R y a n said:
Hey Mike!
Great story and awesome pic!
A few questions for you...
How much should I expect to pay for something like that? I suppose it varies widely.
I'll be taking Chaz in to a trainer in about 4-5 months depending on his progress at obedience school, and the timing with the weather and our travel plans.
What should I expect? What performance measures can I use to determine progress ? What "issues" did yours have that you accidentally gave her, that maybe I can avoid repeating?
Most importantly to me.... as someone who is new to all of this stuff... what should be a rough timeline expectation for entering him in field trials etc... Will the trainer help me enough as a "rookie" that I will know what I am doing at them? What should I be doing now to prep for that future time?
You'll have to stop over here when you get out to WA to meet the Chaz man in person.. he's quite the pup already.
Thanks !
Ryan,
My opinion only here.
1. Good pros will charge between $500-$750 mo. + birds.
2. At 6-8 months is when the real work begins. Up until then, OB and socialization are extremely important. Be careful in puppy classes...they are good if the dogs are good. There are also terrible dogs there that can hurt your pup. One of the best things you can do now is walk the dog and expose him to everything possible.
3. Issues? Shiat, I'm her owner, that's issue enough!

Just simple things like I used to hunt her out of my layout, she'd jump when I'd pop up...hence she wasn't steady. I allowed her to get away with creeping. I trained by myself so it's awfully hard to throw 100 yd marks and keep an eye on her.
4. As far as FTs, I can't speak to them too much. Just know not every dog is made to run in that environment. The Hunt Test circuit seems to be more conducive to a beginner.
Overall, it sounds like you need to find a good trainer and hit him/her up with your questions. WA is full of quality trainers. One thing to remember, if you expect to trial this dog, it will cost a lot of money in training and related expenses.
You also need to get some good reading material and video. Call Darin from McLabs Training (site sponsor). He'll hook you up
Lastly, my approach to training is CPR:
Consistency
Patience
Repitition
Good luck...
Mike