14 week old black lab pup

Captkfed · Post by **Captkfed** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 11:30 am

Hi guys, I am new to the forum and this is my first waterfowl retriever that I am training. I have been reading the book "water dog" and trying to follow its guidelines. I have a 14 week old lab pup names sarge. He knows come and no very well. But I am having problems with sit. If I try leash training sit without a dummy he gets too distracted by everything else and doesn't listen. If I use a dummy to get his attention it helps and he will sit on command sometimes, or sometimes he sits before the command. I am not sure of he knows what sit means or if he is not listening. Of he does not sit I pull on his collar slightly and push his butt down and as soon as it hits the ground I command sit again. This has been going on for two weeks now. Just looking for some pointers. Sorry for the noob questions. I just don't want to get too far behind in training.

Bluesky2012 · Post by **Bluesky2012** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:31 am

I'll save you a lot of effort. #1, do less. It's 14 weeks. It's okay. You're over pressuring him. Relax. #2 move to duckhuntingchat.com for better retriever advice. Everytime I see a lab post on here I refer them that direction. Some people on here know a lot about it but there are many more that are retriever only (not versatile or pointer) guys on that site. There are a few new puppy stickies on that forum that will set you off in a much better direction.

Also, don't waste time or money. Water dog is not worth it. Get mike lardy, Evan graham, rick stawski, or Chris Aikens programs to actually learn to train a retriever.

Bluesky2012 · Post by **Bluesky2012** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:33 am

This is a good comprehensive start for puppy training. 6 months is when real gun dog training begins. Prior to that it's all intro work and GENTLE obedience and lots of socialization. Don't over do the OB now.

http://www.duckhuntingchat.com/forum/vi ... 11&t=21169

EvanG · Post by **EvanG** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:59 am

At the very least, get a modern sequential training program. Also, avoid programs that enforce a schedule for your pup; "By this or that age your pup should be finished with thus and so". Your pup doesn't know how to read a calendar. Train the dog you're training, and not on a time table.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IQWfkbiw1WY

EvanG

Jason&Kirby · Post by **Jason&Kirby** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:46 am

I have a 12 week old lab and I trained him to sit within a couple weeks. Now its not solid by no means, but he knows to sit and wait when I feed him and also when I come to open the gate on his pen or crate. The way I did it was using bits of his food before feeding him. I would show him the food to get him excited about it, then push his butt down while holding the food above his head, and command sit. As soon as his butt hit the ground I gave him the food. I started working away from the food and just giving him praise and now he just sits when I tell him (again not 100% of the time). I would only do the drill about three reps before feeding time every morning and evening. Now we are workin on "down" to get him to lay down. Its been a tough one for us to get figured out. Good luck!

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