Things to work on...

[MNBIGBEAR]

So my little chocolate lab is about 3 months old now. Have been workin on basic stuff like sit, stay and come(which is coming a little slow). He loves retrieving and he has been picking up wings really well the past couple weeks. With this, what would be some good stuff to work with him on at this point? Coming when he is told is gonna be my main focus and any suggestions on what would help with this would be greatly appreciated. I am getting addicted to this dog training stuff though!

[gr8icefishinmind]

I didn't work on the come command until i had sit and stay working together! Once i got him to sit and stay i would then walk across my yard with a treat in hand and come to a stop then say come, with a firm voice, and when he came to me i would give him the treat. Did that for maybe 10 minutes a day for one week and he had come down pat without having to give a treat!

Another good command to teach right away is "leave it" and "ok". I use the leave it command when he has a hold of something i don't want him to have or when i want him to drop a ball or dummy or a bird or to stay away from something! To teach this command, have a treat in hand. Make the dog sit and while sitting have a hold of its collar. Put the treat on the floor a foot or so in front of the pup and say leave it. Move the treat an inch closer and say leave it and keep repeating with moving it closer and leave it. If the pup reacts when you move it by going after the treat give a slight tug on the collar and say leave it and make sure the dog keeps sitting. Once you have the treat right next to the dog give the command of "OK" and let go of the collar. Shouldn't take long for the pup to understand that "leave it" means just that and that "OK" means its ok to go after it! I use the "OK" command ALOT. My pup knows that if i tell him to "leave it" that he needs to stay away from what has his attention or he needs to drop whatever is in his mouth, and that "ok" means its ok for him to go after it.

Training is definetly a BLAST which is how it should be for you AND the dog. Make sure you make it fun for the dog and if it seems as though it isn't having fun make sure you stop that training session and take a break!

[Boar]

My ChocLab/GSP is finally "getting the bone" with the help of my yellow lab, the one thing i find frustrating is everyso often she gets fixed on something in the distance, a sound or a car driving by an she stands there fix in the sound or object, an zones me out. The smart potential this dog has I find amazing, shes 4 months old an got her last week from a guy who had her for 2 months from the mom. So some big confusion in her going from one country environment of intown new owner invironment an a name change, wish my wife liked the origional name but she insisted. but she's coming around. Taking it easy an having fun an establishing trust with me an my family is wat I'm working with now more than anything an the basics, I like the leave it comand mentioned abouve, should a guy use treats with every new training skill? Boar

[gr8icefishinmind]

to be honest i used treats for come, leave it, and crate training! i used them for leave it because treats are obviously a very desireable thing for dogs so it worked well for training that command. Otherwise it was more of a reward type thing for the come command!

[Todd Caswell]

1. Find a retriever club close to you and get involved

2. Invest in a training program I recomend Bill Hillmans puppy DVD and then Stawski's Fowl Dawgs both very affordable and well worth the money.

3. Have a plan and some goals for you and the dog, if you get involved in a club, and follow a proven system you will have a dog that is trained better than 99% of all dogs yo have ever hunted over.

Here is a shor video of a pup I'm starting he is 15 WEEKS OLD the time of the video.

Feel free to call or e-mail me if you have any questions, would be happy to help.

218-821-0402

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