Dropping 6 month old future duck dog off at the trainer today

I've been there a few times. Never fun.

My current lab went in as a spoiled inside dog and came out like a soilder. Now he's back to being a spoiled inside dog. He does well in the field though.

They adapt quick.

I have a female black lab. Before she went to training, she was spoiled and slept on a dog bed in my bedroom. She's been for training twice. Once for 4 mos, then she hunted a season followed by another 3mos of training for finishing. She mostly stays inside, goes out in the yard, when she wants, still sleeps on her bed in my room and is spoiled rotten. But, when we get to the blind, she has a rocket up her arse and wants to do one thing...retrieve. In fact, when we're done and we get out of the blind and start picking up decoys, she'll lay by the blind and whine, because she doesn't want the hunt to end.
My family missed our dog, when she was gone. But, it sure was nice having a trained, obedient dog, when she returned. Good luck!

Well when we got there one of his sisters were there and they were having a big time
Together, he will learn a lot
But he will also have a blast I'm sure........not having a child it almost feels like sending my child off to college

Some ppl just don't have the time it takes to get a solid duck dog trained. I'm talking to where it's taking blinds and hand signals, it's not an easy thing.

Also, four months is just for the basics. Many ppl have their dogs at the trainer for 10 months or longer. Some bring them back every year for a refresher for about a month before the season starts

Yea I get that but I don't have much desire to FT a dog. I want a best buddy who also happens to fetch my ducks. I love working my dog and seeing all the hard work come to fruition. But, to each his own I guess.

Before you pick up your dog spend a day in the field with the trainer. Let him train you how to handle your dog, especially how to correct when doing something bad.

Agreed. X1000000000

The commitment is just that though, a commitment. There's so many days I don't feel like training but force myself to do it.

I put my dog in training for 4.5 months at 1.5 yrs old. Work and schooling make it difficult to train a dog with force fetch, hand signals, blind retrieves, and even getting them used to a gun going off (frowned upon in the city).

What I did was taught her basic obedience - sit, stay, fetch, lay down, swimming, etc. Introduction to dead birds and fetching them is something I did also. All this allowed a bond to start to form (on top of all the other things we did together). I visited my dog, Roux, twice a month and spent the day with her running her with the trainer's supervision and he taught me to run her as well (what i should expect her to do and what commands/routines i should use/expect). Gotta be there to work with her/him. Many people think they can just send their dog off for 6+ months and expect him/her to act with you like it did with the trainer - not the case.

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It's 20-30 minutes a day. If you don't have time for that, you shouldn't own a dog IMO.

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THIS

Would you look at that... we actually agree on something