Ready for Puppy School/Jail?

[Dahitman44]

The dog trainer wants my yellow on Sunday when thye heat breaks. Copper is four months and it will be tought to say goodbye for two months. He will be a BIG dog when he comes back. It will be as tough on the kids and the wife as it will be for me.

I am going to miss the little pain in the pituitary.

I need you guys to remind me that i am doing the right thing.

I am getting a STEAL on the $1,500 in training. A buddy won it and he doesn't hunt. He will be a ready for hunting dog. That will be cool, but we will miss him.

I can tell the trainer does not want me to visit once a week, but I fee that I have to do that.

What do you guys think? Am I doing the right thing?

[tealitup]

What you get in the long run is better then the short term pain.

It is better for the animal to reach their full potential. He will love the training. Go with it. You are doing the right thing.

[LABS4ME]

After training umpteen dogs over the last 20 some years... I still haven't a clue what hunting training your guy is going ot do with a 4 month old dog. Maybe intro to birds, guns and water? But true finishing work could not be completed at this age. Your dog will be in the teething process at the end of the 2 month session and will most likely not want to do any retrieving and certainly won't be completing any force work prior to getting all their teeth in. Most of the training you do from 3-5 months is obedience and introduction to "hunting" training. Need lots of "fun" training at this age not formal training. For my money I'd do the obedience part myself and let the pro formally train him for hunting when he is 7 or 8 months old. That's my take..

Training is a good thing for a pooch, he will have fun whenever you send him... dogs love being challenged and learning things and pleasing people. Good luck with the pooch now and in the future...

Good Luck!

Ken

[rundrave]

I agree with labs. Right now you should be working on sit stay and come and basic obedience. Until you have those nailed work on them. Introduction to birds is always key as well, Birds, birds birds....cant stress that enough. You said its a lab, I would try to find a local retreiver club you can work with.

But in hindsight pheasant season is only 14 weeks away, and I wouldnt expect a full bore true hunting machine by that time either.

you brought this up before, and I never realized this until another trainer brought it up, but I think you should refer to it to something other than jail. If you think its going to be a jail for your dog then you probably shouldnt be taking your dog there regardless of what it costs.

Its hard to say if your doing the right thing or not, we dont know the dog, you, or the trainer.

Do what you feel is in the best interest of you and your dog. I personally would wait a bit and then go to the trainer.

Good luck and have fun.

[Dahitman44]

Guys --

Thanks for the thoughts. This guy is good and he thinks that it will bethe time. He does obedience training the first two weeks and works brids a little at a time. Like you said birds, birds, birds.

I wish I knew what to do -- now I am more worried than before.

BTW -- I call it jail because we won't be able to see him. I feel bad for him being all caged up in the kennel vs. playing with my 10-yeard old lab and my kids.

My heart is a little soft. I know sounds a little wussy-like, but that's how I feel about my animals. They are part of the family not just hunters.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

4 months is awfully young to be headed off to a trainer. I sent mine away at 6 months which was the right time according to everything I've ever heard/read. My $.02 would be that you want to have the dog WELL socialized prior to 6 months, if not, it could possibly cause headaches in the long run (jumping, barking, timidness, etc.) due to being confined to the kennel. After 6 months, dive into the training.

[Dbl]

I have to agree with the others, this seems awful young to be worrying about formal training. The age that your dog is now at is important for socialization, and learning boundaries, not saying he won't get that at a trainer. Spend your time on obedience, which is the foundation for all other training. We are all in a rush to get a "finished dog", unfortunately that just doesn't happen when you start with a pup. It is a long process that requires patience on both the dog and the owners part.

As mentioned above you know all the variables involved here so you must do what you think is best, but the fact that you are wavering and asking for opinions here should make that choice easier. Let you and your family enjoy your pup and all that goes with that, while you can, they grow up much to fast. You asked for opinions, this is just mine. Good luck with your decision.

