Bill.....I can honestly say what you described was me 2 years ago! Almost Identical....i bought every book Icould find on training and was all over the place.

1. Join the retriever club and get with a training group! The experience and advice you will get is invaluable. Down the road..you will need help/advice on Force Fetching Collar conditioning your dog.

2. Buy Yourself Jim and Phyllis Dobbs Tri-Troncis Retriever Training Book! http://www.dobbsdogs.com Give your dog a refresher in OB....100% pretty solid is good but can be better. The book it is well layed out and has alot of illustrations. They also have 2 good video tapes for hold and fetch (FF). I preferrd the ear pinch rather than the toe method. Most importantly...follow it to the T!!!!!! Don't try to skip ahead...because you will probally find yourself having a heck of a time trying to correct it in the future.
Remember sit means sit....and nothing else...it is sit till I tell you to move. Always keep your dog a positon where he can be corrected. If you correct him 1/2 the time then your OB is for the most part useless.

You will need to FF you dog to solve the hardmouth problem.....Start with the hold command....Do not use bumpers or birds at this stage.....i use wooden dowels....pvc pipe....A wire hair brush ...whatever it may take. The wire brush works well for dogs that have a hard bite. Have him sit (left side)....on a short lead...open his mouth with your left hand using two fingers.....insert the wire brush with your right hand and give the hold command.....keep repeating this......then you command drop....if he does not release..takethe same 2 fingers and pry it out commanding drop.....keep up the reps and he will catch on....

That should be plenty to get you started! Remeber stick with the training program and keep training sessions short......If you see your dog losing interest give him a command that he knows and give him alot of priase when hey obeys it.

Good Luck and Good Training!