Looking for a Force Fetch trainer

[mlrs158]

Does anyone have any recommendations of a good trainer for Force Fetch In Missouri, Kansas or Oklahoma? I just picked up a 2 year old GSP that has a great nose and huge desire to hunt. She has had very little training. She will retrieve naturally about half the time. The other half she drops the bird and wants to go hunt some more. I need help with force fetch. I can do the rest of her training. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[deseeker]

You might try Ethan & Kat Pippett at Standing Stone Kennels. They are in KS and train their Dogs to AKC Master Hunter standards. You can get ahold of them thru their Standing Stone Kennel website. Good Luck with your new dog!!

[mlrs158]

Thank you

[Mosby]

If you want someone in Missouri give Jon Cerda a call @ Cerda-fied gun dogs. He is near Warrensburg, MO, not far from KC. Very reasonably priced.
Megan Stewart helps at his kennel and she breeds, trains and guides with GSP's. She is active in AKC hunt tests and field trials too. They force fetch trained my Vizsla.

[Steve007]

There is nothing wrong with any of this, and there is plenty of room in the world for professional trainers. But be aware that you can actually do this yourself and it will improve you and the dog working together quite significantly. It is intimidating to read about when you have no background, but determination and consistent effort will see you through. Especially if you keep your dog in the house, every time you let him outside to the men's room, put in a single minute before you let him through the garage into the backyard.

My dogs are full-time house dogs, and for various reasons, two of my dogs (both purchased as adults) bumped into problems with retrieve. We probably did 6 or 8 one minute sessions a day every day for a good while just to get the point across and then extended our practice from there. They became terrific retrievers, and it brought out their natural tendency to do so. And we did together.

It will take you longer to do than would be the case with a professional, but there are benefits to doing it yourself. However, be aware that you can't really hunt birds while simultaneously training for force fetching, so you may want to leave it until the end of bird season.