Rocky,
I totally agree with Travis, good retriever basics is the same regardless of the ultimate goal. Mike Lardy does a good job explaining this in his Total retriever Training series of videos. please don't be intimitated by what you see as advanced dog work with your local training group. My local training group has evolved over the years from just plain gun dog guys who just wanted a reliable retriever that could handle on simple blinds to all out field trial people and everything in between. I'm sure those guys would welcome you and would be very helpful to you and your young dog.
The last two years all of my fellow field trialers got out of the game but I happened to meet some new guys to our area with young dogs they wanted to train for basic hunting. It is easy to set up a test that can be modified for every level of dog from advanced all age to puppy marks. Then they can show you some drills to work on your own in your yard.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is using a pro trainer. I actually send all of my dogs of to a pro for what we call break out training. This is usually after the dog has finished teething around six months of age. I don't want to start another controversy, but the pro will force fetch the dog, tighten up his obedience, heeling, sitting, ect, teach to dog good water habits, and start him or her on basic handling drills. As Travis said these basics are the same for hunting, hunt test or field trial dogs. IMO this is money well spent, after 3-6 months your dog would be a very reliable hunting dog that you and your hunting buddies would enjoy hunting with.