I got Homer in January of 2005, as a 12 week old “Started” pup, read my ABOUT section to learn more about me and Homer. In just 8 months working with him about 15-30 minutes a day, Homer was a VERY competent retriever at the start of the 2006 Dove season . Long before Homer was able to do 150yard “Blind” retrieves he had to learn the basics, sit, stay ,come and fetch.. I use “HERE” instead of “COME” I think it sounds better in the field.
During the first month I had Homer, those were the basic things we worked on. By starting him at such a young age, it was easy for me to establish I was the leader. It was at this time the bond between us was firmly established. The strong bond between a dog and trainer is why I strongly feel you should train your own gun dog. No matter what, a dog will respond BEST to the person that does the training. If sent off to a trainer the dog will never quite respond to you as well as that trainer. This is something a professional trainer will never tell you.
Joe Dynarski