Gun Dog Forum

When you send your dog off to a trainers for a month or so, how big of lose is there in the "friendship" between dog and owner? Or do you take the dog in daily for training? Unfortantly, I havnt found a trainer near enough for daily trips.

I would like to do as much of the training as I can myself, cept I need training too....har har

WisketJAR,

I have been sending my dogs off to a trainer now going on 5 years. I think you'll find that most will tell you that you probably shouldn't send your dog to training til they are at least 1 yrs old. Now, having said that, in that 1 yr time the pup is at home with you and should have created enough of a bond that the relationship between the two of you would not be affected as pup will remember you are their master.
I have 3 dogs that I have done this with and all have ranged differently in age that I purchased them, 1 @ 6 weeks, 1 @ 5 months, and 1 at 1 yr. All I kept at home for awhile before sent off to trainer, and I was able to bond with and have no issues when they came home from trainer.
Dog 1 has been going to trainer off/on for 5 years at 2-3 months at a time. Dog 2 is with the trainer approx. 8 months out of the year running field trials. Dog 3 I had only 2 months before going to trainer for 3 months and I could/can tell no difference in any of them.
I too am like you in that I live 5 hours from my trainer, and going on daily/weekly training trips is not an option. Hope this helps.

My dogs have been with the trainer for an extended period of time. I work with them almost every weekend, and when they come home, they pick up exactly where they left off. Blaze steals the remote and wants to trade for treats. Tessa immediately lets everyone know the world revolves around her.

They are every bit as much my dogs as Courage, who sleeps on my bed every night.

WJ,

This is my first bird dog and I came close to sending her off this summer, but I am glad I didn't. I loathed the thought of her being away from home. I too wanted to do all the training because I really enjoy it and love seeing the fruits of my labor.

I did join NAVHDA and I also found a trainer of Retr. and Flushers to help me with proper e-collar use. I also did lots of research on different training methods and formulated a plan based on my lifestyle and preference. I also have picked the brain of many on this bb as well as formed a few cybermentor relationships with people so I can get feedback when needed.

I decided I really wanted the experience of training my first birddog to be my own so I stuck it out. So far, so good.

thanks folks, makes me feel better about options down the road.

Still getting to know my pup yet, as only been 3 weeks, so if and when she goes to doggie camp, wont be for a while yet.

I can tell you from a trainer's perspective that the dogs are VERY happy to see their owners. I usually bond very quickly with my training dogs but it takes all of about 2 seconds once mom or dad arrives to forget all about me.

Kinda hurts my feelings!

Your dog will still love you when it gets home. My wirehair was with Brenda for 8 months. I would go up occasionally to visit her and see her progress. Sometimes it is better to distance yourself from the dog a little while it is with a trainer as the trainer has to be the alpha dog for a while.

I know it is difficult to let someone else have your dog for any period of time and that is why it is so important to pick the right trainer. In my mind a good pro should be willing to chat with you on a regular basis on how your dog is doing and if they are close enough let you up for an occasional visit. In the end...you really need to trust your dog with them...

Karen wrote:My dogs have been with the trainer for an extended period of time. I work with them almost every weekend, and when they come home, they pick up exactly where they left off. Blaze steals the remote and wants to trade for treats. Tessa immediately lets everyone know the world revolves around her.

They are every bit as much my dogs as Courage, who sleeps on my bed every night.

Hi Karen your from Dave's board too

Hi WiskeyJaR,

I'm going to find this out myself. My dog will be with the trainer for a total of three weeks next Sat. I'm kinda of curious to see how he will react when my wife and I pick him up as he hasn't seen us since the drop-off date. I'm also curious to see if he'll make fuss over one of us more than the other ...hopefully me !

Hi back at ya GSP 4 me,

Be interested in how your dog reacts to seeing you again. My pup goes nuts when I come back in the room after just being outa sight for 5 minutes..har. Wife says pup does nothing but whine at the door the entire time Im out deer hunting. Takes her 1/2 an hour just to say "hi" when I return home from a day out. Juding by her reactions so far, Ild proablly be mauled near to death just from her saying "hello" after leaving her for a month or so...har har har.

When they come home it is like they never left. They even remember the special things that they do at home , like where the treats are stored and what must be done to get one.

Yawallac wrote:I can tell you from a trainer's perspective that the dogs are VERY happy to see their owners. I usually bond very quickly with my training dogs but it takes all of about 2 seconds once mom or dad arrives to forget all about me.

Kinda hurts my feelings!

I'll second you on that Ross! Funny though, when they come back to me or see me again later, roles reverse and they forget about Mom and Dad the moment they see me. When they are here, they are MY dogs, but once Mom and Dad show up to pick them back up, it's all about them again.

Yep, kinda hurts my feelings too!

I know several friend that say their dogs were better pets after they came home from the trainer. I guess they learn to appreciate liviing inside.

My male just came back home again from 3months away and within minutes it is like he never left.
My wife was very worried about the same thing the first time we sent him away and after 5 months he was excited and happy to be home. No worries anymore about sending him away from her except that she misses her boy.

Mav......

I'm really hoping things will be back to the norm when my dog returns. I felt pretty guilty leaving him behind only because the poor guy was in and out of a shelter twice. The first time as a stray and then he was returned to the same shelter by the previous adopters after only 6 months because they "had to move" and couldn't take dogs with them to their new location. The previous paperwork history showed he was adopted by two young girls. My personal gut instinct tells me they took him because he was cute, but had no idea how energetic a GSP can be and hid behind the "moving" line.

The trainer reassured me my dog was doing just fine and was one of the gang.

WiskeyJaR,

My wife tells me my dog does the same thing as yours and whines when I leave to go work on my cars in the garage two floors down. He whines for a while and then sniffs the heater vent which leads to the furnace located in the garage.

The nose on this dog still amazes me, but I still can't figure out how he can pass gas and clear a room without even flinching.