Gun Dog Forum

Has anyone sent their pup away for professional training? If so - were you satisfied with the results?

Yes, and Yes!

Expensive, but if you have a good quality dog, an experienced professional trainer will bring out the very best in that dog! For retrievers you can expect around $500 per month.

To get down the basics, on average a dog will take around 60-90 days (Junior Hunt Test Level). Then if you want the dog ready for Senior or Master Hunter level you would need another 8-12 months of training depending on the talent of the dog and trainers. So as I said it can run into big bucks. Now I have no doubt you can find trainers for less....but on retrievers this is representative of what a trainer with an established success record will cost.

I run retrievers and I had one of my dogs fully trained by a professional and they did and exceptional job. I was in a new job that required tons of international travel, so using a trainer was my only real option during that time. She is still my best overall dog....!

by ejm4 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 2:32 pm

Has anyone sent their pup away for professional training? If so - were you satisfied with the results?

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#1- a horror story- mainly because I didn't do my homework first and pick a recommended pro. Just picked out a name in the American Field mag. ( long time ago) Learned a lot since then.

#2 Yes and fully satisfied. If I had had more money, I would have owned an AF Champion.

How old a pup And what do you want it to learn?? I wouldn't think of sending away a pup for anything unless it was over 6 months old. Or are you after bird introduction & gun introduction or ---just trying to find out more of what you are after

deseeker wrote:How old a pup And what do you want it to learn?? I wouldn't think of sending away a pup for anything unless it was over 6 months old. Or are you after bird introduction & gun introduction or ---just trying to find out more of what you are after

She is 5.5 months old right now. This is our first hunting dog. I have never trained one and basically don’t want to mess it up where taking her hunting is no fun.

There is a local NAVHDA which I joined, but since it is winter here in the East, it much is going on. I also don’t have any hunting buddies who have dogs or have trained a dog before.

ejm4 wrote:

deseeker wrote:How old a pup And what do you want it to learn?? I wouldn't think of sending away a pup for anything unless it was over 6 months old. Or are you after bird introduction & gun introduction or ---just trying to find out more of what you are after

She is 5.5 months old right now. This is our first hunting dog. I have never trained one and basically don’t want to mess it up where taking her hunting is no fun.

There is a local NAVHDA which I joined, but since it is winter here in the East, it much is going on. I also don’t have any hunting buddies who have dogs or have trained a dog before.

Where in the East? What breed of dog? I am in DE and know a few pointing dog folks I could recommend in my area. MOST IMPORTANTLY....What do you want to do with the pup? What are your expectations?

Feel free to PM me.

RayG

I am located near Harrisburg, PA.
She is a Drahthaar.
Primarily we will use her to hunt pheasants, etc. and maybe ducks.

ejm4 wrote:I am located near Harrisburg, PA.
She is a Drahthaar.
Primarily we will use her to hunt pheasants, etc. and maybe ducks.

Very cool. Sounds like a very good choice for your intended use.

Navhda can be a very good resource, but not all chapters are created equal. I would go to your local chapter and observe a training day(without your dog). You will get a feel for the group, their accumulated experience and focus.

Sent PM.

RayG

Sent my dog for formal OB at 4.5 months, again for FF and he went through force to pile, back, etc. Expensive but now I have a dog (14months now) that has a JH title, ready for hunting and overall well trained. Plus you will work with your dog and the trainer so you can learn, be taught what to do moving forwards with training and have a get started dog and knowledge to continue training him/her yourself

Kyle Hough is in your area (broadly speaking.) He's handled a number of dogs to their VC and breeds GWP's as well. I know at least one owner whom he handled for at the Invitational since the owner was deployed much of the year leading up to the invitational.

Are you looking to have the dog trained to run through the JGHV testing?

JONOV wrote:Kyle Hough is in your area (broadly speaking.) He's handled a number of dogs to their VC and breeds GWP's as well. I know at least one owner whom he handled for at the Invitational since the owner was deployed much of the year leading up to the invitational.

Are you looking to have the dog trained to run through the JGHV testing?

Thank you for the suggestion. I had checked with him earlier and he is booked for 2018

I don't plan to run the dog thru the JGHV test, just want a well trained hunting dog.