From Puppy to Finished Retriever

Labrador retriever puppy during a training session. Photo by Travis Mueller/Banded.com

Few things are as exciting as bringing a new retriever puppy home. During those initial hours together, as you introduce him to his new surroundings and watch him enjoy his first romp in the backyard, you’re probably already envisioning frosty mornings in the duck blind with a full-grown version of this little guy by your side.

In your imagination, he’s a paragon of steadiness, waiting quietly on his stand and watching intently as you call in a pair of greenheads. The guns go off and both birds fall. One is floating feet-up on the water and the other is crippled and swimming toward some cover. Your retriever is steady but shaking with anticipation. You release him with his name and, with all the style and drive worthy of his lineage, he leaps into the water and swims toward the dead mallard. When you blow a sharp toot on your whistle, he stops and looks back to you. You redirect him toward the crippled duck, which he roots out of the cover and, upon returning to you, delivers smartly to hand. You send him for the second duck. Another picture-perfect retrieve, a brief shake, and he’s back on his stand, ready for more.

Labrador retriever on a duck hunt. Photo by Ed Wall Media

It’s a long and winding road from the seven-week-old blank slate rolling around on your lawn to the finished retriever of your dreams. You can get there together, but there are lots of stops along the way, some potholes, a few detours, and even a U-turn or two. It helps to know where you want to go, but it helps even more to have a good plan.

So here’s a road map to help you find your way. There’s not enough room here to provide you with turn-by-turn directions, but we’ll explain the fundamental skills that all retrievers need to master along their individual journeys, and the order in which they should be taught. Use this plan to visualize what you would like to achieve, and seek out additional resources, like the Retrievers column in every issue of this magazine or the dozens of training videos on the DU website, as you embark on each stage of training.

The Trainer

Retriever trainer Lauren Hays. Photo by Todd J. and Nancy Steele

Lauren Hays is a retriever trainer based in Austin, Texas. She has been competing in hunt tests and field trials since 2002 and, despite her status as an amateur, she reached the pinnacle of retriever competition when she handled her Lab, Foxx, to the top spot in the 2019 National Open Retriever Championship—a feat only rarely accomplished by amateurs.

There are interesting parallels between Hays’s chosen career and her success in the retriever training world. She holds a master’s degree in Applied Animal Ethology from Texas A&M University and today owns Austin Canine Consulting, where she specializes in working with pet dogs that have difficult behavior problems.

Hays credits Bill Eckett, a professional trainer and member of the Retriever Hall of Fame, with urging her to incorporate some of the philosophies and techniques that she uses in her profession to address challenges that arise when training a retriever. “Bill really brought those two worlds together for me,” she says. “He helped me realize that not taking a cookie-cutter approach to retriever training would open up a lot of new ways for me to solve problems throughout the process.”

Hays explains that there are six major stages that a dog must complete to become a steady and reliable retriever and hunting companion. For each of these stages, trainers use dozens of drills and exercises to teach the desired skills. To help give you a taste of the process and the kinds of things your retriever will be learning, she also identified one Essential Exercise that is representative of what you’ll be working on in each stage.

Stage 1: Shaping Behavior and Learning How to Learn

GOAL: PRODUCE A CONFIDENT, FEARLESS PUPPY THAT WANTS TO LEARN
STARTING AGE: 7 WEEKS

You’ll start the first phase of your puppy’s training the day that you bring him home. “This stage should be a lot of fun for you and the pup,” Hays says, “and he’ll learn things like how to be a good companion, how to tell you when he needs to go outside, and a variety of general manners. But most of all, you will help your puppy learn to accept new things readily and accept instruction from you. Many people put too much emphasis on the retrieve instead of developing a love for learning. Don’t push your pup too hard to retrieve. Make this stage all about investing in the teaching and developing an eager student.”

Your young retriever will also be exposed to some of the environments and objects he’ll be dealing with in the field, including water, feathers, decoys, and even shotguns. He’ll experience his first retrieves, learn to be comfortable in a crate, get used to new places and new people, and, best of all, begin to love learning from you.

One of the most important things you’ll do at this stage is establish a “marker” to help you communicate with your pup. A marker can be a specific word or a click if you’re doing clicker training. The goal here is to get the pup to recognize the word or the click as a bridge between the desired behavior and a food reward. “I like to use the word yes because it’s short and it doesn’t sound like any other commands, but you can use any word,” Hays explains. “Use the word or a click and give a food reward immediately after the pup does a desired behavior. Puppies figure out quickly that certain behaviors earn the yes and a food reward, and once you have that, you have a tool to teach almost anything.”

