Thanks for all the replys--I think the trainer just doesn't know how to take the dog to the next step--calls himself a pro but has not taken all the classes. Now is the question to start on another dog for hunt test and let this one just hunt--or try to see if someone can fix him...we'll need to get another pro's opinion.
You are probably on to something there, although I don't think it has much to do with taking "all the classes." As I've attended quite a few AKC tests this spring for the first time in about 18 months, I've noticed several pros that I used to see and speak to that just haven't been around...guys with big fancy trucks/trailers who you just couldn't miss. One of them I knew what the situation was, but I asked my pro about probably 4 different ones that I am not seeing any more and for all but 1, my pro answered that the person had quit because "he just couldn't make a Master dog." Some guys can do it and some can't. You need a guy or gal who has proven that they can do it with regularity.
My pro took my dog who had never been pro trained and who basically hadn't been trained at all in 9-10 months at the beginning of February. The dog had been hunting regularly, but only 3-4 days of training since the previous April. When I had stopped training him in April (due to family stuff) he was somewhere in between Seasoned and Senior, having his HR and JH titles, but never having run a Senior or Finished test. The dog was about 2 1/2 months shy of his 3rd birthday and doesn't have the kind of pedigree that most on here would look for in a hunt test pup. After one month of pro training, Boomer ran and passed his first Senior test. By the end of the second month he had run and passed 4 Senior tests and earned his SH. By the end of the third month he had run and passed 2 finished tests and a Master test. He has yet to fail a test. All of this was still with me as his handler, so he didn't have the full benefit of the pro (he did coach me on handling in advance of most of the series) and I definitely made a few handling mistakes that could have cost us. During this time, I have witnessed that my pro has a very high success rate for the dogs on his truck (most are in Master). Without researching it, I would say that his Master pass rate is probably in excess of 75%. I will admit that some are already Master dogs who he is just qualifying for this year's Master National, but it is still impressive and he was likely the one who got them their Master titles in the first place. Now almost all of his Master level dogs are qualified for this year's Master National (some are new to his truck and/or have just become Master hunters). For most of those, that meant that they went 5 for 7 in Master tests at some point since last August. Do you see your pro going 5 for 7 with ANY of the dogs on his truck? It doesn't sound like it.
I'm not telling you this stuff to brag because I've mostly just paid the bills, but this is the kind of success you need to look for in a pro. Then if that pro can't get it done with your dog, you'll know it is probably the dog...but that kind of pro will probably have told you what the deal is before then.
It sounds like you and/or your pro are hoping to get the Master title by sheer number of attempts. I think you need another plan.
I would bring my dog home and start researching proven AKC Master level pros right now.
Good luck to you and your dog.
, or just be thankful you can enjoy the out of doors with your dog?
