Retriever training

Question
My 3 year old black male lab is a very good retriever, except he will stop about 10 feet away and will not hand the "bird" to me. If I put a leash on him, he will come to me every time. I take the leash off, and he retreats. The more tired he is, the closer he'll bring it. When frisky, it's almost keep away.
What do I do...and thanks.

Answer
Like most of the people on the net, I do not have experience training dogs to hunt.  One thing I do with dogs that fail to obey other commands is to look them in the eye, give them a firm ''Bad dog!'' in a low, but quiet voice and continue to hold eye contact.  If he breaks eye contact, he is admitting you are top dog, and as the lower status dog, must comply with your command.

Having a good pack structure reduces such problems.  The dogs see all the
people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in
the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members
outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by
reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class
or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with
a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/

Not sure why there are so few hunters around here and other dog forums.  I am sure many of them are very knowledgeable and have much to share with others.  Maybe they are too busy enjoying their dogs and have too much of a life to spend so much time online.