Labrador retriever puppy during kennel training. Photo by Todd J. and Nancy Steele

Essential Exercise: Kennel Training

1. Set up the pup’s kennel somewhere in the house where he will be near social activity when he’s in it—so he doesn’t feel isolated. Hold some food in your hand and place your hand inside the crate, all the way at the back, and say kennel. When the puppy puts all four paws in the crate, immediately say your marker word or click the clicker and give him the food. Do this two or three times, only giving him the marker and the food when he gets all four paws into the kennel. Praise him enthusiastically for accomplishing the desired behavior.

2. Once he’s consistent on step 1, repeat the process but move your hand with the food in it a little closer to the door of the crate. He still must get all four paws inside the crate to get his reward. Don’t give him any commands besides kennel, and don’t say no if he doesn’t get it right away. He’s problem-solving at this point. Let him work at it.

3. Once he’s consistently successful on step 2, repeat the exercise but keep moving your hand closer to the crate door, until your hand is eventually outside of the crate and you’re using that hand to point at the crate while you’re saying kennel. Again, don’t give any food or a verbal reward until he gets all four paws in, but when he does, follow up the reward with enthusiastic praise.

4. After he masters step 3, keep moving farther and farther away from the crate. Eventually, start doing this exercise at mealtime. Give him his food bowl as the reward inside his crate, and close the gate when he goes in to eat. He’ll soon be racing into his crate whenever you give him the command.

Stage 2: Formal Obedience

GOAL: ENFORCE GOOD BEHAVIOR
STARTING AGE: 5 TO 5 1/2 MONTHS

Hays calls this part of training the “early teenager phase,” and she says it’s where a lot of trainers get frustrated. Up to this point in a retriever’s career, all of the lessons have been fun, the young dog has been rewarded for learning new tasks, and life has been generally good. “In this stage, we begin teaching the dog that sometimes he has to play by our rules,” she explains. “And he will learn the important difference between ‘want-to’ and ‘have-to.’ We’ll teach him that sometimes you do something because you know something good will happen, like a food reward, but at other times you do something because I tell you to do it.”

This is where you introduce some of the tools of the trade, like leads, ropes, and different kinds of collars. Your dog will learn a variety of obedience tasks such as sit and stay, down and stay, recall, come in and heel, heel on lead, loose-leash walking, and whistle-sit on leash. This is also the time to introduce the e-collar if you’re going to use one.

This isn’t meant to be boot camp, though. “It’s important to learn how to read your dog and keep the training fun,” Hays says. There is still a lot of room for fun activities during this stage, and she recommends trying to keep the balance of want-to versus have-to training at about 50-50.

Labrador retriever during a training session. Photo by Todd J. and Nancy Steele

Essential Exercise: Sit and Release

1. For this exercise, use a 6-foot leash and a choke collar or prong collar, and have some treats ready in your hand. Situate the dog on your left side and start walking. Stop, say sit, and pull up on the leash. When he sits, immediately give him your marker word and then a treat. Repeat until he seems to understand.

2. Repeat step 1, but this time, once he sits, take a step away from him. He’ll try to follow you. Say no, sit and pull up on the leash to make him sit again. Don’t offer a reward at this point. Once he stays seated after you’ve taken a step away, move back to his side and release him from the sit with a word like free. Introducing a release word at this point will help in many future situations in which a stationary exercise—like sit, down, or waiting in a kennel or in a blind—is complete, so make sure you use it enthusiastically.

3. Repeat step 2 and, when the dog sits, gradually start moving farther away, moving to the side, and even walking behind him. When he succeeds, always go back to his side to release him.

4. Get a longer lead and, with the dog sitting, keep increasing the distance, and then start introducing distractions (kneel down, roll a ball, throw a bumper, etc.). Always have him on a lead of some kind and always return to his side to release him.

