i know that young dogs tend to be hyper and love to jump on you an such. but how can you get it through there head to calm down and that jumping on me does not get you attention. ..

one more question. i have been working with here on retreves but she tends to like to take the bumper and go on her way with it where ever she wants. she fetches great just dose not always bring it back. thanks

How old is your pup? I am training my first gun dog so take this advice as just that. For the hyper-activity I would say to start giving her commands like SIT/STAY when she is her most excited and hyper. She is getting praise for being calm while also exhausting mental energy by focusing on you and giving her full attention to you. It may not seem like this will calm puppies down but it really does work. Something about intense focus tires them out. My pup is 8 months and doesn't jump on anybody. He is still hyper once I get home, but I put him on SIT and by 5 minutes later he is laying down on the floor watching TV or something.

For the retrieves: What worked for me was to really establish the OB commands and to continually work on them. We start every training session with about 5 minutes of SIT...HERE drills. I waited on dedicated training for the retrieve until well after he was done teething (had his big dog teeth in right before 7 months). It was only fun bumpers and not many of them - maybe 10 retrieves a week. Everything else was full on OB work. Where I see the advantage is now when he thinks about straying off from a retrieve I just give him a quick HERE and he comes straight to me.

Again all this is coming from my experience with the 1 dog but this is what has worked for me so far. Good luck and post up some pics.

give her a treat (about every 5th time) when she brings it back also tell her "good dog" and mean it... they always know when you are fakeing!

as far as the Jumping look at the topic Mouthy Lab and see Ironspikes answer it works like a charm.

how old is she?

Cali has always liked to give me "hugs" so when she was a pup I turned it into a command, so now she knows only to do it when I tell her to.

get you a 50' lead(petsmart and petco sell them). That way you can guide the dog back to you until she gets the hang of things.

LOVE IT!!!! Creative, flexible training that is tailored to the pup... always a great way to go!

thank you all for the help. my pup is young. only 2 and 1/2 months. but i guess it when i realy look at it she is really at her most hyper stage when i first see her. but man when i say hyper i mean hyper. she loves me i rekon. but i will work hard on her OB and limit her fetches for now. thanks.

also, something that worked for me when my dog was young, was to make sure and make a huge deal, praise, pet, love on him, when he brings back whatever he is fetching. If it's all business for a pup, it can turn into keep away. I have seen that happen with several of my buddies dogs early. Just like teaching them to sit, stay, and here. When they do what you want, you have to reward them.

As far as the jumping goes, I'll tell you what worked pretty good for my hyper GSP. When they jump up and put their paws on you, just grab their paws firmly and lift their legs up slightly while saying "no jump" or whatever command you want to use. You don't have to hurt them so be careful. It is just uncomfortable to them because they don't like their paws being held or restrained. They will learn very quickly not to jump. Have everyone in the house do it when the dog jumps on them too and the dog will learn that this is not an acceptable behavior.

Sounds like you have serveral things to work on, but I did not see this addressed:

You really need to work the Here command. Use a check cord to ensure compliance every time.

When you get to retrieving continue with the check cord to make sure the dog complies every time or they think it is an option.

X2... we use this method and we also say 'no jump.'

I do a sit when greeted with my dog. When I come home, I will not acknowledge him unless his butt is on the ground. Then he gets plenty of attention. Completely ignore him otherwise. This helps if you have 2 people, one person telling the dog to sit/stay, the other entering the room.

Quickest fastest way to stop the jumping and very effective. Knee the [censored] out of them when they jump on you. Knock them on the ground. I bet two times and pup will stop that. I dealt with jumpers all the time coming in at the kennels. I don't play around and they understand. It hurts you more than it hurts them.

Justin, you acknowledge the dog by giving them a command. If they don't listen and you ignore them, then you lack the foundation of good obedience and discipline. Plus, I never understood the ignoring thing becuase my dogs can ignore a pup or other dog all they want, the offending dog/pup never stops till finally they snap at them(which is why I just use the ever effective knee). If they sit, then they are obedient. Which leads to the next thing.

