The big thing I found when training my labs, especially the males, is they have to obey commands and I mean right now. The male I got now is a great dog but in his old age I notice he has become deaf when it suits him. Well it is not going to happen. Some of them will obey, but they always seem to do it when they want to. That is a no no in a duck or goose blind. The dog obedience needs to be drilled into them and they have to do it the second you command it. Especially the sit and stay. Nothing spooks ducks faster then a dog jumping around. I had a friend with a great retreiver, but he had to almost lay on the thing to keep it still when it saw ducks coming into the decoys.

Start them out young,on the sit, stay, come, down, quiet, and all the other commands. I used the Richard Wolters books, Gun Dog, Water Dog, and Family Dog to train my labs. I do this since they have to upland bird hunt as well, plus behave and be a member of the family in the house.

Most labs will retreive. It is just a part of them. And as for water, I never had a lab yet that would stay out of the stuff once they saw it. Still you have to introduce them to water and work them in shallow water at first. The deeper water stuff comes when they get older and more confident.

Work your pup with the basic commands every day for five or ten minutes. Then play a little fetch. Never play tug of war with a lab and do not allow family members to do so. (Although mine seems to know when it is play and when it is hunting). The big thing since he is a pup, is keep it fun and keep all training upbeat. I never end a training session on a bad note. If the dog is having a bad day, then I make him do something that he will do right, praise him and end the session. There is alway tomorrow....

Good luck with your pup.