Puppy / Derby

[Hunter]

Wow this has been a great thread to read as when I started it I didnt think we would have 4 pages or better on thoughts on this. I can see that thier are allot of different ideas as to what people think and do witch is what I was looking for. I for one got all my points in the puupies and only ran in one derby with each before I pulled them as that is the one stake at a young age they can develope bad habits and it is at the age they learn the most. I have both my dogs green broke and running this spring in all age and shooting dog stakes at 1 1/2 years old and althou they didnt win a couple trials they were both broke and standing thier birds like a million bucks and thats like I said with 1 derby run, so I dont think you have to run in these for trial experience unless you as the handler needs it. If you want to see your dog point then take it out and put it on birds in a training setting and not waste your money on a derby where your bracemate is chasing birds and your dog learns thats ok to do. And if you say you keep yours broke in the stake or pick it up if it screws up then why not have them in the adult stakes to begin with and earn some points. A questiom maybe someone can answer because I dont have the info or the time to look it up, but how many futurity winners akc or ngspa were in the top ten when they won, my bet is not very many. Thanks for all the posts they have been interesting.