New Chessie

[Gertie]

My sweetie just got himself a new 9 month old Chessie. She is from field trial lines and was purchased by her former owner for breeding purposes but then something happened to his stud dog and he decided to sell her. She has no real training beyond potty training in the house and coming when called. He plans to train her for goose and duck hunting (both blind and jump shooting). I have never trained a waterfowl dog and neither has my significant other so we're starting from scratch here. Any advice? Programs to look into? Recommended reading? This should be an adventure!

[Sharon]

I had a Chessie once- big , loyal beautiful dog. Enjoy yours.

suggestions:
"Sound Beginnings: Jackie Merten
"Training a Retriever Puppy" Bill Hillman
"10minute Retriever" AJDahl
"Fowl Dawgs"
"Smart Work for Retrievers" Evan Graham

edited for spelling

[gonehuntin']

Don't believe everything you've heard about Chessies. They can be tough but no more so than a lab. They do have to know who the boss is, but then where they differ from a lab is that they need far more individual attention to thrive. They are really great dog's. One of my favorite dog's as a trainer I worked with was a Chessies out of Chief.

For a hunter there are two very good programs out there: thr Smart Works program by Evan Graham and Fowldawgs.