We recommend starting training when your puppy is about 6 months old. This timeframe helps the puppy build confidence and gain crucial socialization skills before beginning formal training. Starting too early may lead to a hesitant and insecure dog.

Here’s a list of experiences we like our young dogs to encounter before training starts:

• Car, boat, and ATV rides
• Walks through the woods
• Children
• Water 
• Loud and sudden movements
• Boats
• Height
• Slick surfaces
• Decoys

Another emphasis we place on puppies is bringing out prey drive. Here is a list of things we do to achieve this:

• Simple land and water retrieves
• Exposure to feathers, and dead birds
• Exposure to live birds

You should hold off. Retrieving a limit of ducks in a flooded rice field is quite different from performing a swim-by in the same temperatures. The risks involved are greater than the potential benefits. Waiting for warmer water temperatures poses no harm.

We recognize that everyone's circumstances are unique, and it can be quite challenging to raise puppies while balancing a job and being mindful of neighbors and those around you. If you’re facing this challenge, consider our puppy primer program, designed to assist dog owners who feel overwhelmed by the various aspects of their puppy's growth and development.