Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Training program for new lab puppy

Thanks for the replies. I think you are both right! She is a smart girl and I am going to keep plugging away at the obedience stuff. Took her for a hike this morning and she kicked up a sharptail. Thanks for your help!

Personally, I wouldn't touch force fetch for a while. 4 months old is pretty young. Make sure she enjoys being a puppy and enjoys what you are doing.

I like that you're using multiple sources for info. Your dog is an individual, just like you, your wife, your kids etc. No one size of anything fits all. You have to learn and adapt what you learn to what works best for you and your dog.

I wouldn't worry about force fetch for quite some time. Let the pup be a pup, she's just little still.

Finally don't over think this. There will be some good training days and some bad ones. Don't let the bad outweigh the good.

I don't care if my dog can win a ribbon in some canine field game. I want a dog with natural hunting instincts, intelligence, drive and heart who obeys my commands instantly. I don't care if they have style. I want my dogs to have hours of actual hunting time with live birds. I yard train to 100% then introduce them to birds. I start them young and keep training as fun as possible in short sessions to match the attention span of the pup. I want my dogs to quarter, find game, point, hold steady, hunt dead and retrieve. I want them to behave in the blind, truck, house or motel room. A bold pup who is excited by birds is not going to be gun shy. I have trained labs and pointers and never been ashamed to put my dogs in the field with other dogs. I even trained a pointer when I was living in town with pheasant scented tennis balls and never fired a shot near her. She turned out to be one of the best dogs I have ever owned.