Trainer Recommendations?

[Uncle Nicky]

Adopted a Golden Retriever-spaniel pup yesterday, and trying to weigh the pros & cons of hiring a trainer vs. figuring it out myself. Can anyone recommend a trainer that specializes in flushing breeds? I'm mostly interested in training the dog for pheasants (and eventually turkeys).

Doesn't necessarily have to be in NY, but I'd like to keep it within 300-400 miles.

Thanks!

[mike rossi]

A good trainer will produce a better dog and might even prevent a novice from creating bad habits or worse bringing the dog close to the point of no return - I hesitate to say "ruin" because any dog is salvageable, however it becomes unpractical or unwise to salvage some of them.

 

Hiring a trainer is expensive, but when you are dealing with hunting dogs, it may not be as costly relative to doing it yourself. The reason is because you need birds , private land, and training hunting dogs is regulated under NY state environmental conservation law. Not all, but most dog training must be done on private land and with released birds. The permit to possess live game birds alone costs $200 and there is red tape involved. It is questionable if the common use of rock doves (pigeons) is actually legal under the most conservative interpretation of the relevant laws.

 

On the other hand, training your own dog is a satisfying journey if you have both the time & dedication to follow through. As a novice your learning curve will dictate the dogs and that is the most obvious advantage to hiring a trainer - he is not learning (never totally true, but you get my drift) and your dog will develop quicker with less setbacks.

 

Off course there are many quacks in the dog training business, most of them talk real good too. As a matter of fact they are far better sales people then trainers. Often the worse ones have fancy facilities and woe clients with their material wealth. So beware...

 

I work dogs and depending on your dogs temperament I would be willing to evaluate it for you, send me a private message with your phone number and I will give you a call.

 

 

Edited January 21, 2014 by mike rossi

[Doewhacker]

"Adopted a Golden Retriever-spaniel pup yesterday"

 

Thats an interesting combo!

 

And, I agree with what Mike said and would add....

 

 

You have to interveiw the trainer like you would a baby sitter. I worked with a trainer and he trained me along with the dog which was nice. Now I do it all myself and enjoy that more than anything else.

[mike rossi]

 Although , I agree with what I think doe whacker is alluding to - that people that work with dogs (not just trainers by the way) have abusers among them. However, the trainers who tell you that they exclusively use positive reinforcement do not fully understand how a dog's mind works and how dogs and people interact. Interviewing a trainer as you would a babysitter is fair cautionary advice, but it needs to be put into the proper perspective.

[Doewhacker]

Yes, more agreement here. Each dog is different in what they need as far as correction. Some are softer than others and any trainer worth his salt will be able to tell pretty quickly what the best way to train that dog is.

I would ask for references, do Internet searches of potential trainers names and go and look at the facilities and training grounds before deciding. Many folks find a guy and turn their dog over with out knowing the methods they use, so if there is one that they might not agree with or understand it could turn into a problem for the owner later on.

E-collars are a prime example of that, with out proper knowledge they can do more damage than good. And at the same time they can be a valuable asset.

[bruno1]

I've been using Rick Walklate from Simply Retrievers for 4 years. He has 3 of my labs and got one to Master Nationals and got him his QAA title. Great guy that became a great friend of mine. What I like is he doesn't take a lot of dogs so there's plenty of interaction with the dogs on a daily basis. My dogs are my children and I trust Rick thats why I've been using him so long

[mike rossi]

I got back to Nick and told him I realized I had a temporary case of insanity and lapse of judgment thinking I could help him with a turkey dog. I told him about the turkey outfitter in Candor who might be able to help him. 

 

E collars have evolved and so have the methods of using them. I am old enough to remember the early models which had one button - HOT. At that time nobody really knew how to use them the way they are used today. Back then they were merely used to punish a dog when it disobeyed a learned command. Today they have multi levels of correction, new training methods have been developed utilizing e collars, and the modern use of these tools actually makes training less hard on dogs.

[Uncle Nicky]

Thanks again Mike. I'm familiar with Pete Clare/Turkey Trot Acres, but I'm positive he has guides with trained dogs, I don't think he's a trainer himself.

 

One reason I was thinking to have the dog trained for pheasants first was to get him familiar with live birds, flushing, commands, etc. I'm fairly confident once she's at this stage that I can finish training her on turkeys myself, I have a pretty good network of guys with turkey dogs that I can pick their brains if I run into trouble.

[Uncle Nicky]

Edited January 25, 2014 by Uncle Nicky

[Jeremy K]

Start training him basic commands right away just to get him to listen to you right from the start .

[Uncle Nicky]

_{Just wanted to give an update...the "Golden/Spaniel" pup we adopted turned out NOT to be what we originally were told, I'm guessing more like beagle/Jack Russell mix. The whole fam loves the dog, so there's no turning back at this point. I decided to go full speed ahead with the plan.}

 

_{I found a trainer within a 50 mile drive, her philosophy is to train the owner as well. I've worked the pup (10 months old now) on live chukars & pheasants, and laid down trails with turkey wings & tails in the woods behind my house, so far she hasn't missed. The real test will be this fall, trying to get her to find & flush live turkeys, she's not a big dog, so hopefully she won't be intimidated by them. Worst case is I have a well-behaved pal to hang out with in the fall turkey woods.}

[Waldershrek]

_{I found a trainer within a 50 mile drive, her philosophy is to train the owner as well.}

 

Training the person is always harder than training the dog.