This is my 10.5 month old lab, he pas made 38 retrieves this year so far. I got him and his sister back in May and have done all the training myself. I've got to say that watching a dog run down birds when you train them 100% on your own is one of the best feelings ever. Were just working on blind retrieves now and the girl is a little further behind. Anybody else have any first year dogs out there? How are they doing this year?