I introduce my pups to water after 10 weeks old using a kiddy pool in the back yard. Once they are doing land marks I will start them on water retrieves. I like to have some recall control but retrieving to hand does not need to be perfect.
FF is not as much about retrieving or proper hold as it is a way to teach the dog how to turn off pressure by obeying a command. FF is a prelude to E-collar work.The dog must first under stand the command. Timing is critical. Then the dog is given the command to pickup and hold an item, pressure is applied and immediately released when the dog complies to the command. There are many stages to the program weighted items are used to ensure compliance. The dog will go through a process of healing with the item in their mouth again just another stage of the program. The dog will eventually move on to yard work where it will be healed past items told to leave those items and then randomly commanded to pick up an item while on the move. I ff all my dogs even though I do not use e-collars and it does not matter if they naturally retrieve. Its about compliance. I have seen it many times at retriever hunt test by day two the ducks are stinky and often have their guts hanging out, many dogs fail because they think the retrieve is a choice. I have also seen dogs that sit so slow to a whistle during a blind handle that they end up 20 yards off the line. I typically do not start FF until my pups are steady to flush, shot and fall. If have never been trained to do FF pay a pro to show you how. Done wrong you can mess a dog up pretty bad.
