I once knew a guy who didn't just toss the ball;
he batted it as far as he could with a baseball bat so his big energetic lab got more "bang for the buck" (distance) for each retrieve.

You can build a lot of agility equipment out of pvc. Obedience training, tracking, teach tricks or all of the above. If you don't have classes near you there are great beginner guides available that you can read and online forums where experienced people will be glad to help you get started.

Lisa

You can go get some training toys and hide them from your dog, then teach your dog to find it...Just allowing your dog to swim at a nearby creek, pond or lake would be great. Agility work or fly ball are great possibilities. Good luck and Kudos to you for thinking about stimulating your dog mind more than the average bear.

Soccer balls---I have several for my dogs(not labs---but have had lab mixes I used the soccer balls with.

Labs love water. Get him a cheap wading pool for used for little kids. As Mazer said, take him to a lake or a near by creek as well. Most Labs love to swim.

How about teaching him to get the newpaper everyday.My lab LIVES to get the newspaper and bring it to me.Some days I get more than one.

Shelley.

So THAT'S where my newspaper is!!!

Yes,Weed thats what happens to your paper when you cant find it,Drake brought it to me .He figures if one is good,then more are great.Thus making him deserving of EXTRA treats.

Shelley

We play indoor hide and seek with a stuffed animal. Doesn't burn off a lot of physical energy, but our Aussie likes the mental stimulation too! Played this quite a bit yesterday since it rained all day. Works best with either 2 people or a really, really good "stay" command. One of us used to hold the dog (she stays on her own now), the other hides the toy somewhere, then we both enjoy watching her look for it! Amazing how long she'll keep at it - doesn't stop until she finds it!

My lab mix dogs have loved to chase their Best Balls around the yard. The Best Ball comes in 6 inch or 10 inch, and the lab/beagle mix likes the little one. The lab/husky liked the bigger one. These are very hard balls. DO NOT kick the 10" one, you could break your toes. But you can put your toes underneath it and lift/throw it with your foot. Both of my dogs have used these balls by pushing the ball in front of them, using their chests and noses. Toby can dribble his little 6 inch one anywhere he wants to go, and growls and snarls at it the whole way. Meggie used to use her chest mostly, with the bigger one. She would get it stuck in a corner or under something and bark at it until the ball grew legs and walked out on its own (well, not really...). She would push it up the guy wire/cable that secured a telephone pole at the back of the yard. The wire was next to the fence, so she would use the fence to steady the ball, push it a foot or two up the cable, then flip it with her nose to make it fly back over her head.

These balls are great for excess energy. The dogs cannot bite and deflate them like they can a soccer ball. You can play with the ball with them, just be carefull when you go to "kick" it.... yowie!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Best Ball

Laser pointer- ours liked it better than the cats.

You can also give him a bowling ball to push around. They really take a bit of energy to move and wear them out pretty good.

Doggie calisthenics are a good energy user. If he is good with his sit, stay and down. You just do them fairly quickly. Sit.. down...etc. As they learn them incorporate .. stand and back too.

When you play fetch have two toys you alternate with so they don't get any down time in between. Throw the next one just as they get to you. That can also help to train them with dropping the toy. They'll usually drop the first one automatically to get the second one. Still use your drop it command so you don't waste the training opportunity. Smiles. I like to use the string ropes to play fetch as well as balls. This two toy method also helps if they don't want to bring the toy back and let it go. If they want to take it off to play with it you can throw the second toy then go get the first one.

The baby pool is very good. They can wear themselves out digging in the water. Labs tend to love to do that in those little pools. They'll usually enjoy diving for treats such as small pieces of chicken and that can use energy. You can also put that bowling ball in the wading pool.

Enjoy your lab and remember, labs tend to stay quite energetic and young acting till they're about five. LOL.. Good luck and enjoy.

After he's mastered "Stay" for at least 30 seconds, you can play hide and seek. Make him stay, then go hide and call him. I reward with a treat when he finds me, and hide in progressively harder places. My 11 mo lab LOVES this game. :)

Like 'hearthside' I play "find it" with my pup -- every day. I put her in a sit/stay in the kitchen then hide a treat in another room. I come back -- requiring that she not 'break' until the 'ok' -- then she goes bounding into the other room to find the treat. It it then that you realize just how incredible a dog's sense of smell is -- usually she is in the 'vicinity' in under 15 seconds (I also walk around the room a bit so she can't find it by my 'trail'). I have to keep finding more and more difficult places to hide the treat to make it more challenging -- but she loves it (some place over the head is not expected). You're right -- it's not necessarily much exercise (although she does it with such enthusiasm I'm sure it is getting her heart rate up)-- but mental stimulation is equally healthy for a dog! Anything to give them something to look forward to helps with settling them down.

Frisbee is always fun... its fun to see if your dog will catch it in the air, or wait until it hits the ground.