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Liv2Hnt
Overland Park, KS

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02/27/2007 1:00 PM	Alert
Like most of her writing I think Julie eloquently put the tribulations of selecting a professional. I know that I am one of those dog owners whose animal essentially becomes a member of the family. I spend a great deal of time with my bird dogs. My current dog is my second pointing lab. I trained the first one entirely on my own and fortunately for me his talent far exceeded my training ability. I had promised myself to do a better job on the next one as that is the natural progression for Type As like myself. Being the analytical type I researched the benefits of using a pro trainer in the scope of what I wanted the dog to be able to do. My primary goal for the trainer was FF as this was not something I had done and I really wanted this part of his training done the right way.The second major component to this was the fact that I would be turning over a member of my family to another person. This is not easy to do, especially after spending so much time with a pup. I very diligently worked the pup through OB and some initial CC and the pup went off to FF at just over 6 months. I can honestly say that I have been very pleased with the use of the pro I selected and I think that the success in the selection process was primarily attributed to the following: 1. Interview as many trainers as you can. Find someone you like personally as you will be spending time with this person and as I mentioned previously you wont be comfortable turning over a family member unless you trust them. 2. Get references and talk to as many people as you can about reputation for their work and also their personality. Comments like, this particular trainer is very hard on dogs, but gets the job done, was something I was not comfortable with and impacted my selection. 3. Ask about 1 day training sessions. Several trainers offered a 1 day training or evaluation session. This will allow you to get to see them in a training environment and also set the expectations for you on communication and sets the tone for what you want to get from the trainer. 4. Ask if you can observe one of the trainers sessions. To me using pro trainer was a big commitment financially and in terms of trust. My pup is approaching a year and has been away from the trainer for 2 months. A trainer that you feel that you can talk to and question about backslides and issues from the training they did will exponentially increase your satisfaction with the pro. I would just recommend doing as much research, take into account the location of the trainer so that you can interact with the trainer and the dog as much as possible.

Proud Owner of: MPR HR McNally's Right Stuff Ridley

2Blackdogs!
Kansas City Area - GO CHIEFS !!!

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02/27/2007 5:11 PM	Alert
L-2-H, Hey neighbor- So who is your pro??

Flyhity
Maple Valley, WA

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02/27/2007 5:48 PM	Alert
Thank you for the input and insight on trainers. I am going to do a one on one with a trainer in two days. I have many of the same concerns, as my pup is truely a member of our family so there is a large amount of trust involved. I also need to realize my own limits and respect the trainer as a professional that will get my little girl where I need her to be. As someone stated on this topic before, my unhappiness with having her go away for a month is my problem and she will be better because of it. Any particular questions or things I should look for as I work with the trainer. I am, using the initial one on one session as a "tryout " for the trainer. Also, as a newbie I would appreciate some insight on particular things or traits to watch for.

APLA Secretary

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03/01/2007 4:25 PM	Alert
Fly, follow your gut instincts. You wouldn't leave a kid with someone you felt uncomfortable with, neither should you your dog. You can tell when someone is genuine and has the concern for your dog that you would like to see. The thing I would become cautionary about is a trainer who spends more time talking about how much better he is than the others, or how poor the other trainers are. That is too defensive and a good trainer is entirely comfortable in his own shoes, not terribly concerned with what the others are doing. Watch the dogs, get a good feeling and visit when you can! Julie

shoot-straight

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03/05/2007 11:31 AM	Alert
julie is 100% right! in fact, i just had that experience this past weeknend. I drove 650 miles (one way) with the intention to leave my PL with a PL trainer. well, the internal alarm went of several times during my visit, and so i drove home WITH my dog... 1300 miles total. it was hard to do. but the right choice in my opinion.

oakcreeklabs
Moundridge Kansas

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03/05/2007 11:41 AM	Alert
Shoot, you made a great decision. I have driven long distances to buy a dog, bought the dog even though it really wasn't what I wanted just so I didn't go home empty handed. Usually these purchases all turn out losses

Flyhity
Maple Valley, WA

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03/05/2007 1:45 PM	Alert
As an update, I had the one on one with the pro. I really liked what I saw and heard from the trainer. He spent an hour working with my pup and answering any and all questions I had. He is willing to let me come out and work with her while he is training her. He was able to accomplish more with her in an hour then I have been able to put together all along. As for what Julie said, I did listen to what he had to say about other trainers. He really didn't have much to say about any others at all. Which was impressive because there is a well known PL trainer very close to his facility. I was there to try out this pro, and I appreciated the fact that was his focus also, not to compare or care about any other trainers. I was there to see what he does and understand the concepts behind his training methods. I have learned to appreciate a pro for what they are. An amerature can do some things and stumble their way through things. But, if you want to make solid progress in the right direction it is smart to let the pros do their thing, try to learn as much as you can along the way to reinforce what the pros have done.

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Forums > American Pointing Labrador Association > Training > Professional Trainers