Teaching my retriever to retrieve

We live near the beach and have 2 four year old labradors who love going for walks down there and going in the water a little bit. However, I would love to teach them to retrieve the ball from the water once I've thrown it as they'd get so much more exercise! How can I do this, and is it too late at four years old?
Posted: 25/04/2007

Answer: Teaching my retriever to retrieve
Teach your non retrieving retrievers by obtaining one ball and lots of treats. Start at home by rolling the ball only a tiny distance, once the ball is in the mouth of your dog, make a big excited deal of the fact and yell BRING THE BALL! Clap, and jump, carry on while your dog walks back towards you. Once your dog returns to you, swap the ball with a treat and say GIVE! The trick is to become over excited when your dogs catch the ball in order to will them back to you with the ball in the mouth, before they find something else to do and drop the ball. They are so egar to please, they should figure it out quickly.
Posted: 27/04/2007