I have read through loads of posts on this site and found alot of it very interesting.

We have just bought a lovely labrador retriever puppy, he is 10 n a half weeks old. I have always grown up with dogs in my family but this is the first one we have owned where I will be taking more of a lead role in looking after and training him. He is a real sweetie and catches on to things very quickly, he already knows sit, to poop outside, down and we're on the way to sit-stay, (considering I only started training him commands 2 days ago, i think is pretty good anyway? lol) he still sleeps quite a large amount of the day which is I think to be expected given he is still very young.

I'm not really having any problems with him at all, just a few peeing accidents inside, when he's awake he's very active and playful like any puppy would be. I hope not to sound too stupid but I was just wondering really what I can do to help stimulate his mind more because I think he gets bored when playing with his regular toys because his blood line is entirely from working dogs. Obviously I can't just spend hours on end with him training commands... anyone got any ideas would be really happy to know, Cheers, Sam

> he still sleeps quite a large amount of the day which is I think to be expected given he is still very young.
>

and your mentally stimulating him with training :) if that works for him try other things to work his brain. stuffing a Kong with food makes him work for a treat, or a toy like the dog pyramid and various others.

for when he's bigger you can get toys from the likes of nina otteson (i think its spelled) (you can google these things)

also when hes bigger why not do some retrieving with him? (not a clue how but there are loads of retriever and gundog folk who might be able to give better advice)

hey thanks, also with regards to the "stay" command I think I confusing him, I get him into a sit position reward, say "stay" take a step back say "stay" again and go to take another step back and he starts jumping around, I don't want to get frustrated because I know it's probably my fault as I'm confusing him, he has done it a couple of times already but cant' seem to get it again lol... any pointers? thanks

sounds like your doing it ok, but its a hard one for an excitable baby. don't expect to much :) if he's picked everything else up so fast you'll feel like your doing it wrong if it slows but its a much trickier thing for a pup that wants to be with you to learn than a sit.

I think you're doing amazingly well at such a young age.  Remember to take 'baby steps'  tho.  Say 'Stay' take one step back, stand still and wait 5-10 seconds then return to your pup and reward, quietly. Keep repeating this til it's solid in all sorts of situations.  With any training it's better to  make sure they've really 'got it' and they don't 'fail, rather than pushing the boundaries too far.  As others have said, with such a young pup. encouraging being with you is the most useful thing they can learn - helps heel work, recall etc.

Have you got him booked into a training class yet?  Puppies can start as soon as they've had their injections.

If you choose a good one (APDT for instance) - they should be able to help you with the right exercises to do and it will help get your dog working alongside others.  I used to find that a 1 hr class knocked my boy out for the whole day.  Concentrating is very tiring for small pups.

Sleeping is absolutely critical and if you are able to structure his day he should have plenty of time to doze with short play sessions in between.  At this age he won't notice much difference between play and training as it's all quite good fun anyway.

If you think you'd like to do field taining with him later it's worth familiarising yourself with the commands you'll need.  A stop whistle is one of the most important, and I so wish someone had told me that earlier!  I wouldn't worry too much about stay just yet, if you can get a reliable sit you'll be streets ahead of some people.  Sit for food, sit for treats, sit for toys etc all good disciplines and relatively easy for a puppy to get the hang of.  Down is a little more tricky but a firm stand is helpful too.  Vets love this as it makes it so much easier for them to examine your dog if needs be.

Have a look at the KC website for information on the Good Citizens scheme - you will be able to download the sheet to explain what you will be examined on and it can't hurt to get a head start.

Your pup sounds lovely, well done and enjoy this bit - it speeds by so very quickly :)

Get him to stay one step away while you count mentally to 5, gradually increase the count to 25/30 - all just 1 step away, then go 2 steps away but back to a count of 5 and gradually increase, do this till you can go a reasonable distance away, you don't want to increase time and distance at same time. Its useful to use a hand signal as well rather than keep saying 'stay, stay, stay' all the time. The other thing is when he is solid at 3/4 steps start getting him used to the fact that you move , you see people who 'leave your dog' and when they stop they 'freeze' if they move a finger the dog moves. I have looked a right idiot in the past standing in the middle of local rec saying 'stay' while I jumped up and down or waved my arms about etc but dog did get a rock solid stay :-)
good luck, Chris

hi again all, so all is going well with the new puppy (we've called him rupert lol) however I just wanted some feedback from you about something else please.

Basically after seeing our pup my my elder brother could not resist so he has gone and adopted a pup from the same place who is rupert's half brother, have introduced them and they have met on a couple of occasions however is this advisble? They are forever playing together, though it is rough play, wrestling, biting (not aggressively though) jumping on each other, but I just wanted to know whether or not this is normal for pups their age and if its really a good idea to let them carry on like this, only on one occasion have I had to separate them as got a bit too rough and growly but what would you guys do? would you have even introduced them this early?

any feedback would be great thanks in advance, Sam