I'd like to hear people's experiences with dogs being washed out by a pro. Did you accept it at face value.....did you continue to train yourself.....or possibly take your dog to another pro?
I'm curious at what point people give up on a dog.
I'll try to answer your question.
I had a bitch out of Rudy that went to a pro @ 7 months. She was on the truck for that summer and thru the winter trip. My first goal was to get her on the Derby list, 2nd goal was to get her QAA and 3rd was hopefully she would be able to play at the AA level. I had told myself that I would give up 2 winter trips before I said enough.
She came home after the 1st trip and roughly 8-10 months of training and we promptly failed to finish 6-8 derbies. That fall the pro did his best to talk me out of sending her again. I just told him 1 more trip and then we'll go from there. That next Spring she did get a 4th, 1st & 3rd in the Qual to accomplish goal #2 and the pro felt maybe she had turned a corner maturity wise.
She was ok but nothing to write home about for the next year or 2. We received a AM Jam @ 3 and a AM 2nd @ 4. Each year however she just lost more and more desire to train or trial. I would tell people that she was a 4 cylinder car on a quad and she lost a cylinder after each bird to the point where she nearly would just trot to the final bird.
That was enough for me, I can't run that type of dog. Could she do the work? yes. Did she want to do the work? no.
In the end I believe it comes down to you. What are your goals? How do you want to see your dog perform? Is the dog meeting your particular standards?
I believe there are some people who ask that their pro be honest however some times the truth hurts and people don't always want to accept that. While others are very appreciative of the pro and move on with something else.
If you are in this position I wish you GOOD LUCK with your decision. Make your decision and don't look back.
Too late for my Indy, but I would still love to know.
