Duck Hunting Dog Trainer and Questions

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  • BigBoodro

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    6   0   0
    Mar 20, 2012
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    Prairieville
    Hey guys, never posted outside the marketplace before but been a member for quite a few years so please excuse if this has been discussed recently. Bit of a quick backstory, I have an interesting job that requires me to be out of town a good bit but I'm home most weekends. Toying with the idea of getting another lab after the old girl died shortly after the flood. She was 13 and had never retrieved a duck, and spent most of said life in the air conditioning. That being said, she was very well trained by myself in basic retrieval, just never tried to hunt with her and never had time to duck hunt until recently. Now that I'm older and find myself with more free time I think it's time to get a dog to hunt with.

    Basically, as someone who has never owned a duck dog, my questions are far too numerous so I will stick with these three basic questions. Question 1: what is the average cost of a trainer?
    Question 2: any suggestions on a good trainer in the BR area?
    And Question 3: any good books or advice out there besides Water Dogs the book, that I should look into?

    As i said before please forgive my ignorance with the non marketplace forums. I appreciate the help and you guys have a good one.
     

    Armbruster Armory

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    Dec 7, 2012
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    Lafayette

    Jmfox3

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    The Wolters books are great. I have a library of books. I've found "Training Retrievers for Marshes and Meadows" by James B. Spencer to be worthy of a Bible description. Get your hands on as many books as you can and read them cover-to-cover. I used to run Brittany Spaniels in field trials. I've found labs to be the easiest dogs to train but there are always exceptions. I don't need a perfect dog. I want a dog with a good nose that has enthusiasm. Decide what kind of dog you want. Dogs have all sorts of different personalities. Some are tender hearted and some a head strong. I've had great Alpha dogs and great Beta dogs. They simply require different training approaches. For me, a professional trainer is a step below picking a wife. If they are running a mill they simply won't have the time to train a difficult dog. I'll usually pass. The trainers that are good will want to spend a bit of time, with you, training you how to handle the dog. Those trainers aren't cheap but they are worth the money. Some last pieces of advice. KISS= keep it simple stupid. KISS is a time honored approach. You teach small simple pieces and bring them together gradually. Lastly, I pick the best dog I can and then make the best of him or her. You live in Baton Rouge so there are probably a few folks who are like minded. Try to find a training group and work together. Good luck!
     

    Gator 45/70

    Well-Known Member
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    31   0   0
    The Wolters books are great. I have a library of books. I've found "Training Retrievers for Marshes and Meadows" by James B. Spencer to be worthy of a Bible description. Get your hands on as many books as you can and read them cover-to-cover. I used to run Brittany Spaniels in field trials. I've found labs to be the easiest dogs to train but there are always exceptions. I don't need a perfect dog. I want a dog with a good nose that has enthusiasm. Decide what kind of dog you want. Dogs have all sorts of different personalities. Some are tender hearted and some a head strong. I've had great Alpha dogs and great Beta dogs. They simply require different training approaches. For me, a professional trainer is a step below picking a wife. If they are running a mill they simply won't have the time to train a difficult dog. I'll usually pass. The trainers that are good will want to spend a bit of time, with you, training you how to handle the dog. Those trainers aren't cheap but they are worth the money. Some last pieces of advice. KISS= keep it simple stupid. KISS is a time honored approach. You teach small simple pieces and bring them together gradually. Lastly, I pick the best dog I can and then make the best of him or her. You live in Baton Rouge so there are probably a few folks who are like minded. Try to find a training group and work together. Good luck!

    Amen on that! Keep it simple!
     

    BigBoodro

    Well-Known Member
    Gold Member
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Mar 20, 2012
    224
    18
    Prairieville
    Thank you guys so much for the help, I know it's been a while since original post but I ended up getting a cur dog so I will be starting a thread on squirrel dog training soon. You guys are the greatest!
     
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