AURELIUS - Every dog has its day - and sometimes two.

This weekend went right to the dogs at Bass Pro Shops for the annual Dog Days Weekend hosted by Tom McDonald of Worthington Kennels in Marathon.

McDonald, a hunter and dog trainer, gave those in attendance a crash course in dog obedience training and how it applies to hunting as well as day-to-day situations with the animals.

But before any training begins, McDonald said it is important to look for some key genetic factors.

“Always look at the pedigree,” McDonald said. “In these kinds of dogs, retrievers and German shepherds, you are going to want to look at the OFA rating. This is an X-ray that looks at the thighs and looks for hip dysplasia. You are also going to want to look at the kennels and how the people there treat their dogs. If all these things look good you are going to pretty much be able to close your eyes, reach in and grab any puppy and be thrilled to death.”

McDonald said the next important step is to begin training a puppy almost immediately. While this doesn't have to be intensive, it will help to establish good habits in a dog early on.

“I put a collar on the dog as soon as I get it home,” McDonald said. “And then I start taking him for walks, to the park down the street, by construction sites where there is a lot of noise, any place to get the dog used to sounds and other people and other dogs and get him exposed to as many things as I possibly can to help the dog begin to socialize.”

During this early period of the first few months, it is also important to enjoy the puppy and not put too much pressure on the young animal, while still helping it along in its development.

“This is when you start simple commands,” McDonald said. “Sit, stay, lay down - but you make them puppy games; keep it light and remember to enjoy the puppy during this time and begin to bond with it.”

McDonald said that it is usually around the time that puppy has lost its young teeth and the adult teeth have started to grow in that he will begin more intensive training.

McDonald, accompanied by his 2-year-old black lab, Gunner, demonstrated some of the more advanced skills that McDonald tries to instill in his dogs through leash and check cord training.

“If I tell him to sit he'll stay as long as long as he has to until I tell him something different,” McDonald said.

“This starts with leash training. I will tell the dog to sit and if need be push down on its hind end to get him to sit and then if he isn't listening give a little tug with the leash. This isn't a hard tug, just a little tug to get his attention so the command is given and reinforced.”

But all the while McDonald said it is important to praise the dog for what it has done right and not scold it for what it may do wrong.

While these parameters are being established, he also begins to work on fetching skills in his hunting dogs.

“It is important to get them interested in little toys,” McDonald said. “Rope or a little toy with a squeaker in it. And play in a place like a hall way where the dog has no choice but to get it and bring it back to me.”

McDonald said that retrieving is a natural instinct in labs and other dogs of the retriever family, but it does need to be developed.

“You want the dog to have a hold on something but with a soft mouth,” McDonald said. “You want it to be able to go and retrieve and bring back but you also want the dog to give it to you when you tell it to.”

These were tips that hunters like Don Swain of Canandaigua said were pretty valuable.

“I have two labs,” Swain said. “I use them for pheasant hunting. He definitely said some things I think I can use to help train my dogs.”

But whether a dog is for hunting or to enjoy as a pet, McDonald stressed one thing above all else.

“You have to bond with the animal,” he said. “You could bring the dog to a trainer like me and I can teach it a bunch of things, but you have to bond with your animal that is the single most important thing. It is you the dog is going to learn from and respect so you have to create that bond.”