Professional dog training ?

progress really depends heavily on the dog...some have it, others don't...a good trainer can bring out all of the instinct and potential that is there, though. I have seen some remarkable changes as well as almost no progress...

After his baptism, drop him off for another 2 mos if you want to truly have a well rounded dog.

With labs, I find there's still a learning curve, even after a full 6 months training. Hunting in the field is a whole different ball game than training, or even a hunt test.

Good advice all. The trip to South Dakota will be with an English setter who is a rock star in the field, hopefully he will get a good start with wild birds.
I'm not looking for perfection, just a one solid point, kill shot, retrieve, campfire, and a good glass of brown liquor.

A whole 2 months of training, good luck with that. Hunts will be a shite show

2 months is barely enough time for a young dog to develop a solid foundation in obedience. That's not to say you won't end up with an awesome dog, but you might need to stem your expectations a bit for 2 just months of work.

Did you look up any trainers in your local area?

No way I would ever drive 14 hours to drop my dog off. A big part of the training is being able to work with the trainer one on one with your dog, so you know the style of training he uses.

I sent 2 of my GSP's to Steve Riggins with Bear Creek on the Bayou Retrievers in Slaughter, LA, they were there for 4 months, and was very satisfied with how they worked when I got them back. He's only about an hour from Baton Rouge, so i was able to go to his place quite often and learned a lot about training dogs.

Two months will get one force fetched. Bout it

Thanks for all the responses. Let me clear something up. I understand this is just a puppy and I have few expectations for any kind of polished field work. You have to begin somewhere and having started him with behavior, I am hopeful by spending a couple months with the trainer and pen birds, the light may start to come on. I am a big believer in wild birds for upland dogs. What better place to bring a then 9 month old pup, than South Dakota? He will then hunt over a few wild quail here and in Kansas till he returns to the trainer in February for two more months.
I enlisted help from the trainer while I was still on the waiting list for aforementioned pup. He gave me the breakdown on all of his do's and dont's. The trainer and I have spent several days talking about methods he has used for the several griffons he has trained and what I should do to correctly start the pup. Tennessee is not a hot bed of upland bird dog trainers and much homework was done before selecting my choice. I will definitely spend a day at least before making the return trip in October.