doesn't matter how you spell it, you will never teach that dog to read.

Chris...okay, I'll be serious for a little bit.

www.gundogsupply.com has collars and they are cheap and come with a plaque deal on them. Get one that can get wet and doesn't take anything to dry, they have several. Also, don't put his name on it (I made this mistake on the first one) put REWARD IF FOUND with your name and contact info. No reason for someone to have your dog's release word if you don't want them too.

Also, get a program Lardy, Graham, etc and stick with it. Yes, they are expensive but think this little ball of energy is going to be your duck/goose hunting partner for the next 10 years and it will pay dividends.

thanks judd. wlgorman is gonna let me borrow some of his fowldog videos too. glad i'm here. ya'll have been a lot of help

when he gets older, mackspw has a pretty sweet leather DU collar, make sure you dont hunt in it though. Here's a pic, my firewall at the school I teach at blocks mackspw as violence.weapons..go figure!

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q...IwAA#ps-sellers

Single syllable names are the best if you intend to use his name to send him on a retrieve. Avoid words that sound like other commands (Zack, Back) (Beau, No).

You didn't ask but I will give you a tip for raising your pup. Socialization is the key to a great working dog. The more stuff, people, situations your dog is exposed to, the more sound they will be later in life.

How old is your pup?

hahaha

yeah as soon as he's old enough we're going to start taking him to doggy daycare so he can play with other dogs and meet other people. he's only six weeks old right now. we don't use no. we never have with any of our dogs. we use a real sharp AHH instead. it works pretty good.

Name him "Stay". Can you imagine.

"Come Stay, Come Stay, Come here Stay."

No, seriously, like Zack said, one syllable names that do not sound anything close to a command are best.

doggy daycare?????????

yes. doggy daycare.

Not an uncommon practice. I did that with Blaze as I was trying to expose her to as many types of people, dogs, and animals as I possibly could at a young age. We had them include her in playtimes with both the large and small dogs. I feel a dogs personality and how it responds with different people and animals for the rest of it's life is most greatly influenced by what it learns during the first 6 months. Dogs are social predators. The more experiences a puppy has to draw on, the more resilient it will be. It will help prevent both aggression and fear problems later as it is a dogs nature to fight or flee anything it is not socialized to.

my sister in law manages a vet hospital/doggy daycare in CO. my wife worked there before she moved down here. so we at least know that the place is good. they have done a lot to make it very hospitable for dogs

rediculous

its good for the dog. socialization. i know out there in boonytown, there is no socialization. unless i come up.

You may want to visit some dog parks.

Not saying this can't or won't work, but I question the benefits of allowing pup to be 'educated' in an environment in which you are neither present nor in control. What is pup learning from the other dogs you would rather he not? I prefer to take my dog on lots of outings where I can monitor her reaction, determine how far to let a situation go and control her behavior. Then she is learning to deal with it the way I want her to. I like to know everything that 'goes into' my dog, so I know what I've got.

i agree

Keen

2X
Might be better if you were there too, at least for the first few times.
Make sure the staff supervises them every minute.

I don't care for the dog park idea. To easy for your pup to have a bad experience.
Not everyone there shows good judgement.
Take him with you to as many places as possible. Let him interact with dogs that are under control and you already know what their response toward him will be.
I take my dogs a lot of places but don't let every dog or person we meet come up to them.
If their dogs are barking or pulling them around and they have no controll over their dog, I just say no.
A lady in petsmart that had 2 pits pulling at their leashes asked to pet my daughters puppy. I informed her no that she couldn't and that I had already told my daughter to keep the puppy 15ft from her dogs.

well he won't be old enough to be fixed until after we move back to colorado, and most doggy daycares won't allow any dogs that aren't fixed. and like i said, my sister in law is the manager there. my wife also worked there for a few years, and may be going back there to work again. we both know the whole staff there, and we know the majority of the dogs and their owners. it would just be like my wife taking him to work with her since she would be going back to work doggy daycare. i think it will be good for him

when you movin>

not soon enough. probably gonna be just after new years. but the way they keep dragging their feet with my paperwork, i'll be here till next halloween

You asked for some help with basic puppy training. At this age the you should concentrate on house breaking and crate training.

Potty training:
You need to set a timer for bathroom breaks. He is going to go every 10-30 minutes so just anticipate it and put his leash on, take him outside to the same spot every time and use the same cue word every time. I think you said you and your wife agreed on "Potty" which is a good one that won't get confused later.

Take him outside immediately if he has been in his crate for any time at all, wakes up from a nap and right after eating. If he has an accident in the house immediately pick him up and take him out on his leash and put him in the potty spot. Do not scold him as he will think the going outside is punishment.

Praise him while he is going outside in the potty spot in a high pitched tone and repeat "potty" a few times. Pick him up when he is done and praise some more.

Hand biting:
The best advice I have ever heard is that if he bites your hand pull back and scream, "ouch!" turn your back to him and stop any playing. He should learn that biting makes you stop playing or engaging with him. Anyone that plays with him needs to do this so tell friends that come over you are training and that's what they need to do.

Crate training:
If you don't have a crate get one big enough for him to grow into when he is full size.

Here is what I do- Put the crate in an area with a tile or linoleum floor and leave the door open. I put a few soft things to lay on and leave part of it open.

I then put a wire puppy fence around it. I have a folding one you can borrow if you want. I let the puppy go into or out of the crate any time they want, they only difference is whether they can get out of the fence around it. The puppy fence is big enough for a water bowl and some newspaper and an empty spot.

He should start sleeping in it on his own if he isn't already. Don't lock him in or force him in, let him go on his own. You can do the same thing without the fence if the crate is big enough for his bowl, bed and paper.

I know you have to put him up when you leave and he might not go in by himself that is why I like the fence, I put him in the fence and not the crate. He wont associate the crate with being left alone. It will work either way, just a little easier with the fence.

x3...leave him there with those other pups peer pressuring him and he may come back wearin air max's and a flat bill hat listenin to Lil Wayne!

he loves his crate, and we got a steal of a deal. paid $30 for the really big remington crate. so as far as crate training, i think he'll be ok. he only whines when he has to go to the bathroom. but i never even thought about the fence idea. i may have to try that. usually, we give him a treat when he goes potty outside. but only if he doesn't go in the house first. i just talked to my wife, and 3 times today he went to the door and barked. so she put his leash on, took him out, and he went to the bathroom. i'll try the back turnin thing with the biting. thats the most frustrating part for me. mainly because he still has them little bitty razors for teeth. thnaks ed