I saw a Ted Talk recently given by Ian Dunbar back in 2007. I’ve included that complete talk towards the end of this article if you’d like to view it. It was and still is a wonderful, entertaining and engaging talk that reminded me of something. While it covers much more than this, the point I want to make is training dogs is a mindset that never stops, not a specific one off activity. That talk inspired me to write more on the subject. I hope you read on and find it useful.
Most humans with dogs think of training in terms of training is “sessions”. By this I mean they decided that for the next few minutes they spend some time actively training their dog. When they are done, the dog then goes about his business and so does the human feeling good about what they did and thinking they are done for the day.
In fact, training has not stopped even though neither knows it. Training for your dog NEVER stops. Your dog (just like a human baby) goes about her life doing what interests her based on rewards and punishment. Before you wave arms and gnash teeth: by “punishment”, I mean that they decide some activity is not a good idea because of some form of negative stimulus, usually not painful (and never should be painful from a human) and might be as simple as it’s just not fun or pleasing. By reward, I mean that the activity is pleasing to him or rewards him with some pleasing result. This cycle goes on 24 hours a day, 7 days per week and 365 days per year. It does not stop when your “training session” stops. This is not to say that training sessions are not important; they are but most humans don’t realize that is not all there is to properly training a dog.
It was cute when they were a puppy!
So you have a beautiful new Golden Retriever puppy. She’s 8 weeks old and is trying to fit into your pack. You sit in your easy chair and she comes up to you and tries to jump into your lap but fails. She instead learns that she can just leave her back feet on the floor and put her from paws on your leg and she gets tons of love from you! You say soft loving things, scratch her head and scrunch her ears. Both she and you LOVE it!
When she gets a little older, she figures out how to jump into your lap. This is wonderful! She gets to snuggle with you and get total adoration. You get an intimate and loving embrace from your puppy. All is good with life.
When she’s been away from you, she misses you. When you return, she gets VERY excited. She wiggles, runs between your legs, jumps up on you and gets love in return!
Fast forward a year. 
Your beautiful Golden Retriever is now 65 pounds and much larger is stature. She now comes up to your easy chair and tries to jump into your lap. It is now VERY uncomfortable for you both (especially you) and may even hurt. You then scold her for it but she does not understand. After all it was what she was taught to do and it’s the right thing to do in her mind and it made you happy!
Every time she sees a new person or when you come home, she jumps up on you and your guest and paws at you. She runs between your legs and sometimes knocks you over. She wiggles so much she knocks over a vase or a trash can. She may even knock over a child or old person. This is after all so much fun and it was always what the human wanted before!
Imagine now that if instead you had consistently rewarded your puppy when they were reasonably calm and sitting or laying down. 
You never rewarded them with kind words, head scratches and treats unless they were calm and doing some good thing (sitting, chewing on something approved, laying down calmly, waiting patiently for food, behaving on the leash, etc). Your dog learns that he will be happy and receive rewards for proper behavior early on and once he is over 60 pounds, he does not drive you and your guests nuts and break things without meaning to.
Training Your Dog Never Stops
The above example is a very limited subset of the things that are easy to do throughout the day that can have dramatic impact on your dog for the rest of their lives. It’s not hard, it just requires recognizing what is and is not good behavior (for both you and the dog) and that fun behavior as a puppy may not be so fun when they are large. It is also never too soon nor too late to start this. Yes, formal training sessions are important but it’s critical you realize that the training does not stop there.
Training goes on 24 hours per day whether you want it to or not but it does not have to be hard to do; you just need to think about it and pay a little attention. 
You see your puppy sitting nicely, reward them and say “sit”; even if you did not ask them to do it. If you want to love on your puppy, do it when they are sitting, laying down or simply calm. If they get excited, stop. If they jump up on you, gently put their paws on the ground and only reward them with praise and loving when calm. As they get older, only reward them when calm and sitting.
If you allow them to be on furniture, only reward them with loving and attention when they are calm and behaving on the furniture. Never reward them when they are a pest on the couch and paw you or climb on you. the key here though is to remember to reward them for good behavior even when it’s not obvious they need it. If they sit quietly beside you, notice it…. reward them.. don’t ignore good behavior any time it happens.
Again, the examples provided above are not nearly everything that this applies to. Take those examples and think about what you’d love your adult dog to do or be like and apply them all day, every day through the dog’s life. It’s really not hard but it IS a mindset and you will need to learn.
Conclusion
Dog training does not need to be hard but ideally it should start as soon as you get the dog and never stop; it really is a mindset. Remember that puppies will not always be puppies and behavior that you like as a puppy may be undesired or even harmful as an adult.
Reward good behaviors with loving, treats, toys and activities consistently, even when they do them on their own. “Punish” bad behaviors by distracting them or not loving on them but never hit nor scream at you dog.
Formal training “sessions” are very important but training continues 24/7/365 for the life of your dog even after the “session” ends. They continually learn what is good or bad to do based on stimulus. It is YOUR job to provide positive stimulus EVERY time they do something good, even if you did not tell them to do it. The continual training does not have to be hard but it is a mindset you will need to take on.
About the Author
Bryan Curry loves all dogs in general, especially Golden Retrievers. He has had dogs for all but 6 months of his long life and all have lived happy and much longer than average lives. Bryan and his wife Terri are co-owners of Texas TLC Goldens; a small responsible breeder producing high quality Golden Retriever puppies.