mbhutton

Hey Fella's.
I have been duck hunting for 2 sesaons, well this would be my second one and i have brought a new house and i can now get a dog.. i have had dogs in the past but never one that was trained for a certian thing. My questions to you are, how hard are labs to train and what do i nedd to look out for when buying one..

johnch

Go to the liberay and get a retreiver training book or buy one .
Don't rush the dog ( puppy )
A good check cord or 2 is needed .
I have a 25' and 75'

LOTS of time .
I paid to run him thru a basic obedance class ( spelling )

Labs are smart , to smart for their ( or your ) own good some times .
So a firm hand ( not mean ) is needed .

Make the training funand in short strechs
I train in 1/2 to 1 hr strechs several times a day

I still train my 7 year old lab almost every night , he thinks it is fun

Teaching it to SIT and STAY are top of the list of .
If you are married , comands and demands must be the same for both of you .
Nothing worse than a dog messing up a shot because it is jumping around .

I found a local trainer that let me pick his brain over a drink a few times , that helped a lot .

Good luck !
I have a 85 lb lap dog that sleeps on my bed ( he snores ) that insests on riding in the pasenger seat to hunts .
But he is all busniss when we start

Johnch

Oneshot7

i heard that i have the same thing here cept we dont hunt with him

BooneAndCrockett

Labs are great dogs you shouldnt have any problems with them.

PaPaBearr

when i got my lab i never trand a dog for hunting be for i got "WATER DOGS" its a DVD watched it from begging to end and just did what he said every one that has hunted with him said hes excellent some of them even hunted with professionally trained dogs
i did hear that black labs are easy to train then the chocolate or yellows i don't know but i got the black and he is an excellent retriever loves to bring them back good luck

camelcluch

There are a lot of good books/dvd's out there. The book from Mike Stewert, from Wild Rose Kennels, is great. However, I think that traing is as easy as your dog. Do some research about the kennels in your area. Tell them exactly what you want. There are good dogs out there for $500 to $7000. The price depends on breeding and training level. Being down south, there should be a lot of kennels to chose from. If close enough, I would check out Wild Rose. Their dogs are awsome. Pups start around $1200. Worth it IMHO...

MinnFinn

I've had a Yellow Lab for 5 years now. The first year I had limited time to work with her before the opener. She was 9 month old when we got her in Aug. 2000 from one of the dog rescue organizations here.

The young guy who had her and a male Y. Lab had supposedly planned to breed her and sell the pups. Instead, we were told he kept her and the male lab locked in a closet with a screen door on it all day and the idiot chased girls at night. The dogs were obviously neglected, until the dad of this 20's guy called the rescue place to come get the dogs.

Molly (our lab) took to hunting, retrieving (water and land) and learned to obey and worked "like a dog". Even when she'd be tired at the end of the day she still wants to get out of the kennel when we stop to get out at the next hunting slough or field. I couldn't ask for a harder working, better dog. She's a sweet temperment dog with people and most other dogs, too.

She has a heart and will to please. I wouldn't give her up for any money.

I'd give Yellow Labs a look, too, if I were you.

HONKERS

Takes alotta time and patients to train a faithful hunting partner...you have to be comitted....if you have the time....if not give the dog too a Pro...Obedience is most imporant.....this pup is 6 months old....she's been trainning since 12 weeks old....she'll hit the goose fields later in the year only cause she's ob trainned and has shown alotta maturity......so be patient and comitted....Honkers

Colorado Luckydog

Its not that much time, and its a hell of alot of fun. Its about 15 minutes in the morning and the same in the evening. The Water Dogs training video is the best!

BlueRidgeRetrievers

The puppy you buy should come from parents that have been OFAed (hips) ( www.offa.org ) and CERFed (eyes). You don't want to fall in love with a puppy/dog and have them crippled by hip problems or eye problems. It's best to find a dog out of a strong pedigree (filled with 'letters' like MH, SH, HRC, HRCH, FC, AFC, NFC, NAFC). When you've got those kind of dogs standing behind your dog you stand a better chance of having an easily trained dog yourself. Make sure the pedigree shows dogs that have also been genetically tested too (OFA/CERF) aship/eye problems are genetic problems. The market on really good dogs is pretty wide open now pricewise... Do some research and don't hesitate to drive a lil ways to pick one. You're going to have the pup for a number of years... It's worth the time to get one that will be healthy!

Pick up a good book called "10 Minute Retriever" by John and Amy Dahl. You can also find an excellent DVD (if you do better by watching things than comprehending them by reading like I do!) here- http://www.topbrass-retrievers.com/indexoct06.htm

A good dog makes hunting so much more fun! If you need any help with some of the stuff I posted orwith anything just let me know...