# Puppy Motivation



## fylling35 (Jun 15, 2007)

I've got a new lab pup. He is almost 10 weeks now. This is my first go at training a pup.
He has been retreiving toys and a bumper for a couple weeks. No more than 3 in a row and only once or twice a day. 
He has been doing what I'd consider good. He'd go and get it and brings it back excitedly. 
Untill this past weekend. Now he seems bored by this game. He'll go get it once or he'll just ignore it. 
I am constantly reminding myself how young he is and I understand not to expect too much.  I've been fairly good at that.
Now my question is...what to do next?
A few things I've thought of.
A. Stop throwing things for him for a while. Wait a few days and see what he does then. 
B. Introduce a live bird
C. Introduce a dead bird
D. Other ideas

What do you guys think?

Also, whats a good way to play with a puppy that will get him excited about hunting/chasing without creating bad habits. I find myself wanting to play with him and just have fun but I'm kinda stumped as to what to do. I've heard that playing tug-of-war can cause problems. How about: Wing on a string? Pull a toy around?


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## Chaws (Oct 12, 2007)

Real birds, pigeons in your case and pups age/size. Couple retrieves a day is fine but if I were you I'd focus more on socializing the pup. Other dogs, people, new places and environments. Have the dog follow you through tall grasses, belly deep water, sounds, smells of all sorts. If you've identified that the dog has good prey drive to chase a thrown object then I wouldn't focus on it all too much. Too many retrieves can cause more bad habits at that age than good habits.

Exposure to the world is most desirable at this age in my eyes.


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