Anybody here training dogs?

[B3]

I was just wondering because there are little if any questions about training the last few years on this board. Thinking back to years ago there were a lot of us in the same boat with our first dog. We didnt know all the answers but we figured it out together at this place. I dont claim to know it all, but I do know there are a lot of experienced folks that check in here from time to time. I enjoy talking about training problems because it helps me with my dogs......so if anyone is starting out it might help to put your questions up. It would be nice to get the same good discussions going that were here 10 years ago.

Bill

[mfalkner]

Bill, I'm definitely in newbie trainer mode. I have (sorta) trained dogs before, but this time I went for a well bred pup and have determined to do the best I can with her. I'm trying to do as much of it myself as I can, but this time have begun leaning heavily on the fine folks from Southern Flight HRC, as well as any other sources I can. I'm meeting some wonderful people and dogs, and it has helped a great deal to watch how these folks like Travis and Steve read their dogs and work what the dog is giving.

It's going to be a challenge for me; my girl Ruby is a 6.5 month old YLF out of very solid British field trial breeding, but her dad and granddad are both 500 pt HRCH/MH dogs. She's soft natured and has some spooky tendencies - she loves birds, guns and water; people - not so much. So I can't just do a "by the book" program with her. I do intend to follow a Carr-based program (I'm using Smartworks as the platform, with other influences) and will CC and FF her, but for her, pressure is a different thing than a lot of dogs. My goals for her, as of now, are to have a finished gundog that is fun to be around and to see what she'll do in the hunt test games. I'm not necessarily driven by titles, but would like to see her reach HRCH level before we're done. Not in any hurry, just having fun doing this.

So - bring on the training talk!

[B3]

Good luck with your pup. I started out with a couple of British dogs. I still have the first one I trained. She's now 13 and going strong. She was HRCH and MH and took readily to the Smartwork and Lardy programs. I've had experience with a few British dogs and recently trained one for a while with the "spookiness" you describe.
Bill

[marty lee]

Bill i was thinking the same thing yesterday, hardly any training talk on any of the boards anymore.
i was looking at EE at some of the recent test we have ran and the absence of amature handlers is amazing.
Please dont anyone turn this into a PRO bashing because it certainly isnt the pros fault, but where are all the Joe Duck hunter guys?

[BrettG]

I believe the training talk subsided with the comments from people like 99 beers. Just not worth carrying on with the likes of those types.

[B3]

Brett I think it was something else. I agree 99 beers was not helpful but I don't think he was it. He only targeted one poster

[B3]

Marty I don't think there are less folks training their own dogs. A lot of folks that use a pro still train as well.

[missed mallards]

simply put, unanswered questions.

the RTF has a wealth of knowledge and they seem to answer, the questions. That and no one seems to really have any input, other than Evan. Then as said above, 99 beers would start BS and there went the whole deal.

With that said, 10 years ago, I used this board quite a bit in training my other dog. My current one, well, I think he's training me!

[GulfCoast]

[mfalkner]

[mfalkner]

[GulfCoast]

Steve has trained more "british" dogs than most of the "british dog" crew out there now, and I would trust his opinion totally.

[mfalkner]

That he has and I surely do. I'm fortunate to have him fairly close.

[RF]

As my local training group has grown and become more knowledgeable, I find myself accessing the training sites less and less. And when I do, it seems there are 3 bad answers for every good answer. The interweb "experts" also drive me nuts, you know, the ones you never see at the line with a dog.

[SkippyJ]

Training?? Just a little bit!!!!