Buddysmom uses the same techniques I've been successful using. I haven't worked with labs. I have trained several chessies and also work with GSP. The tennis ball and a hallway work well. If your dog is hyper I think this would work. I've never used the force-fetch but have seen dogs that went throught the program and they seem fine. I use desire. The tennis ball technique should help. Start with short throws, even bounces. If he likes to get the ball he will learn that the faster you get it back the quicker he gets to fetch it. Limit your sessions to 10-15 minutes and end with a good 10 minutes of free time when he can play but not with the object you use to train. One dog didn't show intrest until I used the frisbee as a training tool. Get the soft frisbee model to discourage any hard mouthing if you try this and avoid throws that make him leave the ground. The landing impact is not good for large dogs. make it fun and you should be able to build desire. Once you build desire everything you ever try to show him will be an extension of his wanting to please you. Dove can be foul tasting to some dogs so be careful not to try them until he is willing to please you all the time. A crippled duck can also be quite a shock to a young dog if the duck is fighting him so try to shoot em dead. If your duck is crippled you may want to fetch it yourself the first few times. 10-15 minutes twice a day every day and you should be on the way.Let us know how you solve the problem. i also never look my dogs in the eyes until they are back in front of me with the bumper, ball, or game. Not sure why but it seems to work for me.