New puppy problems

[Clem3]

I am 74 years old and training my fourth yellow lab pup.Lost my old hunting partner late last summer and she is now a house dog with three legs. The pup is 4 months old and very strong willed. I have her pretty well obedience trained, but she is getting some bad habits. She will come, sit and stay while on leash and most time off leash. When she comes to me on call she has started stopping a few feet away and if I move towards her she backs away. I know that is not going to work. She also has been jumping on counters in the house.I have tried spritzing her with a water bottle, but she just loves the water. I have a e-collar for her and have had it on her, off and on for 2 or 3 weeks, but have refrained from using it even on low because I don't want to do something wrong. What can I do to get her to not back away from me and what will cure the counter jumping? Also she has not retrieved anything so far. I have never seen a lab that did not want to retrieve. Is that something to worry about or will it come on its own?

Thanks in advance

[SunDance]

I'm not a trainer, nor into hunting, but I've had a bunch of dogs that I've successfully trained myself.

You've had dogs before, so I don't mean to sound like you don't know what you're doing....but I have a couple of questions/comments that may allow a better understanding for those who are more professional in this endeavor.

She's four months old. That's young, regardless of how well she seems to be trained in certain ways.

When she's backing away from you, does it seem to be out of fear or is she angling to make play-time out of it? (I'm hoping for play-time.) If fear, does she do it around everyone, or just you? Some Labs seem to be much more sensitive/anxious than others. My fetching girl was hyperactive anxious with no fear of humans. (My 1/2-Lab female mutt didn't fetch and she was passive/anxious....her watered-down Lab offspring loved to fetch until his joints started acting up too much. He, also, is passive/anxious. Neither of these dogs had/have a fear of humans.) My Labby boys had no fear of humans, either, unless you count Hershey's anxiety when the ear drops came out. If her only fear is of you...perhaps you are more heavy-handed than you think. Or perhaps your voice is sterner than she likes. (I have an assertive, not angry, way of speaking sometimes and neither of my two passive/anxious mutts are always comfortable with my voice....even if I just have to speak a bit louder for someone on the phone to hear me.)

Some Labs don't like to retrieve. My female did...she was a fetching fool until she started having problems with overheating/seizures. Two of my males (a choc and a yellow) did not. (My third male had structural issues early on, so...who knows?) I never got those two males interested in fetching/retrieving...though one would play keep-away with our female Akita (Akitas don't fetch).

Hopefully, someone with more experience in training will chime in...especially with hunting expertise.

Good luck and welcome to the board!

[TuMicks]

So some of this is age appropriate. And breed appropriate (like counter surfing... they would kill to get that one grain of sticky rice that didn't get cleaned up after dinner. But I digress...)

Four months: It's around the time for the big teeth to come in. If the dog isn't enthusiastic about retrieving, don't sweat it. What incentive does the pup have for returning all the way to you? How have you approached training recall?

[Annette47]

So some of this is age appropriate. And breed appropriate (like counter surfing... they would kill to get that one grain of sticky rice that didn't get cleaned up after dinner. But I digress...)

Four months: It's around the time for the big teeth to come in. If the dog isn't enthusiastic about retrieving, don't sweat it. What incentive does the pup have for returning all the way to you? How have you approached training recall?

Yes, all of this .... how are you rewarding the recall? Dogs do what is rewarded. Sometimes the reward is not what we intend it to be. For example (not saying you are doing this) some dogs self-reward by blowing off the recall and then enjoying what is to them a fun game of chase with the owner. Recalls should be rewarded with something high-value (either a treat, favorite toy, etc) and the other piece a lot of people make a mistake with is there should be plenty of call, treat, release involved. If a recall always means the leash is going on and the fun is going away that will make it less rewarding to the dog.

Edited to add, and TuMicks is right about the teething. I wouldn't worry about the retrieving for now ... it can always be trained later if if doesn't develop naturally (I compete in Obedience and have seen MANY non-naturally retrieving breeds who were successfully taught to enjoy retrieving). Right now, basic manners and impulse control are most important to develop.