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there is no way that I could spend that kind of $$$$$$ on a dog, but I did talk to Evonne and she is going to call me when the next litter hits the ground, and if I have not found anything by then I am going to give her a look. Thanks for the info though...

CHANCE SPEAKS THE TRUTH ALONG WITH MY POST..
REMEMBER , THIS TYPE DOG THAT RUNS THAT HIGH
ARE STRICKLY FIELD TRIAL DOGS, MOST OF THEM
NEVER PICK-UP A WILD DUCK.

MINE DO, BUT MOST DONT. THE FIELD TRIAL PEOPLE ARE JUST LIKE HORSE FOLKS, YOU GET'EM
AND TRY TO MAKE THEM FC/AFC AND THEN BREED THE **** OUT OF THEM TO MAKE A DOLLAR OR TWO...ARE YOU READY FOR THIS, THE $2500 DOLLAR AMOUNT IS ABOUT THE STARTING PRICE FOR
"GOOD" FIELD TRIAL PUPS..

BUT ILL TELL YOU WHAT, SOME OF YOUR BEST DOGS COME FROM BACK YARD BREEDINGS, YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED!!

Thrasher,
I am partial because I am so pleased with Drake, my dog. He is my first dog, and he has far surpassed my expectations at this point. He has a great temperment - the only way he would hurt something is if he knocked it over with his tail which is quite possible. Drake is between 85 and 90 pounds right now, and I think he will max out at between 90 and 95 when he is completely filled out. In addition to his personality, he is one of the most beautiful dogs I have seen with a nice block head. I think Drake is one of the largest puppies that I have heard of coming from Slim.

[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Drake ]

[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: Drake ]

DRAKE ,MOST OF THE TIME YOUR FIRST DOG
MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST YOU HAVE, THE MAIN
REASON BEING IS YOU ARE 100 PERCENT DEVOTED TO HIM/HER, AND HAVE NOTHING TO COMPAIRE HIM
TOO , THAT YOU HAD BEFORE.

BEFORE HE GETS TOO OLD, TRY TO WRITE DOWN
SOME OF THE WAYS YOU TAUGHT HIM , CAUSE YOUR
GONNA HAVE ANOTHER PUP ONE DAY AND THE FIRST
THING YOU SAY TO YOUR SELF IS " NOW HOW DID
I TEACH THAT TO MAY OTHER DOG".

ITS A BAD DEAL THAT THEY ONLY LIVE 10-14 YEARS AND WE LIVE 70.

HEY CHANCE

YOU EVER TALK WITH JOE AND JAN AND THAT BUNCH.

hey thrasher

My dog was born in january and i brought him home in febuary. by the time he was 8 months old he was dove hunting. at 10, 11, and 12 months old he was duck hunting. all the training i did in the back yard and on my pond did not amount to the on hand experience that my dog got at such a young age. I may be wrong but i think it made all the difference in the world that he got most of his traing in the blind. I may be a little bias towards him but he is a pretty good dog. I would tell you to get a dog in the next few months. You will love every minute of his or her company.

would you guys send your dog to a trainer if you had never fooled with one before or would you go the do it yourself route??? P.S.-I have had no luck in finding anything yet...

before you deside about the training the real question is are you willing to get up avery day a hour earlier to do the training, I would recommend that the training be done in the morning that way you and the pup are fresh. If you can not dedicate that kind of time then send it to be trained. I have two friends one did the self training the other sent his to be trained and the home school is the better dog hands down and both are from the same litter. Ruger just seems to want to please his master where as for Max it is more like work but both dogs are only in their second season but Max was better the Ruger last year at obeying all commands, but Ruger has always wanted to please. Either way I do not think you would be displeased in the long run.

Well IMO, I think that you might need to send it to a trainer. I guess another question is what do you want to dog for? I mean to just pick of ducks or to be able to run a hunt test. I have had a couple of dogs and the first one I got was already trained, but I lost him and I thought well that I would get me another one and do the training myself. I bought the Mike Lardy tapes, watched other videos, read books, and even had a couple of people helping me about 2 days a week and I did not feel that I was doing my dog any justice. I know that all dogs and people are different, so you might be able to. I just have high expectations out of my dogs (which I am sure that everyone does) and I know now that I made the right decision. If you need any help finding you a dog or a trainer mail me and I would me more than glad to help.

