I am an avid (ok...sickly obsessive) waterfowl hunter and have had a few labs over the last 15 years or so. I've always done my own training and had pretty mediocre results. Of course, I've done what lots of waterfowlers who want a good meat dog have done... I picked up a copy of Walter's "Waterdog". Later a friend loaned me the Wildrose Training DVD. I've also recently acquired the Dobbs book. Anyhow, over the last few years I've had a growing desire to learn how to become a trainer. Don't get me wrong, I have NO desire to quit the day job to try to make a living at training. But...I would like to develop the skills to become a solid trainer for my own dogs and maybe work with 1 or 2 dogs throughout the year for other hunters. Well, enough with the qualifiers. My questions are these:
1. Is there one training DVD set that includes detailed OB, CC, FF and handling instructions that is widely thought of as the best for training start to finish? Recommendations please.
2. Is it very common for a pro trainer or a good amateur trainer to allow someone to serve as an apprentice/assistant? If so, would anyone recommend someone in west-central Missouri or east-central KS that I might contact?
Thanks in advance...and this site is great!
Chris
1. Is there one training DVD set that includes detailed OB, CC, FF and handling instructions that is widely thought of as the best for training start to finish? Recommendations please.
2. Is it very common for a pro trainer or a good amateur trainer to allow someone to serve as an apprentice/assistant? If so, would anyone recommend someone in west-central Missouri or east-central KS that I might contact?
Thanks in advance...and this site is great!
Chris
