6 YEAR OLD LAB - Training Question

Is a 6 year old lab too old to train?

I would ask down in the gun dog section lots of knowledgable folks down there.

J78--- I think it all depends on what you are looking
If you just want to take him out with yourself not take it too seriously then its never too late

especially if they are OK with gun fire--- if they are skiddish with that you might be in trouble

But really all you need its a dog that will sit----- and take the hand signal to where you want it to go--- if its a small pond and they see the duck down-- your good to go

Not going to win any field trials--- but fun to spend some time with your dog doing what they love

Its tough though when you don't have a lot of ducks flying and you expect the dog to sit for 2 to 3 hours

Thanks for the great advice!

If you know of anybody with a dog that hunts you might want to take your dog along with them on a hunt. I think it helps when a dog can see another dog perform and learn from them. Even at that age he should be able to pick up pretty quickly.

Take my experience with a grain of salt. Ditto on the above.
I guess a few questions for me would help:
1.Does the dog have any gas or a strong prey drive? (will it chase ANY rapidly retreating object) and no I dont mean does it have a flatulence problem, they all do *grinnin*
2. Is the dog oral? Does it like to bring you things? My intact male will not greet me at the door without something in his mouth even if its something of my little girls which he knows he's not suppose to have. *shruggin*
3. Do you feel like the dog is tractable (still easy to train new things)
4. Meat retrieving takes an athlete to do it all morning. Are there any hip or elbow issues since the dog is middle age?
5. For me, early on especially hunting, I could either TRAIN MY DOG during a hunt, OR HUNT, not both. If the dog is loose and your early on in your training its not fair to the dog or other hunters with you if your constantly harassing the dog to behave and follow commands it is not fluent in. On a leash or a long line for sure. If your new to training and aren't confident in your skills I would not use an E collar in a hunting situation as one can, (no reflection on you here at all) on occasion, punish with the collar rather than enforce known commands. Your emotions are high at the duck blind, and if the dog has any gas at all, it is JAZZED to the max with shot flyers in its face. Both can make for a tough morning with a loose dog, mature dog OR a pup.
So, the first season for me, I had a good group of guys I hunted with and I have shot my share of ducks so, I kept my gun in the case and worked my dog. One thing I wanted to do was train a gun dog with a clicker using Operant Conditioning. Being new at it and with a totally different mind set, there was no way I could hunt and train at the same time. But thats just me.
Harry-loves having one of his buddies hunting with him.

She will water retrieve her bumper, however she doesn't seem to care about retrieving anything on land. WEIRD?? I need to teach her to stay at my side while hunting and wait for release. Fortunately she is not gun shy at all. Any tips or advice on this would be great! Blast, thanks for the break down on info.!

I'd think its up to you and the dog.

Everything I've read about training a dog is it comes down to basic obediance. If you have that, which means, the dog responds to your commands, I think you could train her.

you never know until you try so go for it and make it fun fo rboth of you.

Of course it also depends on were you are hunting as well
if you have a nice easy drive up stop and hunt of the side of the bank/brush you are good to go- if you are going to do a duck blind with a stand for the dog-- it gets a lot tougher to make him sit on the stand and what not if its not used to it

What if she doesn't have a lot of drive to retrieve? Sometimes she will, sometimes she won't? Any suggestions on building her up to retrieve?

Don't force it man. If she's not cut out, she's not cut out. Enjoy your time with her but don't expect to have some extreme drive develop out of no where...that's something they're usually either born with or they're not.