Recently found a black male lab, appears to be around 1 yr old, out on a country road looks like someone dumped him and has wounds on his inner legs like a shotgun blast!!! So I brought him home... He is very calm and great around people and other dogs he just has no interest in retrieving and wont put anything in his mouth. Maybe he was abused for chewing by previous owners, any advice on how to get him playing and retrieving???

Awwww... that's terrible! Poor pup! But at least now he has a good home and someone that he can put his trust in - and that's what I would let him do... give him time to learn that he can trust you. Once he feels safe, I'm sure he'll relax and be willing to have some fun, maybe even take a chance. And I'd guess he'll be incredibly grateful for the second chance you're giving him and he'll turn himself inside out to please you. So, once he learns that retrieving is a game you like, he'll like it too. But for now, I'd say the strongest foundation you can make is to just build his trust and sense of security.

Its great to see that he has found a loving home. Good luck to you and him.

Be patient with him. A dogs basic instinct is to hunt. Give him treats and take him hunting with you and someone else with a trained hunting dog. In no time I'm sure that he will pick it up. Just remember that you are not training a fresh dog. Patients is the key to this one.

That's some good advice, right there!

Thanks for the advice, in the past few days he has been just about everywhere with me. He even found interest in a sock that I actually got him to retrieve a few times, but his attention span isnt very long. I have a dove hunt either today or tomorrow and hes comin along... so we will see how it goes.