I have put a down payment on a new male chocolate lab puppy. I should get him home around mid march. I have some questions for the Waterfowlers out there. I have never trained a puppy and need some help regarding what to do, and when. I am an avid waterfowler and usually get out about 6 times a year. I want a good family pet but also a dog that has a desire to retrieve and hunt.
I know for the first couple weeks I will work on the sit, come, stay and heel commands. I will also introduce some small 10 foot retrieves inside my home. I need help on what to do and when to introduce the steps to a good waterfowl retriever. Any DVD's reccomended or web links for training a retrieving pup would be appreciated. Or just feel free to throw in your 2 cents. Thanks alot, Drake
Need help training a new lab puppy...
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Lab Man
I suggest you start with the following dvd's and books. The first dvd is called Sound Beginnings Retriever training by Jackie Mertens. This dvd is for work and development for your new pup. The second dvd is called Fowl Dawgs 1. This dvd cover training of your new pup. I also suggest you get the book 10 Minute Retriever by John and Amy Dahl. This book will help you with the training of your new pup. You can see the book and dvd's at www.coonriverkennels.com I have a special right now of free shipping on all books and dvd's. I also have a puppy training kit.
Here are some tips.
1. Take your time, one of the biggest mistakes new trainers make is that they hurry through the training. Its very important to build a strong foundation of obedience, socialization, bonding and keeping it fun. This will make it easier for later more advanced training.
2. Make sure you do your homework on bird and gun introduction. Gun shy dogs are man made.
3. Its important as a young pup to build retrieving desire. With a new pup I will only throw 2 or 3 fun bumpers after each training session. You always want to quit with the pup wanting more. If you over do it on retrieving when the pup is young it can get bored and cause problems for advanced training.
4. Keep sessions short while the pup is young. 15 to 20 minutes per session, and best if you can fit 2 sessions a day.
5. Be paitent, if you feel like you are losing your cool, call it a day and go back to training tommorow. Losing you paitence with a dog does more harm then good.
6 Keep it fun for you and the dog. Good luck
Here are some tips.
1. Take your time, one of the biggest mistakes new trainers make is that they hurry through the training. Its very important to build a strong foundation of obedience, socialization, bonding and keeping it fun. This will make it easier for later more advanced training.
2. Make sure you do your homework on bird and gun introduction. Gun shy dogs are man made.
3. Its important as a young pup to build retrieving desire. With a new pup I will only throw 2 or 3 fun bumpers after each training session. You always want to quit with the pup wanting more. If you over do it on retrieving when the pup is young it can get bored and cause problems for advanced training.
4. Keep sessions short while the pup is young. 15 to 20 minutes per session, and best if you can fit 2 sessions a day.
5. Be paitent, if you feel like you are losing your cool, call it a day and go back to training tommorow. Losing you paitence with a dog does more harm then good.
6 Keep it fun for you and the dog. Good luck