Deuce,
I would like to have your advice, but I can't get your e-mail, it has been blocked. Send me your address because i do have some questions.Goose has given me a lot of helpful info.

Dog training is a labor of love. If you don't love it, send your dog to a pro. The only bad way to do it is not to. Nobody ever buys a hunting dog with the ideal its gonna be a couch potatoe piece of crap. They all gonna be great dogs. Most folks never follow through.
I come home from work and go run marks right before dark most days. I did my obedience work in the back yard this summer under the street lite, at 10 pm. I did force fetch in my living room, cause of the heat, and the noise. I did all my yard work out front, including my t work. I leave the house in the dark every day off I have, to go train with others. Most people are that dedicated, for the first week. Very few stick it out. Really, you dont have to let it become so big in your life, but it does take dedication most days for at least that first very critical year. A local dog club can help you get lined out, and gives you people to train with, and a direction to go when things go south. I got the dog at 13 months old, that 2 years ago i never dreamed I could own/train in any amount of time, and Id never got here without my training group. travis

Oh, and if i had my sights set on a 2500 dollar dog, Id buy one. Do i need that to suit my purposes? No i dont. But the people buying them want that. And we all are better off for their dedication, time & effort & money spent. But make no misteak, if i thought that $2500 dog would be what it took to fill my bill, Id stroke the check in a minute. Might take 3 months for the check to be good, but by that time we'd be puppy casting and half way through ob. Money spent for what you want is money well spent. Never think that someone that has that kind of money, and is happy to spend it like that, is wrong, about anything. I dont want a $1000 gun, so i dont have one. But if one made me happy, Id have one tommorrow. Thats whut money is for, and I applaude the people who spend it to make themselves happy. I spend every cent I can get my hands on, it just aint as much as them. travis

Guys I'm going to have to disagree with your statements aabout people geting $2500 for brand new pups. While I am in NO WAY a dog expert, I have spent considerable time around working dogs and professional trainers. You could tour the country and find only a handful of CREDIBLE trainers asking that much for a 6 week old pup. Thrasher I promise you with some research and good timing you can find all the dog you want (for both trails and hunting) between $650 and $1200! My father has a bitch dog that is a two time master national hunt test qualifier that he bred to FC-AFC stud out of Texas (cant remember name ) twice. Both litters got $850 a pup. Most were sold before they hit the ground to people that knew his dog. The rest were gone within a week. I think this is a fair and average price for that depth of breeding on a brand new pup. If you still want to spend $2500 on a HUNTING dog I would suggest a trail wash out or just a "started" dog from a prof. trainer. Again, I am not an expert just my 2 pennies!

MOST HUNTERS THAT WANT A DOG FOR WHAT THEY WERE BRED FOR SHOULDNT PAY 1000 OR 2500.

THESE DOGS ARE 90 % OF THE TIME GOING TO
FIELD TRIAL HOMES.THE MAJORITY OF THEM BECOME
WASH-OUTS. VERY FEW MAKE IT TO THE FC/AFC
STATUS.

WHEN YOU CAN COME UP ON ONE OF THE "WASH OUTS", YOU CAN GENERLY GET A FULLY TRAINED DOG FOR 3000-5000. THEY USALLY ARE WASHED OUT
AT ABOUT 2YEARS OR SO. THIS SIMPLY MEANS THAT THEY CANT MAKE THE FIELD TRIAL GAME, BUT
IN MOST CASES THEY WILL BECOME SOME OF THE BEST "HUNTING DOGS " YOU EVER WILL SEE.

For $2500.00 that bitch better be able to run across the water to snag a crip and be able to dive to 12 ft to pull up a suicide greenhead. If you spend 2500 bucks and end up with a couch dog it just doesnt sting as much as if you only spent 500. Guess it just depends on what you are compensating for or lack of.