Best Dog Trainer in Washington.

[ttown]

I know this has been a topic of the past but I thought I would ask if anyone has experience with the following Dog Trainers:

Rocking M Retrievers in Spanaway

Northwest Performance Dogs in Monroe

Or who else do you recommend?

I have been reading this book..

Thanks

[Goldeneye]

Don't know about the trainers you mentinoned.  Wolters books are a very good tool for doing the training yourself.  For my labs I have based my training off of Wolters "Waterdog" book.

http://www.amazon.com/Water-Dog-Revolutionary-Training-Method/dp/0525247343

[gasman]

Personally I am partial with Rocking M Retreivers.     

I know them personally and have got more involved with volunteering in helping with teh Field Trails. Its a blast 

[ttown]

Yes its for Lola .. she is young and I want to get her started up right! 

[Happy Gilmore]

What do you want from her? what are your expectations? That is the first best place to start. If you want a hunting dog, take her to a trainer who hunts ducks and geese wild a few days a week while training dogs. If you want a FT dog, take her to a competition trainer with a great record. If you want a hunt test dog, look up the guys who have history of training dogs to the Master National level.

All are very different and demand different trainers who specialize in their craft.

Lastly, visit all the people you narrow down and be sure to watch them train dogs that they have in their kennel. Ask to attend a training day. Choose a trainer who best fits your personality and goals for your dog.

All of the above mentioned are very good trainers and will give you good results depending upon your goals some might be a better fit than others....location and convenience are also important so you can spend time with them learning how to work your trained dog properly.

my two pennies added....

[whitey]

Doug and Scott at Cooke Canyon.. 
Cant say enough good about these guys.
Either duck or Upland they will do them both.
The upland school is 2 months. very good.
The duck is a month at a time.
Check them out.

[Waldo84]

Pat at performance dogs is great. Go take Lola out to see him. He'll throw a pidgeon out for her and tell you some good things to work on. He can also tell you what the best course of action is. My friend has taken 3 dogs to him and they are all bird hunting machines. I took my lab out there a couple of times and he just charged me for the birds he put out and wrote down some things to work on. Overall a great guy. He is not the cheapest, but his monthly prices include all of the birds needed. Most of the trainers give you a low monthly cost, but it doesn't include birds. Tell him Casey sent you.

[wildweeds]

Best dog trainer for pointing dogs in washington hands down..............R.J. Marquart @ Quicksilver kennels in Moses Lake,he trains em all no matter the breed, Vislas,weimeraners,gsps,gwps,brits,setters of all varietys white,red,black,pointers,and even pointing labs.Changes his training to fit each dog not................conform the dog to his training style.

[Special T]

Ryan At Long Hollow Retriever (Ellensburg) trained my chessy Chief. He mostly works with retrievers. The thing i like most about his program, is ANY Saturday training session i can attend even now. All it costs is my time and fuel. I get to put my dog on some birds, get some tips, help with some shooting.

[Copperwood]

Long Hollow 100%, you will not be disappointed.

[vandeman17]

I'm just gonna assume you mean for that little black pup on your avitar.

http://www.conwaykennels.com/

They trained my lab and she's a rockstar.  Best dog I've ever owned.

  This is my uncle's kennel and they do a great job!

[Happy Gilmore]

I'm just gonna assume you mean for that little black pup on your avitar.

http://www.conwaykennels.com/

They trained my lab and she's a rockstar.  Best dog I've ever owned.

  This is my uncle's kennel and they do a great job!

Tell your Uncle Happy Gilmore said he's a punk! 

[vandeman17]

I'm just gonna assume you mean for that little black pup on your avitar.

http://www.conwaykennels.com/

They trained my lab and she's a rockstar.  Best dog I've ever owned.

  This is my uncle's kennel and they do a great job!

Tell your Uncle Happy Gilmore said he's a punk! 

My uncle or Bucko? 

[st8uppointers]

me !

[NW-GSP]

I'm going to have to look into conway kennels, I have a gsp that is a awesome hunter but He will not retrieve birds. He's awesome.at retrieving everything but birds so I want to get him force fetch trained

[vandeman17]

You wont be disappointed. They take great care of your dog!

