Here are some friendly do's and don'ts in training your retriever:

Don't demand too much of your young pup. Pups under 5 months of age need not be completely steady to thrown retrieves. I've had countless clients bring pups in at this age and they had them sitting/steady before sending them for the retrieve. The result is typically "reduction in retrieving desire". Wait till the pup is closer to 7 or 8 months before steadying him.

Use birds often. We run marks with our guys 5-6 days a week. You can bet 4-5 of those were with birds. Freeze them when you are done and set them out to thaw the night before you train. If you are training in the evening, set them out before you head off to work.

Have someone in the field or on the other side of the pond, throw the birds for you. I see a lot of dogs coming in for training that will not "look out" for the retrieve because the owner threw too many retrieves without any help. Grab the kids or grandkids or pay the neighbors kid to help you. Have them blow a duck call or shoot a cap pistol and when the dog looks, get the bird in the air

You'll get out of a dog what you put into him. Most amateurs have a limited amount of time to train, but you have to try your best to schedule training with your dog. Get up an hour earlier and get your obedience, or force fetch etc done before you head off to work. Then when you get home, you can run over to the park and get the kids to throw retrieves for you. Purchase some remote launchers such as Gunners Up Wingers with electronics if you can't find help to throw. I prefer these because they can throw bumpers, dokkens and birds.

Get your hands on some quality training material, books and dvds. Mike Lardy and Evan Graham are two names you need to have in your library to help you learn.

Find a Pro near you and ask him or her if you could throw birds in exchange for just watching what they do.

Good luck with your training!

Tim Marshall

Brushy Creek Retrievers.com