Training Programs

While our goal is to develop advanced level dogs, we do offer several different programs for our clients to consider. Please note that all timelines are an estimate and in no way a guarantee of what your dog will or will not be capable of. We keep every client updated on the status of their dog and what they can expect as their dog continues to progress. Ultimately every dog is different, and there are many factors that dictate the pace of training.

Puppy Work

You may be asking yourself, "when should I start training my puppy?" The answer is, as soon as you get him/her home. In our puppy program, we start teaching them how to be good citizens. They will be crate trained, taught informal obedience, and we will begin building their drive with short retrieves and an introduction to birds.

Basic Obedience

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In this 4-6 week program we teach sit, here, heel, and kennel/place. When the dog is ready, we will also introduce them to an e-collar. The sole focus in this program is obedience, so there will be little to no marks thrown for these dogs, unless the client plans on advancing the dog further. Your dog will learn our obedience commands, and we will teach you how to enforce those commands at home. If you want more than just obedience, please see our basic gun dog program.

Basic Gun Dog

This 4-6 month program is for the reliable hunting retriever. Once a solid obedience foundation has been built, we can begin our basic gun dog training. In hunt test terms, this dog should be capable of competing in a junior or started level test. In this program, we focus on:

Formalized obedience + collar conditioning
Conditioned retrieves
Marking singles on land and water
Steadiness
Gun shot conditioning
Exposure to birds
Introduction to duck blinds, canoes, decoys
Honoring another working dog

If you want to advance your dog further, please see our advanced gun dog program.

Advanced Gun Dog

Our advanced gun dog program will focus on blind retrieves on land and water, marking/retrieving multiple birds (doubles and simple triples), and technical marking over the course of 10-12 months. At this level we are teaching the dog to make the right decision when there are difficult factors in the field such as varying terrain, wind, multiple entries/exits in water, swimming by points, going over points, staying in a water channel, hunting in thick cover. This is for the truly exceptional hunting dog, or a senior/seasoned level hunt test dog. This builds on the skills developed in our basics program.

See our master/finished program for what your dog can learn after this

Master / Finished Level Gun Dog

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A dog that has titled as a Master Hunter and/or Hunting Retriever Champion is a truly exceptional animal. These are the olympic athletes of the dog world. Not only have they proven themselves in tests with some of the best dogs in the country, but they will also be ready to handle any situation in the duck blind. A talented dog that wants to reach this level will be in our program for 12-18+ months before they are ready to compete. Some of the advanced concepts that must be taught are:

Precise marking at short and long distances (depth perception)
Holding a straight line directly to a mark regardless of factors like wind, cover, water, old scent, etc..
In-line marks
Marking triples
Poison bird blinds
Out of order flyers
Interrupted and delayed triples
Down the shore concepts

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