veener88

I have a 2 year old lab that I rescued last fall. It took me this summer just to build a good amount of trust with him and just getting down swimming since he had never done it before. The first time he hit the deap part of are pond I thought I was going to have to go in after him because he did not swim that well. Well anyways he is good a swimming and retreavng life size duck and geese dummys now that I have for him. I think he will make a good dog for just retreiving in are creek, pond, and swamp lands that we have.

Now I need a trainer. I have found out one by me that is $600 a month but he has to be kenneled there 24/7. I do not know if I like having him gone that long. I would only be able to get over by him on the weekends for limited times. The guy is a very strick and serius trainer.

This a page that i have setup with some older pics of him. The first ones are when we first got him and he was only about 75-80lbs. The latter ones he is around 105lbs. He is a very tall lab being about 36" tall at the head. He can lay his head on the kitchen counter with out a problem. When the streached out he is about 6 feet long.

Mongo

Thanks for any help you can help me with. Even if you know some good training books that would be great.

TreestandEd

600$ per month is a little pricy 350-400 is more reasonable. A 24-7 program is not uncommon. The trainer I work with calls it boot camp and it is very effective.

veener88

That is about what I was thinking in price. In April my college payments are done for the semester so I am thinking around them I could afford that price not problem.

Are the boot camp type training better the doing the weekend type deals?

Roost em 1st

$600 may be on the high side. My good friend for many years put his lab into training last Spring for $500 a month. He was there for the Summer and early Fall. My Buddy can't say enough for how incredible the dog has turned out. The big advantage to such an intense experience is that a good trainer will push the dog to its potential. In the case of my friend his 6 month old was being trained with the 18 month old group because he was ready. The trainer wants the dog back after duck season but my buddy Chris says he is content with the current condition.
Boot Camp is probably the way to go if you don't train him yourself but I'd get references from the trainer and see about some sort of discount for a extended stay.
If you have the time you'd save some money doing it yourself and there are a lot of training programs available for the person in your situation.
Good Luck and let us know what you decide.

veener88

Just wondering what are some good books or DVD's to show my how to train mongo right. The biggest thing I need to do with him is teach him that playing keep away is not a fun game. He must have had some training from his first owner because that dog gets excited when he heard shots on the back yard. Or he just has some good breading in him. I do not know because of him having 3 owners in 8 months.

Roost em 1st

Sen

BGHUNTER00

88,

Read the book "Hey pup fetch it up". I bought mine at Cabelas and trained my first lab from it. I amazed myself at how this dog turned out. Training your own dog is very rewarding, but it takes many many hours and months to do it correctly. $500 a month may very well be worth it if you don't have the knowledge or time. It can be difficult for some people to FF (force fetch) thier own dogs and when you read about this you will understand why, but this is a very important step that a professional can accomplish for you. Good luck.

Doc E

As far as training yourself, it kind of depends on how "finished" you want your dog to end up. For a good ol' Meat Dog (hunting companion), I'd go with "10 Minute Retriever" by John and Amy Dahl. For a Great hunting companion, go with "Smartwork for Retrievers" by Evan Graham. For a 100% SUPERB dog that will amaze everyone who sees him, get the entire series by Evan Graham = "Smartwork", "Smartwork II" and "Smartfetch".

veener88

Thanks Doc E,

I am going to be new at hunting too, so I am a little worried about the blind leading the blind. Would "Smartwork for Retrievers" be good for me with being a beginner? Or would the "10 Min Retiever" be best to start off with first and then move up through the books?

The good thing that I have going is that he is not gun shy and I have noticed when some of the guys that we allow to hunt on are land shoot he will stop, stair, stay still, and point in the direction of the shot. Witch none of this has been tought to him to do.

Thanks again everyone

Doc E

For a 'beginner', I'd suggest "10 Minute". "Smartwork" is better overall, but it gets pretty complex and can be difficult to understand for a novice trainer. Once you've trained a dog or two, "Smartwork" would be a better choice.