I am working my 8 mo old BLM on FF, and I am sure this is the first of many questions to come. Got him to accept bumper in one session, no real struggle. Now working on hold. When he sees me coming with bumper I can see him loosen up his mouth and he lets me put bumper in easily. I support under his mouth so he can't spit it out, but he chomps at the bumper. Should I let him chomp as long as he doesn't spit it out, or should I cage his mouth shut with my hand so he has to hold it firmly?

Gently, but firmly, "chuck him under the chin" and remind him "HOLD".

BTW, who's method (book/tape) are you using as your FF training guide?

Doc, I am using "10 Minute Retriever", and have been thinking about getting "Smartfetch", also a friend has been promising to lend me a couple video tapes (by the Dahl's I think), but I haven't gotten my hands on them yet. Any further help or suggestions you might have would be greatly appreciated.

All the Dahl's stuff is darned good. But "SmartFetch" is the only book entirely dedicated to FF. I'd highly recommend it.

BillDeLuc ....Listen to Doc....."He's Good"....This time last year Doc was way smarter than me and my dog....Now......Doc and my dog are smarter than me.....Really...I joined Doc's group last Spring every Sunday...Was well worth the time and effort...Can classify my Dog now as a started dog...and hopefully if he has the group again this year....I'll have the making's of a Awesome hunting partner...."Thank's Doc"

Wayne,
We'll definitely be doing our weekend training group again this year. Probably our first get together will be March 14th. I'll keep you updated.

Also, you really got to try to come to the SBDA Training Day on March 6th. It'll be at the SBDA training Grounds. Starts at 8 AM. We can see how Shooter is doing in a "Training/Testing" situation, and then we'll know what we need to work on.

If you need info as to how to get to the training grounds, email me for directions.

The SBDA website is at www.sbda.itgo.com . The "Calendar of Events" page will show you what's going on for this year.

Let me check with the boss Doc....I'd love to make it. Is there anything Shooter and I should be brushing up on..??

Doc......boss said sure.....but her being a female asked the non-important question's...like....What time....and how much..??

Wayne,

Time 8 AM
Cost is usually from $0.00 up to as much as maybe $5.00 (Once when we used a lot of live birds, it was $9.00).

So, usually Training Days are really cheap or free -- Picnic Tests are $5 to $10 (bird cost)
Field Tests are in the $35 range for Started, $40 for Intermediate and $50 for Senior.
If you are a member of NAHRA ($37 per year), you get a $5 discount for each Field Test you enter. So if you run in all 6 Field Tests in Spokane, your NAHRA membership is almost paid for just with the discounts.

Hey Wayne -- Put the beer down and read this post