My wife brought home a new Lab he is 10 weeks old. I have a couple of questions that I am unsure about and would like all of the input you guys have to offer.
1 Does neutering a dog hinder his hunting ability (take the hunting out of him)?
2 How many of your hunting dogs live in the house vs. outside all the time?
3 Are cutting the dew claws off a must for hunting dogs... if so what age to you get them cut off?
4 What is a good age to send the dog off to a trainer?

Thanks in advance for all your input

I am not sure if neutering makes a difference or not. I would assume that it wouldn't hinder anything, but I could be wrong.

My 2 labs stay in my house all the time, my trainer ever allows a couple of his dogs to stay in the house as well.

As far as the dew claws go, I would say it is highly recommended that they are removed, but not mandatory. Reason being is there is a lot of opportunity for them to snag and cause an injury in the field. I would think they need to be removed as young as possible.

I am not so sure there is a certain age that the trainer asks for, but my trainer specifically asks they they have all of their "big dog" teeth before he accepts them into his training program.

Hope this helps, good luck.

My chessie still has her dew claws, vet said that they will remove them when she is spayed since they have to be put under to do so.

1. Shouldn't change hunting desire or ability. But it is very controversial on the age to do it. Could effect health and growth/body development if done too early.
2. My retriever will be inside.
3. Good to take them off as early as possible. Injury prone reasons
4. 6 months seems to be standard

Mine is fixed and lives in the house No problems Just becomes a big part of the family and I feel its a plus

I wouldn't neuter him till he's at least 2
Mine all stay in the house, crated when in bed
Removing dew claws as early as possible-the older the dogs the harder it is on them
Depending on how soft the dog is 6 months to 9

Right now is the time to build up the pups desire to retrieve.
teach it to be clean.
Don't worry about sit and the other stuff until the pup is older and has plenty of retrieving desire.

Robby

Some of the most prolific field trial dogs in history slept in the bed with their owners/trainers. As far as neutering goes not much will change unless the dog has very little drive to begin with. Weight issues can be a problem when older so just be sure to maintain ideal body conditioning. If the dew claws were not removed by the breeder I wouldn't worry about them until you have some other procedure done that they have to be sedated for. And I agree that six months is pretty much the standard.

Inside labs are my preference. I wouldn't care if my lab had dew claws or not. They use them if they have them, but there is a chance for injury from getting "snagged." There is a lot of debate on that one that you can research.

The best hunting lab I have had was neutered at around 6 months. He was all business and never marked and never messed with other dogs when around them.

Work with obedience, bonding, and building retrieving desire (which actually is limiting number of retrieves) for the first 6-8 months, and you might realize you don't need a trainer for your goals. There are a lot of good puppy dvd programs out there.

For sure wait until he's about 2 to neuter. Being uncut will help him develop bones, joints, etc.

Mine is just as much a house dog as a hunter.

I'd get those dew claws off when you're able.

To neuter or not is no longer considered controversial anymore. Some still recommend it to prevent unwanted litters still, but otherwise as a responsible gun dog owner, wait at least two years. Lots of recent studies out on this.
http://www.akcchf.org/research/funded-research/1488.html

"With 2,018 cases for Labrador Retrievers, analyses resulted in more frequent statistical significance, profiling an impact of neutering, particularly on musculoskeletal disorders. Hip dysplasia was significantly increased in both sexes and elbow dysplasia in males. The study involving a differentiation between neutering done at 1 year of age or sooner (early), and that done after 1 year (late), in Goldens was very telling. When all three musculoskeletal disorders were combined to determine the risk of an early neutered dog acquiring at least one of these disorders, there was a risk of about 25% in males and 20% in females, compared to a 5-6% risk in intact dogs."

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10498
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/hea...mpaign=20130410

Not a retriever, but I had a hunted walker hound that had not had it's dew claws removed as a pup. That hound did suffer dew claw related injurys more than once during hunts. For a hunted dog, I believe it is best to have them removed.

Of all the hunting dogs I have owned, half lived in the house, half did not. I noticed no differences in how well they hunted related to where they slept.

He also started having arthritis around 5 years, so early neutering could've contributed to that.

Thank all of you for your answers, it is a great help.

I'm not a professional, but here is my opinion based on my experience with labs.

1 Does neutering a dog hinder his hunting ability (take the hunting out of him)? No, but I wouldn't neuter unless I had to.

2 How many of your hunting dogs live in the house vs. outside all the time? I think in the house is always the better option, outside dogs tend to become hyper because they aren't receiving enough attention. However, be SURE to kennel train your dog. He should basically live in a kennel until he is potty trained in my opinion (unless he is outside or being heavily watched). They need to learn that the kennel is their home. I also feed my dogs in their kennels. At the very least, make him sleep in the kennel at night until he leaves for training. Do not ever let him out while he is whining/barking or he will learn that barking gets him attention.

3 Are cutting the dew claws off a must for hunting dogs... if so what age to you get them cut off? Up to you, but I would personally get them removed if it were my dog and as soon as possible. I've seen dogs with dew claws that hunt and don't ever have a problem and dogs that have nonstop problems and eventually need to get them removed anyway.

4 What is a good age to send the dog off to a trainer? I would send him off around 6 months

P.S. Good luck!!