I have a 9 week old black lab I have been working with for several weeks now, he is smart figures things out quickly, and has the drive, but right now when he retrieves the bumper he tends to want to stop short and lay down with it or roam off with it. Giving him treats to bring it back doesn't really work well because he becomes more focused on getting the treat (drops the bumper halfway, runs but wont pick it up, or just stares at me)


Where do I need to go from here? I know he is young and I don't wanna get rough on him and burn him out.

Get you the Avery floating training lead and keep it on him when he goes out and retrieves and comes back when he stops grab the lead and pull him back to you keep doing that and he should get and stop using treats that's the worst thing to use!!!


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may want to focus on obedience for right now. when he knows "here" means "here" then move on

Wow. Its 9 weeks let it be a puppy. Right now should be all about fun and playtime.

But if ur too impatient put him on a long rope so u can pull him, when he gets older out a choke chain on the other end of the rope

Agree with Barnes it is early I usually wait till about 6 months than start that process right now if anything should be the small basics like sit things like that the biggest thing is make everything fun and quick


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Too much too soon! Slow down and let the dog be a puppy a little longer. If you push too hard you can really fuc# the dog up. I hope your not going to try and hunt this year with it.

Way too young to be worrying about that. If he/she is a well bread lab that "want" to retrieve will come soon. The attention span is very short at that young of an age. Keep it very, very light and don't force anything.

Like said above, let your pup be a puppy for a while. It really is the best thing to do.

Get in a hallway in the house and close all the doors... Only giving the dog one way to come back to you. Throw a toy down the hallway and after they go pick it up give lots of praise and clapping to coax the pup back to you. Eventually as they age and over repetition they will start to bring it back consistently. At that point, you can take the retrieving outside.

Make sure not to do these that drill more than 2-3 times in a row for right now. Do it in short sessions about twice a day. You want to leave the pup wanting more.

He is really advancing faster than any dog Ive seen in awhile. I spend almost all my free time with him. He has been sitting on command since 5 weeks.

He does good for 2-3 retrieves, then he gets distracted which I guess is normal. I guess I'll stick with him without pushing him too hard.



How do I need to work on here? Again, he gets distracted wanders off and wont listen.

^^ I just told ya how to get the pup in a controlled environment to help with distractions...

Bk is right. If u play down the hall he has to come back to u. Check out the book

He is a fukn pup leAve him alone and play and pet him dont expect anything out of him teach him to piss and shit outside and teach him what no means and just play with him with a toy and go get it from him instead of making him retrieve


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You trying to put a kindergartner in high school

Yeah the best way to teach is to set the student up to succeed. Don't be hard on him just yet and be short and fun.

Go get some DVDs like Jackie Mertins "sound beginnings"

When he picks the bumper up and starts walking back to you, walk backwards. When he gets close to you grab the bumper. My puppy was doin the same thing and this fixed the problem in 2 days.

Also he still a baby, he might be getting board with the bumper. Throw it 2-3 times and stop

When they are picking up the training fast it is very easy to throw that one to many bumper.

Keep the training to no more than 5 to 10 minutes 2 to 3 times a day.

Keep it fun for both of you.

And always stop with them wanting more.

I think the most important thing as this age, like it's been said quite a few times, keep it FUN. Use his toys, not the training dummy. My 2 yr old knows the difference between her "babies" (toys), a ball, the training dummy, a decoy, or a real duck - but I didn't start the dummies until she was around 6 months old. And, I told her what to go fetch each time I threw it. She was retrieving real, fresh shot ducks at 9 months, although not real sure what exactly she was doing - sometimes she went for the decoys, but caught on real quick, especially since I went out with her on the 1st 15 or 20 duck retrieves, just so she knew what she was supposed to do. Now she has 2 seasons under her belt, and I have trained her to help bring in the decoys as well, and she has a blast with that, but I have kept the whole experience FUN for her. IMHO, if you keep the whole thing a game, they always want to please you...

Don't let him chew the toys either, it may seem mean to punish him for this, but in the long run you are way better off - he is going to teeth, let him have rawhide or something for that. Mine has a naturally soft mouth - she can retrieve an empty aluminum can, or an apple for that matter, without leaving a mark but then again, I never let her chew her toys.

He's 9 weeks old. You have been training for several weeks now. Lots of drive. Advancing fast. Interesting. Don

Yep u going to fast make every thing a game get him to sit at feed time if he sits 5 seconds let him up and say eat every few days make him sit a little longer make little noise while eating bang pans get him ready for gun noise walk on leash u can teach here and sit on lead at his age but make it fun don't expect him to be steady and don't be to hard on him until around 6 months all the little training sessions u do keep fun this will make it easier when he is bout 6 months u can get serious and if u take ur time till then he will learn very quickly when u lay down the law after if u are going to let him retreive which really ain't that important do it in a hall or on a lead this way he has to come back

9 weeks is far to early to be doing training. Go buy the book water dog and read it.