i have a 10 month old lab....retrieves very well and listens to commands........however i am having trouble with hand commands, any suggestions

What training program (books - tapes) are you following?

just takes time and repitions,over abd over.

The easiest way for me was teaching my dogs baseball. Set the dog on the pitchers mound. You stand on home plate. Throw a bumper to first base. Command "over" while giving him the hand signal. Throw one to 3rd base. Same thing. Command over. Then throw one over his head. Command back with the hand signal. This is only a small portion of what I did with my dog, but a good starting point. Do some research on drills called the double T and swim by. When you have mastered these two drills, you will have a pretty good handling dog.

I forgot to mention, the book water dog has a pretty good section on handling. You may also want to check out the 10 Minute Retriever.

A good training program, I like "10 Minute Retriever" and "Smartworks", is critical. !0 mo. old is still pretty young. I would look at one of these books and develop a solid training plan. I bet hand signals will come as everything that goes with it falls into place.

1. I beg to differ. Water Dog has 8 pages (mostly pictures) on handling.

2. I agree, 10 Minute is a good book, and as BillDeLuc said, the SmartWorks books are top notch.

I used waterdog some but the best thing I have found is the following website. Lots of text and a few pics on hand signals all step by step.

Can't hardly beat FREE!!!!!!!

http://www.dobbsdogs.com/

hrtshot,

Once again, I ask - - - - -