You do teach a four-month old, but it is different than when they are mature. It is not "work" yet. Almost all the training is positive reinforcement. You don't make the demands. E-collars are for down the road, when you are making demands.
E-Collars are great training tools in the right hands, and can be terrible instruments of torture in the wrong. And there is very little grey -- you either now what you are doing or you don't. This is ESPECIALLY true if he is a novice. Tell him to put the collar away until he knows EXACTLY how to use it.
Your friend needs to be on a training program. There are a lot of good books out there. If he is a complete novice with no serious aspirations, I recommend James B. Spencer's Training Retrievers For Marshes And Meadows.
All it takes is about twenty-minutes a day. The only secret is making the commitment and sticking with it.
E-Collars are great training tools in the right hands, and can be terrible instruments of torture in the wrong. And there is very little grey -- you either now what you are doing or you don't. This is ESPECIALLY true if he is a novice. Tell him to put the collar away until he knows EXACTLY how to use it.
Your friend needs to be on a training program. There are a lot of good books out there. If he is a complete novice with no serious aspirations, I recommend James B. Spencer's Training Retrievers For Marshes And Meadows.
All it takes is about twenty-minutes a day. The only secret is making the commitment and sticking with it.
