I just picked this guy up, his names Max . He's 5 months and was free up to date on everything. It was either I get him or they were gonna bring him to the pound. My question is, is 5 months to old to start training. If not where should I start? He knows sit,stay, and he'll half ass fetch a ball. Basics? Maybe I should master those?

I'm not sure what to start him on but I know that starting pups at such an early age is relatively new. A while ago, owners waited until the dogs were a year old before the started training things other than obedience.

That's kinda what I figured,wait to get that puppy stage out of then I suppose. Just curious on where I should start.

Buy the book "water dog" it's full of good advice and will work you through from starting out. It's easy to read, I used it on my first lab when I was 12.

Definitely start with basic obedience and drill it

start with obedience for sure. get to know him, make it fun establish a bond. I sent my dog to trainer @ 7 or 8 months but I had her foundation in obedience started by then.

He is a good looking pup. congrats

Thanks. I'm going to have to check that book out. Hes smart as a whip. The only bad thing is... he's never slept outside. Do any of y'all have an inside dog y'all hunt with? To me it would spoil them and make him lazy.

Make it fun for both of you at this point ! And like the man said "water dog"

My dog stays inside and still has plenty of drive when we huntin . . . I know a few people other than me that keep theirs inside too and dont have any problems

stupid slow azz cellular mobile device

OK good deal thanks mm. I looked at some reviews on the 'water dog' and I think. That's gonna be a good start. Any of you personally used it? Good results?

It has a lot of good info? When should I introduced him to the boat? I'm sure it has all of that in there. I will give it a try. Still can't believe it was published in '64 and guys are still swearing by it. Must be damn good

I started my dog close to 10 weeks with simple play obedience. It's never to early to start. Once he can hear and understand u talking to him u can begin "play" training meaning no reprimand for misbehavior up until 12-14 weeks

And I also read water dog as a beginning jump start and is def worth the money and gives u some good insight

Water Dog sucks.

Go to Mike Lardy's website http://www.totalretriever.com and get the Volume I articles.

Catsquirrel have you used this?

Ive always used water dog and have had great results . . . Yes some of the stuff is out dated but it works great for building a firm foundation

i would say see if he is guy shy or not and work on that when they are young. then they will never be shy again.

I used this one. No really Water dog is a good book for a beginner I used it. Dog is doing great this will be her 2nd year. First dog I have train by my self. Good luck

Haha the fiance was at Barnes & noble and sent me a picture of that book. I think I'm going to go with the water dog. I spoke with a trainer today and he seems really good but he said one thing that kinda did me the wrong way, that the dog will have a problem listening to my cmands over his cause he was the one who trained him. Island what I'm gonna do just yet. Ordering this book tonight and I'm gonna read it and see if me and the pup can't handle it. The e only bad thing I've heard was from the guy a few posts up. I'm gonna spend my 20$ and get something out of it.

^^ true. He didn't say it happened often, but it was something to be away of. Island I'm kinda working him a little after work. It's to find the time to give time and my black lab enough separate time.

Find a person or group that trains in your area. Get help. Most of the guys who train consistently love to help as long as you will help throwing birds and running drills with them to help them out. 5 months is perfect. Also I would recommend Evan Graham's Smart Works over water dog any day.

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OK sounds good. I'm going to try and drill the basics in his skull, and have him get excited about fetching. Tmrw will be his first day in a boat so we'll see how that goes. Anybody has a good way of getting them use to the boat?

Thanks for the reply Buck. I'm going to try a few of them. Just gotta find em first.

The biggest help is to join a local retriever club, either AKC or HRC and find a mentor. Some of the dog training stuff is counter-intuitive, so having someone that has been there and done that really helps.

Free to good home. I got him thinkin I would have enough time but that's just not the case. He's a good dog, and I don't want him to go to waste. If anyone is interested pm me.

mine sleeps in my bed with me almost every night, and she is a badass dog, hand signals whistle whole nine yards.

never too late to start training a dog. just gotta have patience my friend.

I trained my first dog with water dog. Read it 1000 times and every once and a while I still go back. He's 2, and he's a great dog. He's a hunter, and will listen to me, my wife r my Lil girl. A command is a command, I don't care who gives it

I have a 1yr old chocolate lab and it doesn't matter who gives the command he listens

He got one bud. I hated to let him go but hes with a big family with a lot of property. It wasnt easy.