5 mo. old chocolate lab need advice

[bowguy]

Hey guys just picked  up a 5mo old chocolate lab, BEAR is his name and is AKC. The guy I bought him from said dad and mom were hunters. I've had dogs that I used for birds back in the day, but no training. I'm wanting to train him via book or video to be somewhat of a decent hunter for upland and migratory. I know this question has been asked probably over and over but what is some of the books and videos you guys suggest? I live in tri cities  so maybe one day I can meet some people to help or even hunt with this season.

[Wacenturion]

If you have a local retriever club, you might consider joining.  Usually members are more than willing to help you out.

[Old Dog]

It's late notice, but...

https://www.facebook.com/events/491776711031949/?ref=1&action_history=%5B%7B%22surface%22%3A%22permalink%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22surface%22%2C%22extra_data%22%3A%5B%5D%7D%5D

If you just show up, and ask for Larry, I'm pretty sure we can at least introduce your pup to a bird.

[Reidus]

I always enjoyed the Richard a wolters books. Interesting to read too. There may be something newer and better out now.
The biggest thing with dogs is to be consistent. If you tell them something follow through and make them do it every single time. And also give it a break when you get frustrated trying to teach the dog something. Shorter, fun and more frequent training sessions seem to work better. 

[Colin]

I used the bill hillman, "training a retriever puppy" video with a lot of sucess. I thinks it's a low pressure way to teach a young dog to love their job but still be under control.

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[johnsc6]

you can get a used Wolters book for about 5 bucks online, all you need to point you in right direction. You don't train a retriever to fetch it's bred into them you just refine their technique.  Obedience first or you'll both get frustrated. Good luck,

[Colin]

Wolter's books are great. I really enjoyed reading the one where he tells the story about Jet. I read it a couple times.

I guess it all depends on how much your going to train with your pup. If you are only able/interested in training a few times a week then the Hillman stuff may not be worth the $$$ and Wolters will probably be fine. If your wanting to train a little more and train some advanced work then Hillman might be a good foundation for that.

IDK everyone has their opinions and their dogs. Seems to me you absolutely want to train your dog to fetch. I think all that's bred into our dogs is the prey drive to chase. The rest is training. I met one of the "old guard" before I even had a pup and he told me dog training is addicting and I'd be surprised when I found it more addictive than the hunting... I laughed and thought he was crazy. I'd just finished a hunt with some friends where we shot a 4 man limit and I was meeting him at a local trainers by 10am. I now find myself training 4-5 times a week thru this past duck season and only hunting 1 or 2 days.

[addicted2hunting]

Wolter's books are great. I really enjoyed reading the one where he tells the story about Jet. I read it a couple times.

I guess it all depends on how much your going to train with your pup. If you are only able/interested in training a few times a week then the Hillman stuff may not be worth the $$$ and Wolters will probably be fine. If your wanting to train a little more and train some advanced work then Hillman might be a good foundation for that.

IDK everyone has their opinions and their dogs. Seems to me you absolutely want to train your dog to fetch. I think all that's bred into our dogs is the prey drive to chase. The rest is training. I met one of the "old guard" before I even had a pup and he told me dog training is addicting and I'd be surprised when I found it more addictive than the hunting... I laughed and thought he was crazy. I'd just finished a hunt with some friends where we shot a 4 man limit and I was meeting him at a local trainers by 10am. I now find myself training 4-5 times a week thru this past duck season and only hunting 1 or 2 days.

HAHA thats the truth!!! 

[bowguy]

Thanks for the tops guys I'll look into them

[Happy Gilmore]

http://www.amazon.com/10-Minute-Retriever-Obedient-Enthusiastic-Minutes/dp/1572233036

http://www.amazon.com/Sound-Beginnings-Retriever-Training-DVD/dp/B009JSH12O/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1462899756&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=jackie+mertens

These two are the best books for starting a pup off and gaining some basic training needs for the average joe. Wolters was a story teller and most in the business consider him a rip off who never trained his own dog.

Hillmans stuff is good but, few folks are planning on following a program for the long term. If you are going to follow a program and want some serious results Mike Lardy's complete training is the way to go. Hillmans puppy start is good. Watched it many times.

[bowtechian]

I always enjoyed the Richard a wolters books. Interesting to read too. There may be something newer and better out now.
The biggest thing with dogs is to be consistent. If you tell them something follow through and make them do it every single time. And also give it a break when you get frustrated trying to teach the dog something. Shorter, fun and more frequent training sessions seem to work better. 

I used his water dog videos & my Chesapeake/lab turned out to be one of my best dogs so far, highly recommended   

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[Huskerwannabe]

I used Walters book with great success. I also emphasized obedience training quite a bit. For the first 3 months of training it was play fetch and the training portion was obedience. Then we integrated the 2. My first hunting dog and last year was his first year. He had over 200 retrieves. My in law got a lab and she had a great prey drive, but her obedience was in the crapper. I hate hunting with that dog. This year we are refining a few short comings with mine, but overall I couldn't be happier.

[freberd]

look up Hillman dog training videos

[PA BEN]

This is a great book, I used it 26 years ago to train my first lab. He was a great hunting dog. He died in 2004. I have a new pup coming and have purchased this book from amazon. I have it on my Kindle too. "Speed train your own retriever" Great book, it's geared to the working guy who doesn't have all the time to train, he uses everyday things you do with your dog to speed train. Look it up on amazon and read up on it.

[Labs07]

Read Wolters...it will help you out.