Retriever Training Cost?

[deltacotton]

I am looking to send my 5 month old pup off to a trainer soon. Can anyone tell me what is the going cost and how many months does the dog usually stay.
Much thanks,
Mike

[goosebruce]

Mike, most pros are in the 400-500 range for gun dog or hunt test training. As far as how long they stay, obviously that depends on your dog and your expectations. Pros can generally give you an ideal of the time you can expect your dog to recieve X amount of training, but its always going to be in 'abouts' because dogs mature at different rates, have different aittudes and desire levels, and come to pros either ready for training or not. Lots of people send there dogs off for a while to receive a certain amount of training, then a break at home or for hunting season, then the dogs resume training. Talking with your pro will let both of you decide the route to go on that, remebering that the dog might need a little longer or less time than ya'll anticpate for any particular stage of training. This approach, knowing the ends expected, and an honest communication between pro and client, usually results in better turn out for everyone, than a peice meal approach of 'how much to put hand signals on him' or the old standby 'he's trained, just needs finishing work like steadyness, doubles, and hand signals'.

I'd suggest if your dog is 5 months now, being in contact with your chosen pro to find out what you need to be doing to ready pup for 'school'. Time saved by a dog having a head start is either money saved, or more education applied in same amount of time, plus you learn from the process as well. Id also encourage you to be active in your pups training with your pro, as lots of bad habits can be unknowling formed by the best of intentions, just not nuff info. If you understand the processes, you'll be much less likely to do that. travis

[deltacotton]

is that 400-500 monthly?

Thanks for the reply!

[RebelYelp]

yes

[duforester]

Yep, $400-500 per month is the average. Like GB said, how long depends on what you want from the dog and the dog itself. Some dogs learn quicker than others. Most trainers will evaluate your dog for a week or two before they start charging. You have to decide UP FRONT what you would like from your dog and let the trainer know. I believe GooseBruce summed it up pretty well.

[GreenheadJim]

Have you checked into any trainers? If not, here are a few: Charlie Moody in Louisville, Online Labs in Como and Glenn McElroy in Vaiden. I am using Charlie Moody myself . I have a 7 month choc. male. If you need contact numbers, I can give them to you.

[eastwoods]

You also need to decide what you want.

If all you want is is steady to shot and delivery of birds to hand (FF) you could expect that to be accomplished in 3 months if the dog was say 7 months old when it started. You might be able to find someone for $350.

If you want the dog to handle a little it would take about 6 months and I start her with the pro as soon as the hard teeth are in about 6 - 7 months.

If you want the dog to run hunt tests at the Master level it would take a year.

FT champion about 4 years and 10 different expensive dogs and the cost would be 500 - 1,000 per month.

The pro would charge you to run the dog and there would also be entry fees.

[Dutch Dog]

There is also a thread started in the sticky category which lists about 8 or 9 different pros in areas relatively close to mississippi. Their contact info is listed as well. I started it as a single place to go to to find an array of pros and what their specialties are. I can tell you that some people think that a dog should be fully trained in about 3 or 4 months, that is a major misconception. A person training their own dog who knows what they are doing can't fully train a dog in that amount of time! A pro who may have up to 20 dogs to train can't do it either.