...anyone have a recommendation for a training system....books/videos, for training a lab pup?

Will be hunting waterfowl and pheasant...but I'm mostly concerned about house training and basic tasks at This point.

I been training my labs forever, if your lookng to train a competitve dog for field trial or Hunt test I would recomend the Mike Lardy training info, http://www.ybsmedia.com/index....training-2nd-edition

I recently acquired a DVD put out by Wild Rose which I recomend to everyone, different softer approach to training and it works quite well
http://www.basspro.com/The-Wil...VD/product/10212393/

If you can find a copy of "Training your Retriever" by Jim and Phylis Dobbs you would be getting the best I ever used.

It was when they where working for Tri-Tronics.....their puppy stuff was fantastic and their later E-collar training system was the best how to guide I ever saw.

It's out of print but you may get lucky.

Lardy is great as well, I trained with him a few times years ago and he was damn good.

But unless you are getting real serious I would find Dobbs book.

Thank you gentlemen...I'll take a look at these and decide. I have two of them to train..a black and chocolate. So this will be a handful.

Bill Hillman puppy DVD is a good place to
start. Lardy is the way to go but it's for
advanced work.
Try to find a UKC hunt club in your area.
Enjoy the ride.

The easiest problems to fix are the ones you don't create. Bad habits can linger a lifetime. Developing a good bond goes a long way. If your dogs will do sit, here and heel everytime, everywhere you are ahead of the pack.

Have fun,

Tom

I just noticed you are from Wisconsin. You have a lot of good retriever clubs and trainers in your neck of the woods. Search out some local help. There are a lot of people who love to help people train.

Tom

The Real Dog Training Blue Print is more focused on the preparation and training of deer/medium game hunting dog, but the response to commands and behavioral training techniques can be adapted and aimed at training any hunting dog.

I've been using the Blue Print techniques on my Drahtharr and she's responding to it like a dream.

Put together by a experienced deer hunter with a unique understanding of dog behavior I can highly recommend the Real Dog Training Blue Print.

The names that have been posted are all well known sources of good and useful information.
There are quite a bit more !
Only you can decide what you want out of your dogs.
Whatever your decision, remember T & E .

Time & Energy ! The more you put in, the greater the reward.

Thanks for all the good info...has anyone used Smartworks? It comes highly recommended on a few Waterfowling forums I'm on...it's a little on the expensive side though.

I have not seen the Smartworks resources but I have heard good things about them. Their creator, Evan Graham, use to frequent a couple of the retriever sites. He was very nice and helpful. I think he has gone on an extended mission trip and has dropped out of sight.

Smartworks, along with most other programs, is based on the teachings of Rex Carr. If you follow Smartworks you will end up with a good dog. I would recommend you choose one program and stick with it. Mixing and matching is not the best idea with these programs.

Have fun,

Tom

Smartworks is good. It is a 2 part program. Smart works I and Smartworks II.
I covers the basics. II carries the basics to advanced fieldwork. It also stresses training by yourself, (Not in groups). Great for focussing on and bonding w/ your dog, BUT IMO you will need to group train if you are planning to enter HT or FT.