It's been a good run. Started out 10 years ago wanting a gun dog. Discovered hunt tests and achieved a Master Title at 3.5 years, and 8.5 all age points after that. Ok considering he saw only 12 marks on water one year. Under different circumstances Sundance would of been a field champion. Makes me sick thinking about it.
This game is hard. But even harder if you don't have the time to train. I'm only able to train 4 months of the year on water, no place or people to train with after work, and drive 3 hours round trip to train. Then go to work. Now that I've I have reached a tipping point. Which is no longer gives my dog enough training to make it worthwhile. Trying to run field trials and train two days a week is pointless exercise.
I'm not retired. Nor am I able to hire a pro. And for me it is pointless to do so. For I like the dogs and not so much the game. For others it’s the reverse. Some like both. It just not much fun anymore. So I’m done. Take care.
I have had to make the same decision for similar reasons. Only I still dearly love the training! I may only get 2 or 3 days a week, i may only have 3 fields and 1 piece of water, (a big rectangular pond) but I love the time I do get to spend with my dogs. I love it when I see them get a concept or do something new very well. I love it when something I have studied and worked on comes together and works for my dogs. The only groups we get to work with are at trials or tests, so I don't think we will be competing much at all anymore. But I will keep on working with them as long as I am able. I do understand where you are coming from. Been very close to it myself for a while.
Just go hunting and enjoy the beauty of watching your dog do what it was bred for.
During the off season work it when you can to keep fresh the training and keep it fit and trim.
Enjoy the time spent, and the love it gives you, as the time together is short.
It's not all about tests and titles.
If mine never makes it passed junior, that's fine, as he is a wonderful companion, and great duck dog.
So is this the official notice that you are no longer an amateur? I know a Pro has to do that but didn't realize that needed to be done when you no longer wanted to play the game. Learn something new everyday. If it helps, there are a ton of golden owners out there needing help getting their dogs in water, maybe you could still stay involved by helping them out once in awhile. If its not fun, don't do it.
So is this the official notice that you are no longer an amateur? I know a Pro has to do that but didn't realize that needed to be done when you no longer wanted to play the game. Learn something new everyday. If it helps, there are a ton of golden owners out there needing help getting their dogs in water, maybe you could still stay involved by helping them out once in awhile. If its not fun, don't do it.
I feel your pain and sometimes question my sanity in sacrificing all other hobbies and sports to keep at it. Sometimes the little victories make it worth it, occasionally like a bolt out of the sky we get a blue ribbon, but mostly week after week we do well then fall heartbreakingly short. I still remember having an Open won, would have given my nine year old his title, he had picked up the hard bird in the last series clean, all he had to do was swim across the pond one more time, then up the hill to the easy bird, but I faltered on my send by stuttering his name, everybody heard it but me, he balked and I impulsively picked him up. The judge jumped all over my case next time we met as he considered it confusion and would have let me re-send. Ended up retiring a nice Golden with an Open win but no title.
This is a very hard, thankless sport for most of us, but as a lifelong optimist, I keep training and trialing knowing that this week could be my double header weekend. Good luck with whatever you do next.
Sorry to hear your frustration and disappointment. I too am very limited with how many days and where to train. I am on my first field trial lab. I fortunately see improvement every stake we run and time in training.Waiting to finish one. This is a very tough sport but I am still enjoying myself. Have to be positive otherwise it looks futile.
I hope things look better for you later on.
There are dog people and there are FT people. They are not one in the same. You will always be a dog person. Time will tell if you ever choose to play the games again. Should we start an O/U?
Better to have tried and not achieved then not to have tried at all. One can grow in character and learn to over come the challenges in in life from training a dog. If your "Sundance" did his work with style then you have done more than many who compete.
Dennis Voight is a successful field trialer and spends much time training by himself. It can be done.
It is in the end about you and the dog - you become one, a team.
Im in same boat as youderby list n qaa by 3yrs mh by 4 and 10 am and 4.5 open points later need a win.im not retired and work full time n do all my own training.hunt alot in falling.enjoy the training.its a demanding game for the average person.expensive isnt the correct term.more like money pit.i can only afford 5 starts in spring and 5, in fall.when i get tired of gettin a bloody nose ill go run a master test with some. Friends n have fun.its hard to compete against endless money and pros but as long as i have the dog that can play the game ill keep. Pluggin.away as best i can.maybe well get that win before he dies.by the way those points in open n am are with a golden that likes to get wet.thought about throwin in the towell a few times but cant do it.
To wanting a gun dog to running field trials, the phase "mission creep" comes to mind. I knew a I had dog that could do the work which kept me going over the last 5 years. I learned a get deal from my training group about dogs. Folks who had trained with the best- Lardy, Carr, Farmer, etc. Mixed emotions fill me. I will miss the people and the dogs. Seeing the evolution of the possibility of what dogs are capable of. He took that point and sought water. I smile. What I will not miss is the game. The obsession, it's not an addiction it becomes an obsession. Got to hire a pro, buy two dogs, then three, four, or more; sell that one, buy this one. For some it's all about the game. That's not me. All the good fortune to the true armature trainers who endeavor for they are what the game is suppose to be about.
as long as you are happy, that is all that really matters.Somedays I know I should load up and train , but I don't . No big deal . I train more than some , less than others I do love to be competitive , even if fishing with my buddies ,we throw 5 bucks in the hat for biggest or most . Big Buck pool every year too .Have fun in all that you do !!
I believe that he was referring to VANMAN's rather oddly formatted missive (no caps, odd punctuation, etc.) which WAS difficult to read.
Im in same boat as youderby list n qaa by 3yrs mh by 4 and 10 am and 4.5 open points later need a win.im not retired and work full time n do all my own training.hunt alot in falling.enjoy the training.its a demanding game for the average person.expensive isnt the correct term.more like money pit.i can only afford 5 starts in spring and 5, in fall.when i get tired of gettin a bloody nose ill go run a master test with some. Friends n have fun.its hard to compete against endless money and pros but as long as i have the dog that can play the game ill keep. Pluggin.away as best i can.maybe well get that win before he dies.by the way those points in open n am are with a golden that likes to get wet.thought about throwin in the towell a few times but cant do it.
I respect your decision and hope you find happiness in it. But I am always suspicious when a man jumps all the way in the water because he loves it and finds so much joy in it, then decides he needs to jump all the way out?
Thirty years ago there was a super-active guy in charge of our HRC club, single-handedly directed everything, and directed it very well! Had the admiration of the entire club. He trained a couple dogs to HRCH titles and was starting on a third pup when suddenly he announced he was done and moving on. About ten years later I ran into him at a dog training area. Still training regularly. Still doing what he loves and found the most rewarding -- working with the dogs. Just not in a club; Just not competing.
Gene Hill wrote a short story called "One." About some superstar FTer who had this great champion retriever that got killed in a hunting accident. But the heart-shattered guy got another retriever, and still hunted. Just didn't compete anymore.
Me? Obesity and the price of gas pushed me out of the game. (I am doing something about the obesity but the price of gas I am powerless to affect.) But I could never imagine not having a retriever, and not training. I don't care if I never run a HT again. I do care if I have to stop training. That is what I find the most rewarding.
But to each their own. Like I said, I hope you find your happiness.
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