poor choice for the first time owner or someone who has not trained a dog before, while others may well be the perfect match for the canine novice, and take well to being trained by a first-time owner who has done the necessary background research in order to go about things the right way.

In this article, we will examine five breeds of dog that are generally thought to be easy and amenable to train, and that are worthy of consideration by the training novice or first time owner-and why. Read on to learn more!

What makes a dog easy (or otherwise) to train?

In order to be classed as a reasonably easy dog to train, the dog will need to possess a combination of different traits, which include:

• A willingness to please.
• A reasonable degree of intelligence.
• A good attention span.
• Moderate energy levels.

Willingness to please is important in order to get the dog working with you rather than against you, while intelligence is of course necessary to build up an understanding of commands and what you are asking for. However, often, highly intelligent dog breeds can be very challenging to train by the first timer, as they are so switched on, and will likely stay one step ahead of you.

A good attention span is also vital, and another element of effective training is that the dog will not be so full of beans and pent-up energy that they will not listen to you; it is easier to reach this state with dogs that require a medium level of physical exercise than it is with dogs whose exercise requirements are very onerous.

Five dogs that tick all of these boxes are:

The Labrador retriever

The Labrador retriever is one of the most widely used assistance dog breeds, and for good reason. They possess all of the elements above that make them eminently trainable, and while their initial training is carried out by specialists, it is also of course vital that the dog can learn and accept commands from their owners, regardless of their level of experience with dogs.

The Labrador retriever is bright, personable and very keen to learn, making them an excellent choice for the first dog you train.

The German shepherd

The German shepherd is an intelligent, loyal and bold dog breed that tries really hard to please, and once you have earned their respect and attention, they will work incredibly hard for you. The German shepherd is highly intelligent but also loves having a job to do, making them versatile, reliable and very rewarding to train.

The Hungarian Vizsla

The Hungarian Vizsla is a distinctive and handsome dog from the pointer grouping, which is alert, switched on, intelligent and very loyal. They adore their owners and will go to any lengths to please them, which is why they are often seen competing in agility and heelwork competitions.

Their attention span is excellent too, and they are very forgiving of small rookie mistakes!

The Poodle

The Poodle can be found in all sizes from toy to very large, but all of these varieties are highly intelligent, very responsive and love having something to do! Even older children can successfully teach a Poodle new skills, and they retain the willingness and ability to learn new tricks throughout their lives, and with a variety of different handlers-which is why they were traditionally used as performing dogs in circuses!

The Labradoodle

The Labradoodle is a hybrid or cross breed consisting of a Poodle mixed with a Labrador retriever. As both of these two individual breeds have already made it onto our list, it is only natural that the Labradoodle should be included too, even if they are not yet formally recognised as a breed in their own right!

The Labradoodle is intelligent, very loving, quick to watch and learn from both people and other dogs, and loves learning through play, all traits that make them pleasant and relatively straightforward to train.