Stage 3: Force Fetch and Early Field Work

GOAL: THE DOG UNDERSTANDS THAT HE MUST RETRIEVE ON COMMAND
STARTING AGE: 6 TO 6 1/2 MONTHS

Hays says force-fetch is “the foundation for all retriever handling.” In this stage, the young retriever will first learn to hold an object that you put in his mouth. Then he’ll learn to hold that object while performing some of the obedience tasks he learned in the previous stage. Finally, he’ll learn fetch through the force-fetch training process. “During the force-fetch process, we don’t put the object in his mouth,” Hays explains. “Instead, he has to get the object on his own. And once he understands this, we move the object farther and farther away.” This process builds on earlier obedience work, in which the pup learned that sometimes he has to do something because you told him to do it.

Force-fetch is an involved process that must be done carefully and in an ordered sequence. Hays recommends consulting one of the many instructional video series by reputable trainers that are available on this subject. Find one that clicks for you and stick with it. She also cautions that you don’t want to start this process until the dog has lost all of his baby teeth and his adult canine teeth are long enough to comfortably hold a bumper. You might have some questions, so this is a good time to start connecting with other trainers in your area who can help. It’s also helpful to have other people who can assist you as you introduce the dog to marked retrieves in the field and other training scenarios down the road.

Essential Exercise: Introduction to Hold

1. Do this exercise in a comfortable environment like the living room. Instead of a bumper, Hays recommends using a paint roller or something else soft and comfortable for the dog to hold. To begin, sit on the floor with the dog and tell him to sit.

2. With your right hand on top of his muzzle and the roller in your left hand, gently roll the roller into his mouth. Once it’s there, pat his lower jaw while saying hold. Then let go of him, hold the roller, and say drop.

3. Once you’ve done step 2 a few times, repeat it, but this time pull up on his collar to hold his head up. If he drops the roller, say no and put it back in his mouth. Once he holds it for a few seconds, say yes (or whatever your marker word is) to let him know that he did it right, and take the roller out.

4. Gradually increase the time that he’s holding the roller.

If you stop training after this stage, you’ll have a pretty good retriever that will be ready for most of the hunting situations he will encounter.

Stage 4: Early Handling

GOAL: THE DOG STOPS ON A WHISTLE AND TAKES A GENERAL DIRECTION ON BLIND RETRIEVES
STARTING AGE: 8 TO 9 MONTHS

Now your dog is ready to start learning blind retrieves (you know where the bird is but he doesn’t). You’ll also introduce him to casting (using hand signals to send him in the general direction of the bird), water retrieves, marking (the dog sees the bird go down and has to remember where it is), double retrieves, and various patterns for picking up multiple bumpers. Throughout the process, you’ll be working on getting your retriever to handle more reliably and precisely, and he’ll start to trust you when you send him to retrieve a bird that he can’t see. This is also when you’ll start incorporating duck calls and shotguns into different retrieving scenarios.

“Training starts to get really fun in this stage,” Hays says. “Most of the pressure from force-fetch is over and the dog is proficient at obedience and fetch. In fact, if you stop training after this stage, you’ll have a pretty good retriever that will be ready for most of the hunting situations he will encounter.”

Essential Exercise: Beginning Casting Drill

1. Don’t start this exercise until your retriever is rock-solid on fetch. Find a long, straight fence. Sit the dog next to the fence and place piles of bumpers next to the fence about 6 to 10 feet on either side of the dog.

2. Stand next to the dog and send him to one of the piles, using the word fetch or back. Once he’s completed that retrieve, send him to the other pile. He’s learning to take a straight line to the bumpers by running along the fence line. Keep a bumper in your back pocket and be ready to toss it to the pile if he seems confused or hesitant. Repeat until he’s solid.

3. Next, sit the dog in the same place, between the two piles of bumpers, but this time with his rear end against the fence. With a bumper in your hand, stand four to five feet in front of him, so he’s looking directly at you. Blow a short, light tweet on the whistle, and then toss the bumper to one of the piles (the dog should remain sitting) and immediately cast him to retrieve the bumper you just threw. Repeat this step, alternating between retrieves to the right and left. Keep it fast-moving and fun with lots of praise. Throw a fun bumper behind you every once in a while to keep him excited and interested.

4. Repeat step 3, but instead of throwing a bumper, send him to the bumper piles by using your hand to cast him to the left and then to the right.

Training at this level is a huge jump for the dog. But for those of us who understand what these dogs are capable of, it’s extremely fun and rewarding.

