I should mention that the ankle break was an accidental collision but Fishduck is right because given our injury/work situation we feel we need help getting the puppy the training he deserves.

Look into Blackbelt Retrievers.
Blackbelt Retreivers

Sounds like you are doing everything per protocol. Are YOU the Alpha dog in the house? If not, that is your biggest issue.

The dog must submit to your authority and recognize you, your wife, any kids, etc.. at Alpha members. The pup is the lowest member in the family unit- period. Never tolerate aggressiveness or bad behavior. Nip that in the bud now or you are in for a world of hurt (including litigation). Sounds like you are on the right track with getting some outside help.

Good luck and hope it works out.

Welcome to chocolate labs. My next one will be black, I will never ever ever own another chocolate.

I didn't realize there was any difference as far as obedience and behavior between the 3 color phases of labs?

We took him to Noah at River Bottom Retrievers and left him there for 6 weeks of obedience training. They did a great job with him and we witnessed him behaving very well while he was there. That at least proves that he can be obedient. Now that he is back home he is trying his best to not obey but we are going to try our best to keep him from failure.

You have to follow up when transitioning from the trainer to the home otherwise all he was taught is for naught. I'm sure Noah showed you how to keep him obedient. Set standards for him and don't accept anything less than those standards.

Good deal! Jim is dead on with the transition. Bad habits return easily, so be very vigilant.

Think of it like when you were in school and a substitute teacher came to your class. Within 10 minutes the class knew if it was a party or shut up and work. A few hard lessons early will improve behavior for a long time.

Work very hard now keeping the standards high and you will be in good shape.

I don't know how I missed this thread. Wow, really surprised at some of the comments.

I'm sitting here watching my 16 week old chocolate male perfectly content to lay and wait on me. Just knowing he's only doing it to please me and I'm wondering how I got so lucky. He is very much like my young children. Lots of consistent pressure on negative habits and lots of praise when they do good.

Lots have been said, so I'll leave you with good luck and don't give up.

Ok folks we have been watching this thread and want to add some input. My wife owns the mother of this pup. She is one hell of a lab and my wife has turned down some big money for her. This pup was out of a second litter of the same parents. There are approx. 30 t0 40 titled dog in his bloodline. In the first litter there are several that are working on their master hunt title. In his litter there are all ready some jr hunters. In the first litter one is a diabetic alert dog. We have not have any bad responses on this cross,but there is always an outlaw in the bloodline somewhere. I'm not talking about the owners but the pup. BTW the grandfather of this pup is Pachanga Magnum Force and we have a waiting list for the next litter, which will be the last one

I have two pachanga magnum dogs in trAining and let me add there both EXTREMELY high driven. One has good head the other is kinda loco. Both super high driven . Let me add if your wanting. Laid back pet I don't advise pachanga magnum or any other performance driven bred dogs. I have ran plenty of hunt test with Noah and he's an excellent trainer. You have to follow and show the dog standard she you get him back he is dominant at your household but not at Noah's . You have to correct him strenuously for the next few months in order for this to work. I go through this with lots of clients some understand some don't. Good luck hope he works out for you if you have any other questions feel free to pm me

Let me add this dog will never loose his drive and may somewhat tone down after age 2 or 3 but will never be a " laid back animal " I have trained many of many of dogs I speak in confidence. I'm John Watts with Bear Creek Retrievers by the way

Nothing wrong with being separated from it. It's not a child, it's a dog and an unruly one ignoring you to establish himself as the Alpha. Send his butt away to be trained by a professional.

You can contact me at 256 996 4256 I'm not sure we're you are but I train professionally . Bear creek retrievers

Noah is a pro and is good at what he does 6 weeks was a tight squeeze however to get fully trained through obedience . I highly recommend buying a shock collar and reinforcing Noah's foundation

We take our choc for a couple of walks every day. My walk is about 4.5 miles and my wife's is around 3 miles. I play fetch with her daily with a frisbee too. I taught her how to catch it before she was 1 yrs old. She's 8 yrs old now. Use a tournament frisbee as her dinner dish as well as her fetch toy. When you throw it, he should get to where he will chase it in the air. Be prepared to treat him when he catches it the 1st time and do so for a few times then he should catch on and do it all of the time. The main thing is spending time with him.

We have one. THE most PARANOID animal i have ever seen. If he was human he'd be in a psych ward.

I know this is a very old thread and I meant to update it a long time ago. Our chocolate lab pup (Ira) is now just over 3 years old and he is wonderful. I cannot believe what a great dog he turned out to be. I guess the problem was not his behavior but rather me not being used to such a rambunctious, loud, and energetic pet. I am now thankful for his energy and enthusiasm. He is very affectionate with all of us and is a treasure to our family.

We have his half bother available now, He is 7 weeks and ready to go.
$600

I made the mistake of showing this picture to my wife and then had to talk her down.I will attempt to post a picture of Ira:

[img]https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMP9V4jHI9oWednRm-i8ut3A8woQjOWoqV4eQqs[/img]