Obedience and discipline cures hyper activity. Additionally, hyper activity is related to boredom. The dog isn't getting challenged mentally.

Good luck,
Eric W.

Sometimes this is true and sometimes, it is simply genetics. Hyperactivity has become a growing problem in the Labrador breeding pool and with it, conditions such as EIC.

It's funny you mentioned this because I have recently read an article that suggests labs of today are generally more hyper than labs of the past. The author suggested that it is due to breeding strictly for field trials and hunt tests where you want the dog to "fire" out of blocks like a rocket. Labs of yesteryear were bred with a calm demeanor for more focus and concentration on hunts. Probably why we hear about dogs from earlier this century with 100+ retrieves a day. I will try to find and post the link to the article. IronSpikeLabs I didn't know that hyperactivity can cause EIC? Would it be something that the owner can suppress by maintaining a calmer dog?

what is EIC

Hyperactivity does not cause EIC (Exercise Induced Collapse) - however, it is closely related to it. EIC is inherited. It is predominantly in field trial lines and recent studies show that, in accordance to the article you read, it is directly correlated to excitable dogs with the incidence of the condition coinciding with dogs profiled to be susceptible (ie, field trial lines, hyper, male, black - again, reflection of population.)

"The syndrome of exercise intolerance and collapse (EIC) is being observed with increasing frequency in young adult Labrador Retrievers. Most, but not all, affected dogs have been from field-trial breedings." - University of Minnesota study on EIC

It strikes in a variety of ways from immobilizing the dog, to causing spasms in the rear legs, to death. Contrary to what the name suggests, affected dogs do not have to participate in exercise to have an EIC episode. Some dogs have collapsed simply by getting excited at the prospect of work, presentation of an e-collar and other such excitement or stress producing situations. Perhaps it would have been more appropriately named as EXCITABILITY Induced Collapse.

The test for EIC is a mouth swab to collect tissue for examination. A dog either has it from his bloodline or he does not.

Incidence of EIC is very low to non-existent in hunting bloodlines that have not been exposed to the condition. These bloodlines, incidentally, tend to be more calm, focused, tractable and trainable. Screening for EIC in a non-affected bloodline with calm, focused dogs would be like testing Asian children for sickle-cell anemia. It must exist in the bloodline.

For more complete information and to download a brochure on EIC, refer to this study by the University of Minnesota:
http://www.vdl.umn.edu/ourservices/canineneuromuscular/taylor2008/home.html

For an article on the trend toward hyperactivity in the retriever gene pool, refer to the following article:
http://www.fetchpup.com/dogs/breeding.php

Well Eric, I don't know what to tell you, but it works for me. And I'm not going to knee the crap out of my dog, sorry.

Justin, I bet it does. I will make sure I wear dirty clothes when I meet your dog.

My dog is as well behaved as any, dude. Don't know why you want to go insulting him. I'd put his obedience up against any dog. But I'm glad you are so narrow minded as to think the only way to keep your dog from jumping is to knee the crap out of him.

IronSpikeLabs that wasn't the exact article I read but pretty much the same theme. Now you got me thinking I need to get Willie a mouth swab and get him tested for EIC.

When you bought him, did the breeder tell you if the parents were EIC clear or even better, provide copies of the diagnostic report? Whenever I bring in any field trial lines, I get EIC clearances. I don't worry about it with my hunting lines because we've been breeding them for generations and there's been no such animal in their bloodlines - and they are so calm we've had buyers joke that the pups are 'like an old man in a puppy suit' inside the house. lol... However, I'm cautious when I bring dogs into our program. I won't take the chance of bringing EIC in and then breeding it into a clean population.

You can set up the testing through that U of Minn website.

I have a 5 month old pup. He is a tall lanky jumper. What worked on him was to immediately say "don't jump" and turn my back to him. He couldn't stand that and would just stop and sit there waiting for me to turn around.

Around my small kids it's another story. They turn their back on him and he just climbs on. In those cases I do put him firmly on his back on the ground and he backs off when I'm out there.

My dogs name IS Dude!

He was free no papers on either parents.