Lab pup tips?

[canny]

I will be picking up my new lab pup at the end of May. My family has had a couple labs, however they came to us as older dogs. What are some suggestions as far as supplies.

I plan on crate training it, but which type I don't know either a wire cage type, or the plastic transport kennel?

I already know that they can be destructive, but from what I've read its mostly due to wanting attention.

This dog will be trained to retrieve ducks/doves, what type of toys should I avoid. I don't want to create any bad habits of being hard mouthed.

What about a collar? When is the appropriate age/size to wear a collar.

I have the book Water Dog on order from Amazon and plan on using it as my training guide.

Any other tips and advice?

[J. Colwell]

Patience is the key!

[ATTACH]

[RonO777]

I was told to give my Lab pup an old pair of socks that I had worn all day. The thought behind it was to bond the pup to me. It worked. Get him a Kong to chew on you can put treats in it for him. I have a decoy throw that the only time he gets it is when I'm working with him with it.

[super_dave]

Get a wire kennel. 2 reasons. 1. He will eat the plastic one, and 2. Most wire kennels come with a moveable divider wall. This wall is critical to crate training. Make his area as small as possible inside the kennel and move it as he grows. If you don't, he will learn to eat in the front and crap in the back. Always, always go business first with a lab, then play. Don't walk in the door and love on him before he goes outside to poo. It makes it a real pain in the future.
Frontline
Heart guard
Chew toys.
Rawhides are really not good for dogs.

O and one more huge thing. Better quality food makes your dogs poop smaller and less frequent.

Wife's a vet tech so this stuff gets pounded in my head regularly

[Blondie]

LOTS of chew toys!

[spyder012]

You want to start the whole fetching concept pretty qucick so a couple of weeks after you get your puppy start playng fetch it makes it super easy if you start off playing in a long hallway that you can shut all the doors in so the puppy has no where to go except back to you. Its toy should be something soft like a small paint roller or one of the small stuffed duck toys they carry at wal mart. And remember that puppys have short attention spans sot be patient. My puppy is not even 5 months and shes already retrieving in the water daily once they do what they are supposed to for the first time its an amazing moment. And for the collar if you are talking about a shock collar you are going to want to wait for on of those until your puppy is 9 months or older.


Hunter

[fishycatfish]

Waterdog is a good starting point. I recently got the Fowl Dawgs set and it is good. I cut a couple of deer antlers up for chews and they are really good for a teethin pup. I used a wire cage for his kennel.

[fox1]

Good luck with your pup, water dog will serve you well. Any well made chew toy will work, steer clear of the rope style, they chew and then swallow the threads and can cause serious medical problems. My pup almost had to have surgery to remove an intestinal blockage from it, luckily she passed it but took awhile and several doses of medicine.
Get some duck wings now.

[marceco]

HeartWorm Medicine and Quality Dog Food ! My Best Dogs have always been the ones I allowed indoors and treated like " Family " . I would " talk " to them like a person and used to get laughed at a lot by my wife , but the end result was a dog that amazed people at how he behaved . I am not sure why , but they also turned out to be VERY protective of The Family - My wife said it adopted my personality and was just a " Cranky Anti - Social " like me There are some book by " The Monks Of New Skete " that offer some different training philosophies . . .

[BrOkE DoWn]

Be Ready for a 2 year Job.... It took 2 years for all 3 of mine to settle down.... After that they are the best dogs you could ever own>>>>

[marceco]

Yes , Two Years might not be enough

[fowlwaters]

Find the book Retreiver traing for the duck hunter I cant remeber the author but it was one of the books when I train my two labs. It breaks now on how to handle which type of dog like if you have a high strung pup or a low keyed pup. It was more helpful then water dog. Wire kennel in the house and plastic kennel to travel in never had a dog eat a plastic kennel.

[talltexasshoote]

Be Ready for a 2 year Job.... It took 2 years for all 3 of mine to settle down.... After that they are the best dogs you could ever own>>>>

Exactly. The first two years expect a lot of behavior that is borderline retarded. They typically act like adolescent male humans for the first two years. Work with them daily and love them a lot. The pup will become part of your life in no time. Congrats on the new member of the family.

[bownutone]

Your time and attention is the most important thing you can give them. I am lucky enough to bring mine to work 2-3 days a week and it has made a big difference. Introduce her to as many people as you can. Kennel training is crucial if they will be an inside dog. At 1 year ours now has free reign in the house and will still sleep in her kennel on occasion. The basic obedience commands are more critical for the first several months and retrieving should be fun. Started forced retrieving at 6 months. Training a lab for hunting is a major commitment of time and energy but worth all of it. There is not a better feeling than to watch a well trained (and behaved) hunting dog doing what they love. Good luck. I am on my 3rd one and have finally got it right.

[Dusty Britches]

LOTS of chew toys!

this. ^^^

Congrats on your new best friend.