# New Puppy Tips



## Raptorman (Aug 18, 2009)

Hey guys, 
Our family dog, a Black Lab named Nova, passed away last summer. She was a great dog and really smart. She has been missed. Finally we are ready to get a new one and our new pup will be ready to pick-up at the end of February. 
It will be another Black Lab, we are excited but I am also a little nervous. I was single when I got my last dog and had only her to give my attention to. Now I am married and have a soon to be 5 year old daughter. So it will be interesting to see how the potty training and obedience training goes. I am sure it will go well. It will also be good for my daughter to take some responsibility and help with some of the chores. 
I am just looking for any tips you guys have on basic training for a lab pup. She will be more of a family dog but I would also like to take her out Pheasant hunting and start to get back into Waterfowl more again. Anyways, any tips would be great. Thanks


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I think the biggest challenge is going to be your daughter feeding the dog! I know it is mine! We finally just have had to kennel up the dogs whenever the kids have any kind of food, no exceptions. Not only do I hate having a fat dog...but eager puppies are very proficient at scratching/nipping kiddos without trying to be mean.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

Congrats on your soon to be new addition to the family.

Hindsight has been my best friend lately. Perhaps it is my old age, but I have felt pretty retrospective on my life lately.

If I were to do it over again with my current dog, a few things would have been done different and some would be done the same.

Here are some of my thoughts. Hope some of them help:

1 - I wouldn't expect miracles out of a puppy. Working on basic obedience (sit, stay, lay down) would be my primary focus for quite a while.
2 - I would play fetch. A LOT. 
3 - I would have spent more time hiding bird wings around the yard for her to find.
4 - I would have spent more time playing fetch in the water.
5 - While training at the local elementary, I would NOT let curious kids come interfere with my training time. I always worked in an area right by where kids liked to ride by on their bikes and inevitably the kids would ask if they could throw the bumper and then throw off the training groove. I feel that this confused my dog and at times she didn't know who to bring the bumper back to (who is the boss?).
6- Treats. I am an advocate of praise vs treats. I think that it motivates my dog in the right way to be praised when she does well vs conditioning her to want a treat every time she does well. But there is still a time and a place for treats, so don't stop giving treats. Just be selective about rewarding your dog with treats.
7- I prefer to walk my dog without a leash. This has allowed me to teach her to stay within a certain distance of me at all times which translates into fewer birds being flushed out of gun range.
8- Remember that lab puppies live to CHEW! Nothing is safe from a lab puppy. Anything and everything will be chewed when you aren't looking. This meant my garden hose, aluminum rain spout, kids toys, her dog house, even the line that turns on and off my central air unit. Bitter spray didn't work on her (I once left it out and came home to find her chewing the bottle up and drinking its contents). Hot sauce did work for me though. But the best thing I did to keep my lab out of trouble was to get her a friend. My wife has a little dog and they are best buds.
9 - Your dog knows when you are angry with them. Every time I come outside during the summer to find a hole that she dug, I let out a long frustrated sigh. Instantly she tucks tail and hides in the dog house. I feel bad that she knows I am mad but doesn't know why.
10 - Correct your dog ONLY when you see them doing something wrong. If your favorite sneakers get chewed up while you are at work and then you whack your dog with them when you discover what they have done, they wont have any idea of why you are mad. 
11 - Just have fun together. Don't expect perfection out of your dog. Just expect to have fun and make sure your daughter sees the dog work. It is pure magic to see my daughter watch as my lab works thick cover for a pheasant. 
12 - You need to be (quote Cesar Milan) the "pack leader" to your dog. Correct bad behavior like jumping up on people or furniture. The more you lead your dog, the more they love and respect you. The more you let your dog do what ever they want, the less they obey when it is important.
13 - Work on hand signals. Palm out = stay. Palm up and down = lay down. And teach the dog to go the direction you point, especially if you want her to check out an area for birds. My dog doesn't understand hand signals like my previous lab did. I point left, and she runs right. I point right hoping she will go left (based off the previous experience) and she runs straight out.

I am sure that I am being overly analytical about how a lab should be, but I once had the best dog on earth and I hold her to high esteem and compare every dog to her as a result. Here is a story about my first dog as a boy: http://utahwildlife.net/forum/17-hunting-dogs/182097-where-cottonwood-grows.html


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

johnnycake said:


> I think the biggest challenge is going to be your daughter feeding the dog! I know it is mine! We finally just have had to kennel up the dogs whenever the kids have any kind of food, no exceptions. Not only do I hate having a fat dog...but eager puppies are very proficient at scratching/nipping kiddos without trying to be mean.


We do not let our dogs in the house during dinner time. And if we feed them any table scraps (which is very rare) we are very careful to ensure that it is only a lean meat that has not been cooked with garlic or onions (these are bad for your dog).

When we go camping with them, they don't beg or bother us when we are eating.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Bax* said:


> We do not let our dogs in the house during dinner time. And if we feed them any table scraps (which is very rare) we are very careful to ensure that it is only a lean meat that has not been cooked with garlic or onions (these are bad for your dog).
> 
> When we go camping with them, they don't beg or bother us when we are eating.


We were TERRIBLE about letting our beagle be our vacuum for feeding the kids when they were first born/younger. We have since stopped, and Ava the pudelpointer has never been willingly fed table scraps--but she still begs and is an Olympic hurdler when we aren't looking. Probably learned it from the beagle, but I don't really know what to do to stop the begging other than kenneling her before the food and never giving her human food. To be clear though, we are not using the kennel as a punishment though, as we want their kennel to be a "safe/happy" place for them.

I'm also a big off leash walker, as prior dogs of mine that I had leash broke ended up being bolters and would take any chance at "freedom" they could unless we were in the field away from civilization.


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## Raptorman (Aug 18, 2009)

That is great info and advise, thanks guys! Thanks for taking the time Bax I will definitely remember that when we get her.


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

2 words Crate train!


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

brendo said:


> 2 words Crate train!


+1 on this. We do this with our dogs. It's great!


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## ZEKESMAN (Sep 14, 2007)

Join Weber River Retriever Club. great guys and gals. Or Wasatch P.M. me. Vic


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