Keown

I have had two great labs in my life. I am going to get a pup in about 7 weeks from a great set of parents. I want to train this one to hand signals and whistle instead of voice commands. Can anybody tell me what training materials are available to help me in this process?

Doc E

For a really good hunting buddy, get "Smartwork I" by Evan Graham. If you want to do Hunt Tests/Field Trials, get "Smartwork II" as well. Probably the best place to get them is from www.coonriverkennels.com

SMOKIN GUN

BUY MIKE LARDYS TOTAL RETRIEVER TRAINING COMES WITH 3 TAPES AND A MANUAL. HES THE BEST THERE IS AND HAS MORE NATIONAL FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS THAN ANYONE IN HISTORY . MORE PROFESIONAL RETRIEVER TRAINERS USE HIS METHODS THAN ALL OTHERS COMBINED. I COULDNT IMAGINE ANYONE WHO IS SERIOUS ABOUT TRAINING RETRIEVERS RECOMENDING ANYTHING ELSE. I WOULD ALSO RECOMEND SUBSCRIBING TO THE MAGAZINE "THE RETRIEVER JOURNAL " ALSO THE WEBSITE RETRIEVER CENTRAL .COM THIS IS COMING FROM SOMEONE WHO LIVES TO HUNT AND TRAINS OVER 1200 HOURS A YEAR WHILE HAVING A FULL TIME JOB. [GET INVOLVED IN POLITICS AND SUPPORT THOSE WHO SUPPORT YOUR RIGHT TO OWN GUNS AND HUNT. DONT COMPLAIN ,ACT]

Doc E

Smokin Gun,
You and I are in close agreement about Lardy -- he IS the king. However, both Mike Lardy and Evan Graham trained with Rex Carr, he was the mentor of ALL of them. Lardy's methods and Graham's methods are all derived from Carr.

Lardy and Graham are similar, but Graham makes things MUCH more understandable to the amateur trainer than Lardy does.

By the way, it's "bad manners" to type in all Caps[:-] On the internet, it's called SHOUTING If ya want to be a "cool internet dude", take a half a second and tap your "Caps Lock" key. [8D]

DoeCuller

I second or third the comments on Mike Lardy. The only thing I would add is Dave Smith. This team makes up Handjem Kennels.
These folks not only are professional trainers they are duck and pheasant hunters.