To our way of thinking, top flight companion gun dog trainers do it on the dog’s pace and in concert with their owners.  Such professionals are among the most talented, resourceful, and hardest working people in the shooting world. There are plenty of men and women who can get a dog to perform on cue;  there are far fewer who are willing to let the dog set the pace and the agenda, who can mold their program to that specific dog’s needs, then have the nuanced dog AND people skills to forget partnerships between client dogs and their people.

Because, truth be told, that’s the only training that matters.  The training most likely to hold.  In the “time is money” world of the common pro trainer (and, in fairness, the client on a budget), it’s easier to deal with the dog on the trainer’s schedule, strictly on the trainer’s program.  Some dogs do just fine on this regimen; others, not so much.  Some owners, especially those with an unusual amount of experience, can pick up where the trainer ends up.  Frankly, in our experience, most don’t. 

What too many people want is a clicker like the one that runs their home entertainment center.  They give a command;  the dog responds on cue, on time, every time regardless of circumstances…which is exactly why most people who place their dog with the common pro trainer end up disappointed.

Blessed are those owners who insist on being involved with the training of their gun dogs.  They find a trainer who arranges his or her work around the client being involved, who won’t accept dogs from people who don’t want to be involved.  Those are rare arrangements, mostly because trainers with exceptional dog and people skills are not common.  Theirs is a much more sophisticated, holistic approach and, as it should, comes with a higher price, both in trainer investment in time and careful teaching, as well as more personal and monetary investment from the client.

We have trained for the public. The people who got the most from their money insisted on being trained themselves.  Hunting with a pointing dog is not a video game. It is about paying attention to cover and the wind.  It’s about knowing game bird habits.  It’s about reading the dog. It’s about timing and positioning, about a rich collaboration that, when it’s right, is the highest art in game shooting, as far as we are concerned.

Few people get that from sending his or her dog off to most pro’s.  This is a hands on game, and, honestly, anyone who thinks he or she doesn’t have the time, doesn’t have the birds, doesn’t have the land, doesn’t have the expertise, is just looking for excuses.  In regard to our dogs born here in Kentucky tobacco country, we’d rather you rolled your own.

In fact, we're not afraid to say that we are looking for owners who can't bear to send their dogs away.

We once ran dogs with a water company meter reader who lived in tight circumstances in his town.  There was a city ordnance against keeping pigeons. Al and his Drahthaars hustled to get their training in before and after work;  he helped out landowners with chores to get permission to keep birds there. He belonged to a club that pooled resources and brought in guest pros to help…and he and his dogs were partners. His transition from the training field to the hunting season was virtually seamless.  Like successful people anywhere, Al fused uncommon, purposeful energy and deep commitment, in his case, to become the dog handler his Drahthaars deserved.

We'll go a step further: we would prefer our puppies not go to anyone who plans on sending the dog off to be “trained.”  We are breeding elite gun dog prospects for owners who want an elite companion experience hunting with a pointing dog.  That means breeding puppies of sound body and mind, drive and tenacity tempered with tractability and an uncommon desire to please…and seeking out owners who are willing to personally invest themselves in that dog.

That doesn’t mean it can’t possibly work with our dogs and a pro as a consultant/mentor in an extended program of lessons for dog and owner. But it requires all parties being on the same page from beginning to end.  The owner has to enter into the arrangement as if she and her dog are going to study with a mentor, a sensei, if you will, developing rapport with the trainer, learning how he or she goes about the business of grooming a dog to hunt for the gun…and the owner must be willing to follow that philosophy to the letter when the dog comes back home.

A veterinarian friend has exemplary German Shorthair Pointers.  He is a long-time bird hunter.  He has a trainer who is perfect for him and for his dogs.  There is a clear understanding of what is expected from dog, trainer, and client; they have worked out the kinks over several generations of my friend’s gun dogs.  The trainer has the land and the birds and the expertise;  our vet friend has the dog knowledge, the hunting experience, the relationship with the pro, and the close relationship with his dogs before and after their time with the trainer that makes the transition seamless.  He and his dogs return again and again for refreshers, for conditioning, for tune-ups.   

 Oh…and our friend also has made his dogs a budget priority. Like it or not, that’s part of the deal for those looking for that kind of relationship…and worth every single penny.

 In our experience, that trainer and that owner are the vast exceptions rather than the rule.

 Certainly there are some dogs more adaptable to the back-and-forth between a trainer’s kennel and home. Some of our own dogs have done well enough under that arrangement;  more have had mixed to miserable experiences.

Here’s our advice to those interested in a Blizzard’s Huntmore Llewellin.  Don’t cheat yourself by sending your dog away.  Go with that dog to clinics.  Go to workshops - not one, but many, understanding that these are a base, a fundamental start (don't be that embarrassing twit who pays big bucks for one weekend gun dog workshop and suddenly believes he or she has The Keys To The Kingdom, wearing one of the hats from the clinic like some Sign of The Anointed...)  Be an engaged part of a training group, identifying those who are there to share what works for them and their dogs, and those who are there just for the camaraderie.  You'll find that, as in too many walks of life, those who talk most in those settings, know least.  Caveat emptor.

Read books and the various pointing dog specific magazines.  Go to reputable internet sources and study with the same kind of discriminating filter you should use any time you go online for anything!  If you are a first time pointing dog owner, beg, wheedle, or pay for the chance to hunt with an experienced handler and his or her good dog.  Gradually form a clear idea of just how effective working gun dogs go about their business and how the best handlers support their dogs in the field.

If you still think you want to hire a pro, vet him or her personally and through references. Find one close enough that you can, with his or her permission (and your insistence), come weekly, or more, to be trained yourself. Ask politely (and with consideration to his or her busy schedule) to watch dogs in her charge work birds. Be clear, up front, about your financial obligations, as well as your expectations and level of commitment given the realities of job, family, even physical, parameters. Find someone to whom you can relate and who hunts the way you think you would like to hunt with your own dog some day...and be respectful of the trainer's time and expertise.  Always.  It's a privilege to study with the best...and you being considerate of your trainer is just another way to earn that person's mentoring of you and your dog.

At bottom there is this irrefutable truth:  There are no shortcuts to the kind of bird dog most of us want, despite what the one-hit weekend clinic warriors or armchair online experts would have you believe.  Owners who want it badly enough to do the hands-on work, to be happy on the learning curve that lasts a lifetime, who walk the miles, wear out the brush pants, are the ones who succeed in this sport.  They establish a baseline rapport by spending quality, purposeful bonding time with their dog, teach "Come," "heel," and "whoa" ...and then go hunting.  They are iron clad in their resolve not to shoot birds their dog doesn't handle according to Hoyle, and whistle him on with a learner's mind and an anticipation that this well bred dog, with encouragement in good country, is going to do exactly what it was born to do.

It isn't easy...but then nothing worth having ever is.  Work toward the goal of becoming your own pro trainer.  If you don’t have the time or interest level for this kind of commitment, maybe this is not the moment in your life for a working gun dog partnership.