There is a 10 week old black lab puppy at the local shelter. He looks all lab, the previous owners did not realize how much time a pup takes so they turned it in. Is this a viable option for a duck dog? Or am I wasting my time? What do y'all think?

I know with hounds, the better bloodlines have way better noses and other attributes that you desire in hunting dogs of any particular breed.  Honestly, one can buy pups from some of the best Nationally known lines for a few hundred bucks.  Figure the amount of time & pleasure that you will invest in that dog, why would anybody fool around with untested or proven bloodlines? Once you have hunted with good dogs of high class bloodlines, the difference is quite noticeable, no joke. One down side is often the better bloodlines seem higher strung or hyper in personality. Here in Alaska, people believe in certain bloodlines with sled dogs. I once had several dogs that came from a line that everybody wanted to breed into their teams.  The Sheerer line was developed in 1990's the newcomer to dog racing ended up finishing in top 10-15 his first race. People sat up and took notice.  I ran dogs from that line for 10 years and the quality stood out, my best dogs.  Point is people have been breeding dogs for hundreds of generations, seeking to improve the traits they desire.

I had friends who had Chessapeak bay retrievers, everybody wanted this certain line and I saw those dogs hunt.

If you are looking for a pet, then the dog pound is a consideration.

The unfortunate thing about Labs is they have been dumbed down hunting wise by many breeders.  Your run of the mill AKC dog you see in the papers probably hasn't had a hunting dog to stud in generations let alone a champion.  If the pedigree isn't there you are taking a big chance on if it will hunt.  That being said 10 weeks is wayyyy to soon to tell if a dog will hunt.

I got a lab from the shelter and she loved to hunt, my friend got a purebred Brit and it was worthless at hunting.

That is very odd.  Brittanies are one of the few breeds that are not plagued with poor breeding and are generally bird dogs no matter where they come from.  Use to be that way for labs and many other hunting breeds, unfortunately those days are long gone.

Give the pup a try nothing to lose. You might be very surprised on how well the pup does. Just don't get expectations up and you will be fine.

The burden of popularity...

Yeah, unfortunately the AKC doesn't put function over aesthetics.  Also the show line breeders have all but destroyed several breeds.

I would say it's more than just "show line" breeders. I think it's more a philosophy of winning at all costs and breeding what wins to what wins without regard to anything more than physical appearance. There are several breeds out there that have a strong core of breeders that value the breed for what it is, and breed dogs that can fulfill the original purpose of the breed.

There are also breeds out there that would disappear but for the conformation crowd, breeds whose original purpose has been eliminated or virtually eliminated. Think Otterhounds, Wolfhounds, Schipperke, and Elkhounds. They can be repurposed for other things, but without the conformation breeders, those breeds would have been lost. The evil isn't the conformation show in and of itself, or the breeder that shows their dogs, but rather the breeder that breeds a dog that is useless outside of the conformation venue. If they breed for excess rather that success, they do a disservice to their chosen breed.

as much money and time you put into a hunting dog, i would spend the money and get a hunting dog from a hunting breeeder, a thousand dollar pup[pie should save you much hate and discontent in the long run as it will most likely train faster , have little to no health issues and be an all round better hunter.

My wifes boss has a rescue Lab. He's now a certified Master Hunter and is one of the best dogs I've hunted behind fo Duck, Geese and Dove.
Do it

I wouldn't in my situation, I can't really handle more than one dog so that one dog needs to be a hunter.  Therefore I would not take the chance.

I have adopted and hunted behind 3 labs that have done good and have had a papered purebred lab and chessie that were incredible and now a pudelpointer.  Loved them all regardless of how good they hunted.  The last three I listed were a whole lot better gun dog than I am hunter.

If your set on rescuing a dag you can also look on hunting dog forums.  Verstailedogs.com for instance has a section where they post hunting dogs found in shelters or needing to be rehomed. Craigslist also has a lot of dogs that need homes before heading to a shelter under the Pets section.  Lot of trained dogs there that people can no longer have due to changes in their lives.  

I would also look at specific rescues. As an example, Incline Village in Lake Tahoe, has a pointer rescue and always have a couple GSP's, pointers, and GWP's for adoption; lots of similar rescues out there.

I bet that lab, with the right training and attention, would be just fine and you can't beat a lab for a companion dog...

i would be worried about bad genetics, it would suck to have a dog with bad hips, eyes or elbows, too much time goes into a real hunting dog to take a chance

I have trained 3 good hunting dogs.  2 were mixes from the pound, 1 was a Chesapeake with papers.  The Chesapeake is the best hunter and retreiver, but totally single minded.  The mixes were all around good dogs.  If I had to pick from the 3, I would be very happy with any of them.  It's all about the training and the work you put into it.