Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Running a 10 month old Lab

Mine will dig in and give it all he's got when he's running after a tennis ball pitched from one of those "chuck it" things. he'd rather chase that ball than eat,...and he likes to eat.

I won't let him do it for more than 5 minutes of so. But anyway,....is 10 months old enough to work a Lab that way?

I don't want to cause him hip and elbow problems down the road.

Bristoe you are OK on pretty flat ground or even slight hills...the thing to avoid with a pup that age is jumping...up, down, over things etc.....till their growth plates are in place...about 12-14 months. Agility trainers routinely do train a dog on jumps till they are at least a year old... and you can sure do it for longer than 5 minutes....

Thanks, Ingwe.

Jumping in and outta trucks is a good way to fugg up a pup.

What did ya name the little yellow fella?

He's Morgan. (AKC Mike's General Morgan)

I've held back on the athletic stuff for him until recently because of Lab's problems with their bones and stuff.

But this little guy is definitely a field bred Lab,...long, lean, a bit high strung, about 56lbs at 10 months, and can run like the wind. I have no doubt that he would be a good field dog if somebody could work with him on it. Kentucky doesn't offer a lot of wing shooting opportunities except for ducks and geese way down in the western tip of the state.

Anyway,...he loves to run and work out more than about anything.

I'm agreeable to working him out as much as he wants,..but I don't want to hurt him.

B, can you shoot on your property?

A pigeon coop might be interesting. A few breeding pigeons in a coop would produce a bit of wingshooting /retrieving experience for the pup, and squab for the table. Or perhaps a pen full of quail.

I used to trap feral pigeons at my employment, and take them home to work with a lab pup, and then the subsequent golden retriever. Home is about fifteen miles as the crow, or in this case pigeon, flies. But my wing shooting skills are such that I often ended up catching the same pigeon several times.

Well,...there's no law against it. But there's a lot of cattle and horses directly adjacent to my place. It wouldn't be considered neighborly to burn a lot of powder around here.

Folks do get upset when their ponies come in blinded by shot pellets.

If I could not shoot on my property, it is only a mile to walk or drive to tens of thousands of acres of public acsessable BLM.

Kentucky have anything like that?

Oh yeah,...if you drive south or east you'll run into a lot of public land in Kentucky. In fact, my brother and I own a little parcel down in the mountains that connects to the Daniel Boone National Forest.

It's about 95 miles from here, however. It's not like I want to be making regular trips down there.

That is a bit far to make daily trips just to train a pup.

I often forget that everywhere ain't the west. Hell, a lot of the west ain't the west anymore.

I'll bet that dog would be really happy to walk to the liquor store with you.

Why would anyone get a lab puppy? Are they tired of being sane? I have a year and a half old lab. He is slowly calming down. Partly because of his age and partly because he has destroyed everything I haven't fenced him out of so he lacks opportunity.

It's putting on the brakes that hurt mines hips. Labs are big dogs and they go full speed, when they over shoot the tennis ball it's flaps up and full brakes. If I had it to do over again I'd only throw the ball uphill.

They definitely like to chew. But mine seems very eager to please. I've been with him pretty much constantly since I got him and have gone to a lot of trouble teaching him what not to chew. He backslides a bit, but at 10 months he rarely gets into trouble for chewing.

I think the biggest thing is to keep them focused and worked. If you leave a Lab pup alone for very long, they're going to find something to chew on. If you take them out and run them a bit they're content to find a soft place to stretch out and relax.

Mine is now old enough that he can be worked out pretty hard. I've always tried to give him something to keep his mind occupied. From about 4 months he got regular trips to one of the local dog parks which gave him an opportunity to socialize with other people and other dogs. Now, we're out in the country and he gets to run around the property enough to keep him stimulated.

Now if I could just get to him stop chasing the neighbors chickens.

I made the mistake of throwing a ball 'up' for our lab when he was about that age[10 months or so]. He went vertical and spun around in the air landing very awkwardly with a loud yelp and limping for an hour or so. I have hoped ever since that he didn't do any long term damage to his hips.

I just gave mine his morning workout. I stand in the center of the front yard, which is about 300 yards long,....use a chuckit to throw the the first ball one direction, then when he's bringing it to me I turn 180 degrees and throw another one the other direction.

Doing it like this keeps him on a dead run for as long as I care to keep it up. That's what I meant when I said that I work him for about 5 minutes. I ran him a little longer than that this morning.

As mentioned, he's one of those long legged, slim, field bred types of Labs and he seems pretty sturdy. I'll have him lolling his tongue out and sucking air,..and he still doesn't want to quit.

I don't know what it would take to really run my little guy down. He's back in the house now and prancing around like he hasn't done anything physical.

I think I'm going to turn his exercise sessions up a notch. So far I've run him pretty good off and on for several days and it doesn't seem to cause him any trouble with his legs or hips at all. In fact, the more I run him the more energetic he seems afterwards.

I'm quite sure I could take him back out right now and he'd be ready to go flat out for another 10 minutes.

I think I’m going to get another lab when I retire. Had a great female years ago.

Waylon is 3+ now and is still exhibiting some puppy signs. Out of 5, we've had one that matured fairly quickly and 3 that pushed the envelope as long as possible.
Deer[hunting] season is very rough on Waylon. I hunt at home and he just cannot understand why I'm going out afoot without him. I'm told he just sits at the door and whines until I return.
Damn dogs.....

Beware of working him hard after his meal time. Canine bloat can be serious and is more common in the deep chested, larger breeds.

As far as the hips, if the parents were OFA certified that should bring some piece of mind.

Run his ass to your hearts content as long as the field is fairly flat and even, you won’t hurt him any. My only suggestions is turn the game of fetch into quasi training. Make his monkey ass heel by your side and sit still while you throw the ball and watch it fall (marking). Send him for the ball with whatever command you choose (usually his name), and make him return to heel and deliver the ball to hand on command (usual command is out). Once he’s solid at that walk around with him at heel and randomly stop, make him sit and then throw the ball. Again insist that he returns to heel and delivers to hand.

This is a bastardized version of force fetching the dog and will make your life easier is so many ways. Not only will he give you the ball but also he will learn to heel, he will learn to sit when you stop and learn manners to wait until told to leave your side.

I live in a sub division and run my 2 labs twice a day and to do so I have to walk them about 4 blocks to the dog park. It’s so nice not to need a leash and I get constant compliments on how well behaved my dogs are as I can stop to talk to a neighbor and without saying a word both dogs will sit calmly. When I got to an intersection they sit and wait to be told it’s okay to cross the street.

Labs love the game of chasing balls, this allows them to still have fun but also makes them learn manners.

One last comment but no matter what you do if you try this never end on a bad note. All most dogs want us love and praise and they get upset when they know they have failed you. If the dog backslides or it has an off day make the dog do something you KNOW he will do without fail and do that 3-5 times praising him each time. Always end on a good note!