trainers for pointer??

[longrange7mm]

can anyone point me torwards a trainer for my weimaraner ?? I would prefer to stay in the mount vernon area but i would be willing to take him a 100 miles or so. any one heard of a guy in conway? My fiance has had a couple recommendations for a guy at conway kennels.
Thanks

[bonneylakebowman]

I was just over at long hollow setters in ellensburg yesterday and i really liked ryan and how he trains.  im going to send my pup over to him.  he had a very clean kennel and knows what he is talking about.  check them out. 

[bobeyerite]

I know this is a little far for you. But Dan Houk at Dunfur Kennels near Cheney, WA is one of the best Trainers of pointers you will find anywhere. He has National Champions and the works to his credit. Check him out if you want the best..........Bob

[Rowdy]

Agree, Dan Hoke trained my pup and I couldn't be happier.  I have also heard Long Hollow is a safe bet but I don't personally know.  Dan is a straight shooter, trains lots of dogs, will let you come work dogs with him, and show you how to work your own.  No matter who you take your pup to, go see the place, figure out what you want (finished product) and ask A LOT of questions.  A couple examples, how often will my dog be worked?  How often can I get an update on progress?  How involved can I be in the process? 

Food for thought.  When I took my pup to Dan Hoke he was there for 14 weeks.  Dan encouraged me to be part of the process, I got to see and help work a lot of dogs during the weekends I went to visit.  It was a huge help later on.  One of the times I was there Dan told me most of the owners come out and don't even pay attention.  I watched several owners come out to see their dog or pick them up and they would just stand there talking amongst each other, not paying attention to what Dan was saying or doing. 

 
Jake

[RC3]

I do not know Ryan, but I watched his dogs and clients dogs run at a nstra trial this spring and was pretty impressed with them. 

[longrange7mm]

thanks guys. i will look into both of them.

[Shannon]

Conway Kennels started out as retriever trainers and has a list of accomplishments a mile long. The owner's son trains the pointers. The last time I was up there they had 50% of there dogs were pointers. I have never taken a dog there but it seems well run with really nice training grounds. All there awards were for retrievers as far as I could tell. I talked to him a few years ago about paying by the hour for help with training, and he would do that, but I decided to do it by myself. Thats all I know.

[jollyskwala]

I live on the eastside so not sure how much this will help. Lot's of people speak highly of Dunfur but not me. I called him 3 times and did not even get a call back. Guess he is too busy and well know for some average joe with a GSP. Also, Dunfur did not do much with my father in laws pointer. He was really disappointed. Anyhow, it actually turned out to be be a blessing, as I then learned of Double Barrel Shotgun ranch. They have shoots for releases birds, sporting clays, etc. but the guy who owns and runs the place is a great trainer. He's trained many dogs and knows how to do it well. This is a place where you work with your dog. It's been awesome and had the first shot over and then retrieved by pup @ 20 weeks. I highly recommend him but it would be a logn way for you. In the least, you might want to plan a day or weekend to come over and work with him...maybe see how someone else does it. good luck.

[floatinghat]

  I don't know any of the trainers you are talking about but have a question.

If "Dunfur" didn't do much with your FIL pointer why would you even bother calling?   

[Rowdy]

Dunfur turned my pup into a very nice bird dog but I can only speak from my experience.  Dan is very hard to get ahold of via phone but email was certainly faster.  You have to understand he makes his living training and trialing dogs all over the country so if he's carting 20 dogs to Kansas for a trial it might be hard to get back to everyone quickly.  I'm pretty sure his email is checked by himself, wife, and employees so the info will either get passed onto him and he'll get back to you or someone else will. 

I've since had buddy's take their dogs to him and I'm yet to hear of anyone being disappointed but I'm sure some people are.  Dan is a "tell it like it is" kind of guy and I could see how that might rub someone the wrong way.  I spent several days with Dan working LOTS of dogs and it's just my opinion but not all bird dogs are great bird dogs no matter who the trainer is. 

To each their own, we have several well respected trainers in this state and with a little homework and a check book obtaining the right guy should be relatively easy.

Sorry, you didn't have a good experience with Dan because mine was the opposite.  He allowed me to get right in there and work dogs which has been a huge benefit to this day.

Jake

[penhuntsbirds]

You can also talk to Doug at Cooke Canyon. During the off season all he does is train dogs. www.cookecanyon.com and they are very nice people to boot.

[jollyskwala]

floating hat,

i called him Dunfur becasue there is a limited number of trainers and even though my FIL experience was bad it was several years ago. thought i would give them a chance.

[WABONEHNTR]

I have a Dunfur dog.  He breeds amazing dogs and I got one of them.  She will out-swim nearly ever lab I have ever seen also.  He is very hard to get ahold of at times but I am sure thats because he is out winning more trophies. 

[jeepster]

i would like to send my vizsla off to a trainer too... i live in the skagit, so conway kennles sound like a good local bet... anybody know about prices?