My wife and I started researching what kind of dog we would like a few months ago. So far we've narrowed it down to black or chocolate lab or a vizsla. Looking for a good all-around retriever and family dog that won't get too big and doesn't have long hair. Ideally we'd want to get it young from an established breeder with good bird dog lines.

Flash forward to last night and my uncle calls me to say he is helping a friend find a home for a 1-year-old male black lab, and they are just giving him away for free. They tried taking him in themselves but it isn't working out with their older, more aggressive lab. He belonged to a friend of theirs who died. Apparently this man raised many good bird dogs in his lifetime and passed away before getting to this one. My uncle said this lab is on the smaller end of the scale and probably won't reach 60 pounds. He's not registered but the paperwork is all there for us to do that ourselves. Obviously we would have to check the papers before going any further. The only training he's received is potty and crate.

As I said above, originally we wanted something we can start training at an earlier age. But it's also looking like some stars are aligning for us to get a pretty good dog here for free. We've never done anything like this so wondered if anyone here would talk us out of it (because of all the unknowns) or if we should proceed further. We have just a week or so to make a decision.

Go for it.

Put in the time and effort training and you should have a good dog.

Get in the truck. Get your new best friend.

Have fun.

Thanks, everyone. Taking a look at him tomorrow.

Sounds like a great opportunity. It would be nice to know if the sire and dam of this dog had health clearances. He could be free today but you spend big money later on potential health problems. (however, even health clearances are not guarantees of clean health) And regardless of health clearances, it still may be a perfect fit for you and your wife and a perfect fit for the dog as well. He'd be lucky to join your family in my opinion. I hope the meeting goes well.

Congrats! One of the best bird dogs I ever had was a gift. Hope you fit each other.

I'm pretty sure once we see him we're not leaving without him tomorrow. Does anyone have any video series or books they recommend for starting gun dog training at 12 months? FYI, I dove hunt 3-4 times and duck hunt 5-8 times a year. And since we don't have kids (yet) and I have a pretty normal work schedule I can commit a lot of time to training.

tritronics retriever training
10 minute retriever

And have heard good things about Evan Grahams programs



btw I bet you'll be duck hunting ALOT more after you get that dog trained. A; It makes it a lot better B: You owe it to the dog

What's his name?

No doubt. Now I just need to find better water!



Huck

Welcome to THF Huck.

Chris Atkins has some good material...Duck Dog basics. Mike Lardy has a program much like Grahams that is good too.

Good luck and enjoy the new dog.

I want to see a pic of Huck on the way home in your truck.

Best dog I have ever owned was a black lab that I got for free when she was one. Passed away last July, once in a lifetime kinda dog. Miss her dearly. I am sure Huck will be a heck of a pup

I'd say go for it. Alot depends on dogs drive, but most black labs have it in good portion.

The best dog I ever had showed up to the house one day when she was about the same age. She was 100% black lab, and apparently had gone through a couple homes. 1st lady tried to keep her in an apartment and the she just must not have liked the second family because she kept breaking out. They were happy for us to take her. She had so much drive she would go retrieve clays we'd missed when skeet shooting.

I miss Katie often. Sometimes those dogs come into your lives like that for a reason.

We got him. Sweet dog, well mannered with a beautiful coat. He appears to have been a bit underfed so we'll need to get some meat on his bones.

Welcome home Huck!

Great looking pup.

You lucked out Huck.

Welcome Huck! Looks a good pup to me

Awesome! Best friend you'll ever have. Love those dark orange eyes. I would have got a lab if I could have got a small one.

What a great looking pup! You're going to have a heck of a ride with Huck, just look at those eyes. Hang on and enjoy!
Btw, be easy on putting on weight. Just like most of us, it's easier to put on than take off. JMO

Hard to go wrong with Bill Hillmann's DVD when you're starting out with a puppy.

Thanks to those of you who helped convince me to take a risk and claim a dog we very knew little about. Huck has taken to training really well and has been an amazing family dog. I thought I would give a quick update because he was introduced to hunting last weekend. He was pretty unsure what was going on at first - growled at the decoys for a while, didn't like being cold, etc. - but on the last bird we shot he was finally paying enough attention to jump out on my command, swim 20 yards, and bring it back to me. It was an awesome sight.