old dog new tricks?

[PEATMOSS]

Two years ago in the early fall, we lost our 4 yr old lab in a tragic accident. My wife and youngest kid were really wanting a new pup. I wanted to wait until the spring. Of course, I relented and we got a new Black Lab in October. The dog is very smart and well behaved and has good bloodlines for hunting.

Problem is, the following spring I got jacked at work for a bunch of extra shifts and never really did any hunting type training with her. I've never really been an avid bird hunter, but I live in grouse country and can literally walk to some decent duck hunting on the lake by my house. My son is really showing a great interest in bird hunting and I really want to do all I can to help out.

As the dog sits today, she is well mannered, leash trained, always comes immediatly when called and will sit and stay as commanded. She loves to fetch and you can't walk thru the yard without her dropping something at your feet for you to throw. If commanded, she will sit and stay when playing fetch. She loves the water and swims well. When walking in the woods she tends to range out pretty far, but will always return when called.

I'd really like to work with my kid to make this dog a hunter,(grouse and ducks) but I'm not really sure where to start. If any of you have advice or can point me towards some good resources, I'd really truly appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

[jim carpenter]

Absolutely not a problem here. The old school trainers used to wait for a year or so to train retrievers the hunting skills. Obedience is the most important part of the process. If you have this dog obedient; you can train it to hunt. Many good books out there, "Training Your Retriver" might be a good one for oyu.

[Acemac]

sounds like its still a puppy most dogs are not good hunting dogs untill they are like 5 years old.