Lab Puppy Training: Week-by-Week for the First 16 Weeks
· 8 min read
The first sixteen weeks decide how easy the next two years are. You are not making a hunting dog yet — you are making a confident, biddable puppy that thinks working with you is the best part of the day.
Weeks 8–9: home, crate, and name Keep the world small. The puppy learns the crate is a good place, the yard is safe, and its name means good things happen.
Feed part of every meal by hand. Say the name once, reward when the head turns. Never use the name for correction.
Short potty schedule, lots of sleep, and no long car trips or crowded places yet.
Weeks 9–10: come-in and the first fetches Sit on the floor of a hallway and let the puppy run to you. Reward hugely. This is the recall you will rely on for a decade.
Roll a small puppy bumper or a sock down the hallway. The walls do the work — the puppy has nowhere to go but back to you. Two or three throws, then stop while the puppy still wants more.
Weeks 10–11: socialization on the puppy's terms New surfaces, new sounds, calm adults, and healthy vaccinated dogs. Grass, gravel, metal grates, wobbly boards, stairs, tall cover.
Let the puppy approach; never drag it toward something scary. One or two new experiences a day is enough.
Weeks 11–12: sit, and what sit means Teach sit with a lure or gentle collar guidance, then start extending duration. From the beginning, the puppy is released from a sit — it is not free to get up on its own.
Because sit already means "stay put until released," you never introduce a separate stay command. That single habit prevents years of confusion.
Weeks 12–13: lead work and heel position Introduce a flat collar and a light lead indoors. Let the puppy drag it, then follow it, then walk with you.
Start the idea of heel position at your left side with a treat or bumper held at your hip. No corrections yet — just position and reward.
Weeks 13–14: water, cover, and mild adversity Warm shallow water on a warm day. Tall grass. A small ditch to hop. Confidence comes from small challenges the puppy solves itself.
Keep retrieving fun and short. Do not let the puppy play keep-away — go back to the hallway if it starts.
Weeks 14–15: noise conditioning Clanging feed pans, a hand clap, a distant cap gun while the puppy is eating or playing. Far away first. Nothing dramatic.
If the puppy startles and recovers quickly, that is good. If it does not recover, back off substantially.
Weeks 15–16: the shape of a routine Two five-minute sessions a day: a little obedience, a little retrieving, a little exposure. End every session with something the puppy does well.
Things to avoid entirely No force fetch. No e-collar. No repeated commands. No long sessions. No unstructured play with rowdy adult dogs. No throwing the puppy in water.
Track it. Even at this age, a short daily log — what you worked on, how it went, what to repeat — turns sixteen weeks of guesswork into a plan.