Stage 5: Advanced Handling

GOAL: INCREASED HANDLING PRECISION IN MORE COMPLEX SCENARIOS
STARTING AGE: 2+ YEARS

“If you really love the process of training a retriever and you want to see how far you can go, this is the stage for you,” Hays says. “You’re not going to need to complete this stage unless you want to compete in field trials or hunt tests or,” she laughs, “you just want to show off.”

This advanced phase of training includes increasingly difficult marked retrieves, extremely complex situations with multiple birds, precision handling, and diversions such as poison birds (the dog must ignore one bird and take direction to another bird) and shots being fired during a retrieve.

“Training at this level is a huge jump for the dog,” Hays explains. “It takes a lot of training time and experience. But for those of us who understand what these dogs are capable of, it’s extremely fun and rewarding.”

Retriever during a training session. Todd J. and Nancy Steele

Essential Exercise: Introduction to Cold Blinds

1. Sit the dog, walk out 100 yards to place a bumper, and then return to the dog. Alternatively, you can have the dog walk at heel with you to place the bumper and heel back to your starting point. It’s helpful to place the bumper next to a tree or some other kind of structure that will help you send the dog on a straight line.

2. Send the dog to the bumper. Walk behind him so that you can be in a position to help him if he needs it. You can even throw another bumper toward the bumper you placed, if needed, to help him head in the right direction.

3. Once he’s reliably finding bumpers that he saw you place, begin the transition to cold blinds by placing a bumper in the same spot as before, but this time leave him at home or in the truck so he can’t see you do it. Bring him to the same spot as before, send him on a line to retrieve the bumper and, as in step 1, follow behind him to help as needed.

Stage 6: Hunting Experience

GOAL: THE RETRIEVER IS EXPOSED TO VARIOUS HUNTING SITUATIONS
STARTING AGE: 2+ YEARS

“Now it’s time to get out of the parking lot and go drive on the street,” Hays says. This is where it all comes together and your hard work is rewarded, but that doesn’t mean your job as a trainer is done. If you take some time to individualize training to specific hunting situations, you’ll be ahead of the game on opening day. And be prepared for a few hiccups as your retriever learns to apply his training to real-world hunting situations.

“You can’t prepare the dog for everything he’s going to see and experience in the field, and when he comes across something new, he might not necessarily translate what he’s learned right away,” Hays continues. “This is the time to practice patience, troubleshoot, and customize your training based on the way you hunt. Take notes during a hunt about the things you’ll need to work on. It’s also important to make sure your retriever goes into the season physically fit and ready. Keep him tuned up during the off-season with drills and plenty of exercise.”

Labrador retriever during a hunting/training session. Photo by Todd J. and. Nancy Steele

Essential Exercise: Customization

At this point, training should be customized to the type of hunting you do. Do you hunt from a boat? Design some drills that will help your retriever learn to get in and out of boats. Before the season begins, teach the dog where he will be expected to sit and wait during the hunting action, and practice some retrieves from that spot. Make it as realistic as possible, with blinds deployed, decoys bobbing on the water, spinning-wing decoys spinning, duck calls blowing, and guns firing.

These strategies also apply to things like hunting from a dog box in a pit blind, a layout blind in a goose spread, or a stand in the timber. It’s also important to get him some experience riding on an ATV, wearing a dog vest, sharing retrieving duties with another dog, or anything else he is likely to encounter during hunting season.

Staying on Track

Trainer Lauren Hays with labrador retrievers. Photo by Todd J. and Nancy Steele

You might be the hardest-working, most committed trainer in the world, but the road from puppy to finished gundog will never be straight and narrow. You’re bound to run into challenges. “Every dog is different,” Hays says. “If you have a problem, simplify. If that doesn’t work, determine the basic command at the root of the problem (for example, if your dog is breaking, sit is the command that needs some attention), and then go back and work on that command outside of the hunting situation. Try not to get frustrated. There are so many places to get answers, and this is why it’s helpful to get connected with other trainers.”

Finally, remember that you and your retriever are a team. “In my experience with dogs, they are trying hard to figure out what you want. Always assume that they are trying,” Hays continues. “You have to be willing to figure out what they need, when they need it, and apply it fairly. Always be willing to add or subtract a little from your program based on what the dog is telling you while keeping the end in mind.”

At the conclusion of your journey, a fine retriever is something to be proud of, but never underestimate the power of the journey itself. “Training your own retriever can change your life,” Hays says. “It certainly changed mine.”