New pup!!

[Thunderchicken]

Just purchased my first yellow lab pup ever. Man am I excited to say the least after hunting with her mother for last couple of years. I have been doing some reading and I am getting conflicting time periods as to when to start the training. She is 8 weeks this coming Tuesday and the local trainer said to wait until she is 12 weeks or so and the couple books I got say 18 to 20 weeks.

Thanks !

[fishroger]

Im no expert, with my dog the basic obiedience training came first, sit, stay, heel, etc.,then I would look at gun dog training, wouldnt rush into it to fast. My lab had no problem with introducing the gun sounds to him, took him bird hunting his first fall and he picked up alot of things right away, but was raw. He 2 now and just finished gun dog training and is a retrieving machine now. Its fun watching them progress.

[duckbuster]

Training starts the moment you got home!!

Everytime you put her food dish in front of her you make her sit. Eveytime you take her out to potty with her leash on, when you get back into the house you tell her to sit.

If you have a hallway or a narrow place in the house where there is one way to go you start throwing the rolled up sock.

These are all small steps but important ones regarding her development. These are small things that can be made fun.

GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN!!!!!

[caseymcq]

You can't just come on and talk about a new puppy without posting some pics of the little shaver

[Thunderchicken]

Thanks guys!

She is already to smart for her own good. The sitting advice is already in process and she already knows that she will not get any food unless she sits right next to my right leg. INCREADABLE!

I will post up some pics this week. Funny thing is Mia ( the dog ) and my 5 year old daughter are inseperable. They are like sisters and hope that once Mai gets bigger the partnership will be the same.