Retriever only a pass away from Master title

Will try to keep it short

I have an older female co-worker that I am friends with. I am also friendly with her husband.

He got a Choco-Taco lab. We live in Georgia. I used to give my coworker shite about sending their dog to "college" in Arkansas. This shite cost a fortune.

It was around 800 a month and the dog was there for over 3 years. Her and husband would take vacations a couple times a year to go to Arkansas and see the dog and whatever else you do there.

The dog won all kinds of field trials titles all over the country.

Her husband was offered 40k for the dog. I told her they were crazy as hell for not taking the offer.

I also told her that you have sunk all this money into sending this dog to MIT/Harvard and when you bring it home it going to splattered on the 4 lane at the end of your driveway.

Unfortunately I was Nostradamus. I don't thing the dog lasted 2 months before a Semi never even slowed down.

OP that is awesome. Congratulations.

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Unfortunately I was Nostradamus. I don't thing the dog lasted 2 months before a Semi never even slowed down.

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That is terrible.

I went down a slight less expensive road. Sent two dogs to Wild Wing Kennels. It can be expensive and take a good bit of time. I drove to train with the dogs twice per week.

What you are left with is a family friend that listens to wife and kids. Does not run loose. Retrieves ducks. Locates ducks that could never find on my best day. Earned me money by making some long and difficult retrieves.

Bottom line is that it is hard to beat watching a well trained and instinctive dog hunt. No matter the game you are chasing.

Weird place to share the story. Sucky story also.

OP, that doggo looks awesome. I have 2 goldens and one is fat and lazy, the other one is skinny and a wrecking ball. I'd love to send my pups for training, but I don't have the opportunity to use the training super often. So alas, they're just pets with easy lives.

I’ve never really understood the whole send your dog to go live with someone, pay them a buttload to train them, then go on a “visitation” to hunt with them occasionally. What kind of satisfaction are you getting from that? I’ve trained two and both got their working retriever titles from NAHRA. They weren’t perfect but their mistakes were my mistakes and when they got it all right, it was like your kid throwing a touchdown pass or hitting a home run. Never forget a friend of mine who lived in Georgia. Spent thousands on having his dog boarded and trained and taken all over the country by a trainer, just so he could shoot two or three wood ducks a couple times a year. Hell, the guys kids barely knew the dog’s name.
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This dog is on Luke Cour's truck and I have been out to training and have watched him run.

My other dog who finished all 10 series in the Open last year is on with Clint Avant. I have watched him run many events and have been out to training many times.

I am also a judge in Derby's and Quals.

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Why is such a well-trained dog hanging out on the road?

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Stupid owners

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So with all that said when I take my dogs hunting they typically do stuff that most self trained dogs can't do because they have had the benefit of working their asses off daily on varying lands and situations

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Meh, you're making a lot of assumptions here. I think you may just be referring to dogs trained by people that don't take dog training that seriously. Dog training isn't rocket science. It does require some baseline understanding of how to effectively communicate with the dog and consistency, along with a dog that has the natural ability to learn what you're asking it to learn.

We make time for the things that are important to us. I have a very demanding job and I still train my dog at least 6 days a week. Half of those days are drills. The other half are running setups in various locations. It gets in the way of a lot of other things I want to do, but again, priorities.

Congrats on him being one pass away from MH. Not too many AKC events by me, but I'd like to run my current pup on the AKC hunt test side if more events come available. I have zero interest in the field trial game personally, but they are fun to watch.

Couldn't agree more

Mike Lardy talked about a pheasant hunt he made with Lottie at one time. He said it humbled him majorly, NFC had trouble picking up the birds at short distances. Wish i could find the interview again.
As long as you're not Rock Dog training it's all good