Hi all, Finn is a field lab and I want to start getting him into some good activities that will use his brain. I have thought about doing some search and rescue but I know how much dedication that takes and I'm still researching it. I'm wondering if there are alternatives to hunting that anyone does that can use a lab's drive. I want to train him to fetch of course, first with a simple ball or bumper. But I'm wondering what else we can do. I know scentwork and agility are other options. Heck even frisbee catching might be fun. Just curious what forum members here have done with their labs?
We have done some gundog training, adolescent school, currently do agility weekly and am doing scent workshops in a few weeks. I also do a lot of scent games and blind retrieves on walks. We are always looking for other things to do too
A friend is a die hard agility competitor, she's an agility judge too. She went looking for a field bred Lab just for agility. He does Rally O as well and you can get into a lot of action with that as well, here. I know she does field work with her Tollers, for some reason not sure about the Lab.
I would suggest you spend time playing with him, letting him fetch and search and so on. You will soon see where his interests lie, and then you can go that route. You can do lots of dummy training (which will use his natural instincts) without actually having to take him hunting.
This is so true. My girl, Willow, is scared of gunshot, but she still absolutely adores gun dog training. So we just do that, with no aspirations to ever go hunting with her.
