# HELP I dont know where to start wth my new lab



## Bighunting58 (Aug 30, 2014)

Please help,

I have recently pick up a beautiful 4 year old yellow lab. hes got that big block head. and a pretty good blood line.( i mean I've seen better but its not bad 3 master hunters and a junior hunter so not bad). I pick him up on Monday and spent the last few days assessing where he is at in his training. the previous owner stated that he worked him a lot form a pup. but for the last year he has just sat in the kennel getting fat. The owner also said that he trained him in another language(Filipino). 

My assessment so far is,he has all the drive in the world. shooting over him doesn't faze in the slightest. he hunts thick cover like a champ. he loves the water( he is not hit the water like you would like to see ,where they just jump in but he gets out there and gets it. pus i think that will come in time). if you make him sit he will hold until you send him. i can tell that he knows sit and lay down because: when i apply pressure he sits right away and also with lay down.

Things i see as a problem are:
Need obedience training
now that he is starting to understand English commands ill say sit and apply some pressure and he will sit for a second and then he will get up and move around. ( I have been working on this and he his starting to show improvement.)

I have notice that he is chewing on the bumper.

NOW here is the fun part I have had some success in training in the past. as in more then 4 years ago. I'm trying to come up with a game plan. i hope to use him this year hunting and next year in hunt test and all that fun stuff. Im not sure where to focus my time. do i do force fetching first (i have found 3 books saying that FF will help if not cure him of his hard mouth) and if FF is what i need to work on. Any pointers on starting a dog so late on FFing. or do i brake up his secession with obedience training and FF. 

one of my fears is that where i have assessed him to be. is to late to do anything about his hard mouth. and with me just over thinking everything ... thinking that i shouldn't have him do any retrieves until his FF training is complete. OH and he has not had any bird in his mouth just bumbers with feathers on them.

Please any input would be greatly appreciated. thank you .


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## rlpenn (Mar 14, 2012)

Where to start? From scratch. As if he were a puppy.

You are worried that he is hard mouthed, but really it sounds as if you are letting him run wild and chew stuff up.

Unless he is ripping up birds, you don't have any worries. At least yet :-o

Enjoy.


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## jeff788 (Aug 7, 2009)

I've used parts of this program for my dog:

http://www.lcsupply.com/Smart-Fetch/productinfo/B181/

The version I had wasn't written all that well (grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.), which made a few parts a little hard to follow, but all in all it is a pretty good program. The book starts with basic obedience and goes through pretty advanced retriever work. You will need an ecollar to really use the program.


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## The Naturalist (Oct 13, 2007)

If you need just basic obedience training then go to one of the pet stores like Petsmart or Petco. They usually have pretty good classes for basic obedience training.


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## Packfish (Oct 30, 2007)

Hand signals are a universal language-


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