Hey guys,

I have a 5 month old male, choc lab. He's right at 50 lbs now and looks like he's going to be in that 80 - 90lb range. I will be using him for waterfowling and upland birds.

He's house and crate trained, been exposed to his first shotgun blasts (started off with caps, then shotgun blasts closer and closer until standing over him as if in a blind) with no problems. He's sleeping outside in a well insulated crate/house setup to get him weather acclimated not to mention keeping the house cleaner.....of all things he's not doing well yet is his retreiving. I am working on it but also have two young kids (the 12 year old boy is also getting gun and hunting trained as well....bought his first hunting liscence this year) that have been teaching him the game of "keep away" when my back is turned. I think I've got that issue solved....

This is my second lab and I used a shock/training collar on my first one and it really did the trick to correct some issues as well as train the dog. I used it very sparingly and don't consider myself an expert at using it. I have got two books on order that should help me use it properly.

Two questions until my books arrive....First, how soon should the collar be used and second, does anyone have a used one in good condition that is for sale.

They are spendy and for the type of training I will do it seems hard to spend top dollar on a training collar. But, any and all advice will surely be listened to....thanks!