[duckbuster]

Well I guess I will throw my thoughts in on this as well. I agree completely with LABS and what the rest of the crew said here.

I would wait until AFTER he loses his puppy teeth. In a month his mouth will probably be so sore to do anything from a retrieving standpoint. That's an awful lot of money to pay someone to do obedience work for you.

Since I mentioned money I'm also going to give you my thoughts on that. If you are paying 15 hundred dollars for 2 months, that my friend IS NOT a great deal!! 3 months ya, 2 that is very expensive.

I feel sorry for you in a way because for what it sounds like you want to do you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. What I mean is, the reality is you should leave him at home until after the teeth come out. Unfortunately that won't be until end of August. To send the dog away at that time you will probably lose some hunting time and I'm sure that is something you are not willing to do. I know I wouldn't want to.

If you can wait on the training with the Pro try and push it off until after the season.

GOOD LUCK!!!

[Dahitman44]

Update --

I talked to hime last night and he said there will be no problem. He said he hadd done a ton of dogs during this 4-6 month time and they turned out fine. His comment was that the other trainers just are afraid of the work it takes to train a pup.

After talking to my wife, however, we are thinking about waiting till the middle of August to start. That way he will have about two months of obdeience before he starts with birds -- that should help.

What do you guys think?

Thanks

[marine_man]

I'd say you've made a good decision.. I'd still try and hold off until your dog is done teething... which likely won't be until you're closer to that 6 month time frame...

I'd find out for sure what the trainer plans on doing... does he plan on doing Force Fetch? I'd get a good list, explanation, that way you won't be dissapointed, or expect more than the trainer plans on doing...

marine_man

[Dahitman44]

Yeah, I will.

Now remember I am Not pauing $1,500 for this training but it is what they charge everyone else. Mine will be from a buddy, so I will pay him, maybe $300.

Sweet.

[marine_man]

Quote:

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Now remember I am Not pauing $1,500 for this training but it is what they charge everyone else.

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True, but you should be getting $1500 worth of training.. even if it's almost a freebe..

That's a heck of a steal...

marine_man

[Dahitman44]

Yep -- good point.

[2thepointsetters]

Quote:

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The dog trainer wants my yellow on Sunday when thye heat breaks. Copper is four months and it will be tought to say goodbye for two months. He will be a BIG dog when he comes back. It will be as tough on the kids and the wife as it will be for me.

I am going to miss the little pain in the pituitary.

I need you guys to remind me that i am doing the right thing.

I am getting a STEAL on the $1,500 in training. A buddy won it and he doesn't hunt. He will be a ready for hunting dog. That will be cool, but we will miss him.

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That is some really expensive training. $1500 for two months....Wow

Lucky you got it cheap from a friend.

My setter is in North Dakota with a really good trainer and I paid less than that for 3 months of training.

[Cootz]

I've never had either of my two dogs formally trained but I have had them babysat for a couple times by formal trainers. My only question is why wouldn't this guy want you around? Makes me a little skeptical. Every time I dropped my dogs off with the guy I've used I've had HOURS of very pleasant, USEFUL and offered conversation/advise. At no point did I feel he didn't want me around. I actually felt a little guilty for getting as much advise as I got. Even though I wasn't paying him $600 - $800 a month training. In fact he charged me less then $100 a week for boarding that included some training he did out of what I call the goodness of his heart in addition to the excersize my dog got. What I decided to do with my now 14 month old pup was to let him mature a little and hunt him the first year. He followed my seven year old around and dusted off the back of my boots all season. Didn't bother me at all. I figured I had one good dog and one in training. All three of us enjoyed ourselves.

[MINNKOTA]

When I had my lab at the local trainer he kept my dog the first two weekends and after that i got to pick him up for the weekend and then brought him back Sunday night.

MINNKOTA

[Dahitman44]

Cootz --

Sounds like you got a great deal. I feel like I am lucky too.

[Dahitman44]

MN --

Mine will NOT allow that -- said it will mess with his head.

The dogs or his????