What age to start training for titles?

[lovemlabs]

At what age does someone need to start training their labrador for hunt tests in order to title your labrador?

[GulfCoast]

I am not really sure what you mean, but you can start throwing simple puppy marks at 10 weeks. You would not try and steady them up until much later. You can take one with no prior training at 3 and 4 and put an HRCH on the dog, if you are willing to work. Frankly, most folks try to do too much with little puppies, rather than too little. Conventional wisdom is you dont really get serious until after they have their permanent teeth.

[Kzunell]

I have seen 6 month old labs entered in Junior hunt tests with little or no training and do well and I know of a 9 year old Flatcoat(9 is really old for Flatcoats) that is currently training for Junior Hunter title. I think someone just posted about a 10 year old lab that just got a JH. You can start "training" a puppy as soon as it is old enough to leave its moms side, but you do the simple things and with no pressure. Sit is one of the first commands puppies have to learn and I taught Amber to sit at 10-12 weeks old, but my correction for a puppy not sitting was to just place it in a sitting position. At 4 months old she would get a collar pop and a place in sit for a correction at 6 months a harder collar pop.
Marking is taught at first in the yard by playing with a toy and throwing it a little further each time. By the time they can easily pick up a bumper you can go to the "Field" and get the puppy used to water and swimming and moving through brush and weeds and fetching really short marks. Introduction to birds can be done at 8-10 weeks with a pigeon wing as the greatest toy ever game. live pigeons can be taught at 3-6 mionths depending on how confident your pup is.
Force Fetch should really start after the pups permenant teeth come in or a little later depending again on dog and method.
Pups learn from the instant they are born and can continue to learn until they die. We teach them with every interaction and situation they are in.

Kelly and Amber and Ready.

[Tatyana]

You start as early as you can but consider the age. Evey and her littermates were introduced to water and swimming at 4 weeks of age. They were playing with real bird wings from about the same time. You should get Jackie Mertens' "Sound Beginnings" DVD, which describes a great puppy training program.