[dpate]

Good advice from everyone. Definitely do not force or make strong corrections at this point. Teaching should always be done in a positive manner. I would also recommend you get a hold of some puppy training material. I used Bill Hillmann "Training a Retriever Puppy" but Sound Beginnings is also very good.

Pat Nolan has another very good resource to get you started. It's probably not the most organized resource but it's very good and it's FREE!
http://www.trainingretrieverpuppies.com/

 

[Parker M.]

I have been where you are many times and I learned early on to listen to folks who know dogs and training. I also learned by reading and watching training CD's..Sound Beginnings by Jackie Mertens and Training a Retriever Puppy with Bill Hillmann...are what I use...but their are others. Also reading every thing I could find on training. Plus taking my pups to obedience classes when they were around 12wks. All of this taught me how little I knew and how important knowledge is when training your dog. You can mess up a dog and not realize you are doing it.....

By the way, I would NEVER force a puppy to retrieve....way to young,


Anyway, that's my $.02

I have never forced her to retrieve. I was just stating that in the house (even not just in the hallway) she brings it back everytime and wants more. just outside it seems to have to many distractions so I went back to playing inside but still take her on walks and familiarize her with everything. I started using a check cord today and ti seemed to help. not pulling her hard just a little help to get her going. Theres not much to I could do to mess up because im not saying to many commands period. im leaving that to the pro here in a few months. I was just frustrated on the "outside" work and am thankful for you all help. I have chris akin 1st dvd and it has helped me but im no pro and wanted to hear all of your ideas.

 

[Sundown49 aka Otey B]

sound like your pup is doing well. One word of caution, with a pup ALWAYS quit with the pup wanting more. One of my first pups I totally RUINED when he was a pup by overdoing it with him. This was done back in 1991 and I haven't forgotten this hard lesson learned.. I try now to just do fun stuff with a pup until they are about 4 months old then I use a check cord to get them to come back. I want them to go out and be excited about going.... the coming back can be trained.

 

[Parker M.]

sound like your pup is doing well. One word of caution, with a pup ALWAYS quit with the pup wanting more. One of my first pups I totally RUINED when he was a pup by overdoing it with him. This was done back in 1991 and I haven't forgotten this hard lesson learned.. I try now to just do fun stuff with a pup until they are about 4 months old then I use a check cord to get them to come back. I want them to go out and be excited about going.... the coming back can be trained.

thank you Sundown. I have actually read now the later on in the "pro" training Force Fetch will teach her to bring it back in no time. so im just going to take my time until I send her off because I would hate to ruin her desire. heck atleast she likes to retrieve inside. even outside her tails waggin going crazy.

 

[DrDuck]

More time walking outside will help take away some of the newness distractions. I found that it was good to let the pup hold the dummy a while while I had my hand on it and praised and petted the pup with my other hand. Keep the first outdoor retrieves short and keep the session short too. Make it fun.

 

[Jennifer Henion]

Want to feel better about your pup's progress and stop worrying about the return? Go watch the first disc in Mike Lardy's Total Retriever Training Marking dvd set. He shows puppies at 12 weeks and 16 weeks doing exactly what your pup is doing. And I assume you know who Mike Lardy is and that he has top caliber blood line dogs to train. He just uses patience, encouragement and a rope.

It sure made me feel better ! lol!