At what age do you introduce water, birds and guns to a puppy? My puppy is a 8wk old golden. I dont want to start to early or to late.

Also if any one knows of any good reading please let me know. Thanks for any help.

I think the answers are going to all over the place. Personally, I usually wont start on birds until the dog starts showing interest. Then its one or two birds, then .22 pistol, .410, .20, etc. I don't really know about retrievers that much, I've had 2 goldies, one didn't hunt and the other just ran and retrieved everything.

8 wks is wee little pup.
Play a lot. Sit, stay, and heel 10 or 15 min a day up to about 9 months. Then you can start the hard stuff. You get sit, stay, and heel down tight now, the rest will be easier.

Thanks for the info. We are trying to play alot and started with sit(at lease as much as an 8wkpup can sit, forabout 1 second).

Like others have said, let him be a puppy and just spend time bonding. We don't start formal training until pup has it's adult teeth in, usually around 7-8 months. Everything before that is more teaching and setting the frame work for formal training. Not saying that there isn't a lot to do in that time frame as there is. Yes, you will need to get going in a few weeks but for now just let him be a puppy. I would also get on a good training program. We follow Lardys ( www.totalretriever.com ) but know many people also like Evan Graham's "smart works" ( www.rushcreekpress.com ). I have never read "10 Minute Retriever" but have seen good posts about it on other forums. You might want to check out the dog forum at the refuge as it's very good. The best thing you could do is find a retriever club in your area!!!

Hope this helps!

A couple buddies and I introduced a 7-8 week old black lab to skeet shooting and we let it swim big distances in a pond.

We also let it follow our duck dog around.So hopefully it will start learning.

Twelch is much more braver than I. I hope nothing becomes wrong with your dog.

congradulations you have found the perfect way tomake a gunshy dog

Actually, one of our goldie just didnt care about loud noises.I could fire a cannon next to her and she wouldjust look at you. She wasn't thesharpest tool in the shed but she sure was friendly. She would visit everyone in their blinds and fetch their decoys for them.