I have an 11 week old Black Lab puppy who we love dearly, albeit she does have her "Gremlin moments.!" She is mainly going to be a family member, but I would like to go hunting with her on occasion and she show's very little to no interest in retrieving a training bumper, balls or anything else for that matter. She does play with her "toys" and will play tug of war with some her rope toys, but that's about it. Do I need to be concerned or will this improve as she gets older? This is my 4th black lab and its been awhile since I had a puppy, but I don't remember this being an issue with my other lab pups. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Steve, try not to worry, plenty of retrievers are late starters. Here's an article that should help you: The Puppy Retrieve. Shout if you have questions.
As Pippa said, it's really nothing to worry about at this point. And even if she doesn't naturally take to it in the coming months, you can use a clicker to get her to hold and fetch later on
Thank you very much to both of you for the replies. It has helped to put my mind somewhat at ease. I'm also very impressed to see the quick reply from Pippa! I bought your, The Labrador Handbook, just before I picked up my puppy and even though this is my 4th Labrador I've found the information very useful and I like the idea of not using "aversive" techniques for training. I'm working hard to implement the techniques outlined in the book. The "food training" is working very well! She's already better behaved with her food than my previous three labs! Thanx again!!
I had a similar problem with Ziggy where he showed no interest/understanding of retrieving. I used a clicker to teach him to fetch a tennis ball and he picked that up within a few sessions. We have short games every other day or so to make sure he doesn't get bored of it. In the past couple of days he's started bringing me my slippers (which is a progression from stealing them and running around! ) which I think is his wee retrieving brain kicking into gear...that and he usually gets a bit of kibble for doing it!
