Is there a "best" method out there for begining to teach hand sinals? Having troulble with blinds.

Hand signals are not difficult to teach if you go about it in a step by step fashion. YOur dog should be sitting on the whistle and steady to hand thrown bumpers while sitting several feet away.
Start by putting a check cord on pup and sitting pup facing you, about 10-15 feet away. Have ONE bumper in hand. Toss the bumper over the left or right shoulder of the dog and behind him about 12 feet - this is so he looks over that shoulder as the bumper goes back. When you are ready to cast your dog he should be looking at you - give a sit whistle to get his attention or snap the check cord. Then raise your arm straight up (close to your body) from your sternum to above your head, palm facing the dog and fingers together. Use the left or right hand cast depending on which side of your dog you threw the bumper. Repeat this cast for a couple of days. As the dog returns to you, you can meet him where he was origanlly sitting or blow the sit whistle if he is good at remote sits. Set him up again and repeat.
Once your pup has this cast down repeat the procedure for the opposite turn (if you started with a left hand back do right hand back next)
Remember only one bumper.
Now do the left and right overs in the same way. Teach one cast at a time. Set up your dog and toss the bumper to his left or right. When he is looking at you, use the corresponding hand and push it out, away from your side in the direction of the bumper. while taking a large side step in the direction you threw. Body language is very important in helping dogs understand casting.
When pup is doing all four casts you are ready to use two bumpers.
Throw the bumpers in a way that is least likely to confuse your dog. FOr example if you throw a left over with one bumper, throw a right back with the other one. Do only these two casts for two or three sessions. At this stage you should always send pup to the last bumper thrown - eventually you can send him to the first bumper thrown, which requires more thinking on the dog's part.
Next do the other two casts for a couple of days, then combine all four into your training sessions. Use a check cord if your dog takes the wrong cast - reel him in and repeat the cast, moving closer to him as needed. If he fails to take the correct cast more than a couple of times in a row - repeat that cast three or four times to get it in his head.

Now you are ready to use piles of bumpers and a little more distance - up to 30 yards. Do 3-4 back casts for every over cast.

Good luck
and Happy Tails.
Juli

I suggest searching for the book, "Training Retrievers To Handle" by DL Walters. This book will help you make a nice handling dog of your retriever. Good Luck

Another book to use is Smartworks by Grahan Evans. But DL Walters is also a good book.