I just got a 4-5 mo. old lab pup from the shelter. When is a good time to start training her to retrieve? I'm already working on basic obediance training with her and she's doing really well. Can I work on obediance and retrieving at the same time? Who has some good books/vidoes on this? Is she too young yet for that kind of training? Thanks for the input.

IMO You can start mixing in retreving(basic like fetch) in SLOWLY now.
Keep the training secitions short and fun ,sort of like play.
She will need to be older for the advanced training like marking , double retreves ect.
Be firm but with lots of love
I got a book from the liberary on retrever training .

Sooner the better ( I started mine at 9 weeks), Jackie Mertens "Sound Beginnings" is an excellent video for the basic, early training.

I would start yesterday. I mean I agree with Losthwy in saying the sooner the better. Make sure it is fun and keep the sessions short. Always have the pup wanting more. There are a lot of great books and videos out there but the key is to stick to one type of training method and get some professional seminar help whenever you can. I would also recommend highly the magazine- The Retriever Journal. The best hunting related magazine I have ever subscribed to.
Another huge thing is to be patient and don't get angry during training. Baby steps are the way to go at this point. Don't skip steps.

Best of Luck,
Mathewsconquest2

I didn't read a reply that asked the question of desire to retrieve on the dogs part. If the dog has the drive and desire to do the work, you have somthing to build on, if not all the books and videos are waisted time. If your new dog doesn't chase things now when you throw them, It prabably will not get much better with age. Don't be discoraged if it won't bring things back at first, the return can be taught, the chase is genetic. Good luck with the new pup!!!

When she's the only dog in the house, she'll chase. She even tosses the ball herself sometimes just so she can chase it. When my other dog's around though, he bullies her out of the way so he can chase. I'm gonna take her out in the field behind the house for some daddy-puppy quality time with a ball. Hopefully, with no kid and the other dog in the house, we can have some fun chasing the ball.

Just start from the beginning (just like you would with a little puppy), and remember that pups have a very short attention span. Train UN-enforced puppy obedience (sit, come). Some "fun retrieves" are fine, but limit it to 3 or 4 retrieves -- twice a day, and I would definitely suggest using a puppy size dummy or paint roller instead of a ball. Always quit with them wanting more.

Get on a good training program and follow it page by page, chapter by chapter. Take it SLOWLY. For a good ol' hunting dog, get the "10 Minute Retriever", by John and Amy Dahl. For a truly superb hunting dog (that could easily do well in Hunt Tests) go with "Smartwork for retrievers" (vol I and Vol II) by Evan Graham.

Don't let your pup use training devices (like dummies) as chew toys.
NEVER let two dogs to go after something to retrieve at the same time -- ONE dog at a time ONLY.

Get a book or two ordered ASAP.

Thanks for the input Doc. I've been working on the obedience part with her. I've only had her for a week and she's already got "load up" down. She still needs some work on come. I've got her to where when we get back from a walk, she sits at the bottom of the steps and waits until I tell her ok before she goes up to be let in. We're also working on not jumping up on people or the furniture. So far, the only bad habit I haven't had to deal with is table/counter surfing. I'd love to get ahold of the person that dumped her at the pound and give him a piece of my mind/boot! He appearently didn't care enough to teach her any manners at all. I'm even having to do the whole potty training thing with her. Thankfully, my boss is a good guy and lets me bring her to work with me. That's making it easier to discourage bad habits and reinforce the good ones. Now if I can get through the chewing with my furniture intact, everybody in the house will be happy. When I catch her chewing on something she's not supposed to(mommy's $1500 couch, my shoes, the remote, the kid's clothes, etc.), I tell her no and give her one of her toys to chew on. She doesn't seem to want to chew up her stuff, just ours! The only time she chews on something that she's allowed to is when she thinks the other dog wants it. Thanks again! And off to the bookstore I go!

Sounds like you have somthing to work with. The ball is ok to start but I would get a white dummy with a short rope on it to continue with. The dummy will float on water and the white color will help the dog to mark its fall better. Keep the retrieves short and in clean cover, a school football field would be ideal. Keep it short and fun!!!

I've been working on short retrieves with a tennis ball in the house at night. She's doing a pretty good job at it as long as she doesn't get distracted. I haven't got any of the books yet, so I"m trying to work on the simple things for now.

When I picked her up from the pound, she was black with a little chocolate on her shoulders. Now she's got a lot more chocolate color to her and when the light hits just right, she looks brown. Is it unheard of for them to change color completely or will she just have brown highlights?

Thanks