Question about Puppy and Blind Retrieves

[SpurMaster09]

Hey guys have two questions that i need a professional answer on...

We got a new half golden-half lab puppy for a hunting dog a few months ago. His name is Tyson and he's about 5 months old. He's gonna be mainly a duck and pheasant dog but i'd like to teach him to track dead deer as well. I've been working with him quite a bit lately and he's doing really well. He's got sit, come, stay, give, and fetch down really well, and we're still working on heel.

My first question is that when i tell him to sit and stay, and then throw the bumper and try to line him up for a retrieve, he focuses on the bumper for about 2 seconds then turns to me and starts jumping around a bunch. He doesn't really give me enough time to line him up because he moves around, and when i do get him lined up and i swoop my hand, he doesn't really know what to do. Unless he sees the bumper he doesn't know what's going on. I'm sure he'll calm down the older he gets, but is there any way to train him how to respond to the swoop; because without it there's no way he'll be able to do a blind retrieve.

My second question is......... Every time Tyson sees me throw the bumper and yell fetch he has no problem grabbing it and running it back to me. However, after about 5 or 6 throws he looses his attention spand and walks away with the bumper instead of bringing it back. Should i put a check cord on him and pull him back when he does this? I'm sure both of these problems will be cured with time but this is my first dog and i'm only 18 so i'm learning too.

Any advice helps... Thanks...

[4Pointer]

I'm not a professional dog trainer and will
never claim to be..But you answered your on question
in your second Question...He's like a Kid..They like to
play games and loss interest fast,,Make your training short .
I Hope this helps and I also had a half lab and half ret...
They make a great huntin dog and as a pup they're full of play..

[brian]

He's a pup, I suggest you let him be a pup right now. Work on obedience training right now. This is all the training the dog should worry about right now. As far as the check cord, NO! Retrieving needs to be used as a reward system not work. Few pointers: 1. If the dog has the desire to retrieve then don't worry about it yet. 2. Your goal is to leave the dog at his highest intensity when the training ends. 3. Keep training sessions very short with a lot of rewards right now. and 4. and the most important. Train yourself how to work with the dog. A wise trainer told me once that its not the dog that needs to be trained but it is the handler that needs the training. If you choose the right dog, then the dog has all the skills he needs. Look at it this way, your dog is like a diamond in the rough, its your job to chip away the rough edges and to Polish him up.