My First Black Lab
 

Just wondering if you guys could give me any tips on my first dog. My dad is going to help me but any type of tips would be greatly appreciated. I will probably be buying some books to help me train him. So far only two accidents. Luckily he did them both on tile and not on the WHITE carpet.

RE: My First Black Lab
 

Get a good (modern) Training book or two (?maybe? a DVD of the same book if you are "visual").
A REALLY great one for a new pup is Jackie Mertens "Sound Beginnings". A good training book for a novice trainer is "10 Minute Retriever" by John and Amy Dahl.

There are better training programs out there, but if this is your first Lab to train, they would be a bit overwhelming.............and with "10 Minute", you will end up with an excellent Hunting Dog that you will be proud of and that others will envy.



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RE: My First Black Lab
 

Water Dog by Richard Wolters
Retriever training for the duck hunter
and Retriever Training By James Lambfree

RE: My First Black Lab
 

I'll second Merten's video which is very good for the early training, you should get this ASAP.
I donot recommend any of Wolter's books or the outdated book by James Free. The Smartwork series or Mike Lardy's Vol I, II, and III are good.

RE: My First Black Lab
 

VERY outdated............That's why I said "modern & sequential".

About the only "old time" book that I ever use is the one by D.L. Walters (not Wolters) called "Training Retrievers to Handle".



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RE: My First Black Lab
 

I used Water Dog by Richard Wolters. I always get compliments on how well trained and well behaved my dog is and a lot of that comes with age. One thing that I can't stress enough (no matter which training method you choose) is that the more time you put in with the dog the better your results will be, also the deeper your bond will be. Just repeat drills until you think it is enough, then do it 10-20 more times. Also, even once the dog has the basics mastered you need to re-emphasize them frequently. I found that when Kate was younger she would push me just to see how much she could get away with. She still does on the "heal", but I think that is mainly because when we are in the field most of the time now I just give her free reign so that she can enjoy herself. Plus, it just takes one harsh, "KATE!" and she is 10 inches off of my left side with me stride for stride.

That is just my 2 cents, though. Good luck.

RE: My First Black Lab
 

Thank you everyone for your advice.... Any thing else you can tell me would be great.

RE: My First Black Lab
 

Evans Graham......smartworks is suppose to be one of the best in the business.....DVD's and Books......thats what i've used the past 6 months.....easy to read and teach....Honkers

RE: My First Black Lab
 

hey, i just got a black lab of my own too. just got her yesterday. so far sheseems to be a very smart one. she wines when she is ready to go outside to the bathroom. glad i looked on this one cuz i found alot of good advice. thnks... and good luck with the pup.

RE: My First Black Lab
 

With out a doubt, Evan Graham's "Smartwork" series of books are the best around, but they can be kind of intimidating to a first time trainer. The "Smartwork" DVDs make the books much easier tounderstand though.
They are definitely my #1 choice...........Just difficult for a newbie to understand unless you get both the books and DVDs.



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