[Happy Gilmore]

me !

I meant Bucco....is that Bucco??

[vandeman17]

Bucko is my cousin. Brooke is my uncle

[NW-GSP]

Does anyone know what conway kennel charges approx, was wondering if they could just force fetch train my dog

[vandeman17]

I am not sure what they charge because I got the family discount.  If you are just looking for a short training session then I can't imagine it would be too much but I can't say for sure

[NW-GSP]

Thanks for the info vanderman, do you know if they do train pointing dogs or just retrievers? I live in marysvillle so its nice that they are so close

[ghosthunter]

I know this has been a topic of the past but I thought I would ask if anyone has experience with the following Dog Trainers:

Rocking M Retrievers in Spanaway

Northwest Performance Dogs in Monroe

Or who else do you recommend?

I have been reading this book..

Thanks

i trained my first ever lab with that book and she out hunted any of my buddies dogs any day. She is 12 now and more content to lay in the blind at my feet. But that is ok because she earned it. if I do again I will do it the same.

[vandeman17]

Thanks for the info vanderman, do you know if they do train pointing dogs or just retrievers? I live in marysvillle so its nice that they are so close

They do it all. check out conwaykennels.com and it gives you a breakdown of what they can do.

[ttown]

I talked to Pat and Conway Kennels.  Its tough to leave her for a month.  They all sound really good..  Still hard to decide. 

[Happy Gilmore]

I talked to Pat and Conway Kennels.  Its tough to leave her for a month.  They all sound really good..  Still hard to decide. 

Leave her for two! One month is barely long enough to get used to the surroundings and start learning. Seriously.

[vandeman17]

I talked to Pat and Conway Kennels.  Its tough to leave her for a month.  They all sound really good..  Still hard to decide. 

Leave her for two! One month is barely long enough to get used to the surroundings and start learning. Seriously.

I agree. Normally it takes a week or two for the dog to relax enough for them to even start working and learning. I left my pup there almost 2 months this summer and will be sending her back up next summer for at least another month.

[ttown]

Well she did well with Pat for an hour  and her month starts Sunday.   I am really sad to see her go     she sits next to me all day at work so now I will work alone....   I hope a month does it with some follow up.. Pat did well with her and he is not to far from Seattle.  I think that she will be in good hands.  I will update everyone after the training on NW Performance Dogs. (Pat)  Now I need a month of hunting training..

[wildweeds]

I'll agree with happy,seen it a ton of times,especially with a dog that is coddled some,they pout for about 2 weeks,then start to slowly snap out of the pouting stage for 1 week,then start to get the routine going and pooof back to daddy,My dogs like me somewhat,but I don't dote over them,I ship em off  for breaking and don't see them for 3 months,I get back what I expect to get back and never go forward and back three times to get the end result.I would strongly suggest a minimum of 2 months and a days worth of learning how to drive the dog at the end of it.REALLY the biggest part of a pro trained dog is knowing what to say and do at the right time otherwise the training is for naught because your speaking Japanese as far as the dog is concerned,pay close attention to the body language and tone of voice when the trainer works the dog and replicate it as best you can.

I talked to Pat and Conway Kennels.  Its tough to leave her for a month.  They all sound really good..  Still hard to decide. 

Leave her for two! One month is barely long enough to get used to the surroundings and start learning. Seriously.

[Happy Gilmore]

training a dog to handle right takes years....not three months, four months or six.....

Dog training isn't a couple month process. It's through the life of the dog. After two years, you'll know where you're at and how far it can go or, how far you want to take the dog by your own commitment.

[jetjockey]

While I won't disagree with you that it may take years to see what you have with a retriever or flushing dog since I don't know much about training them, it shouldn't take that long with a pointing dog.  3-4 months is all it should take to train a finished pointing dog who handles correctly.  Now, it will take longer if you want to compete with the dog, but even after 3-4 months you should be able to compete with most dogs in broke stakes.  It should only take a few training periods to see what you have in a pointing dog, and after 3 or 4 months a trainer should know pretty much exactly what the dog will be capable of.

With that said, in trials, most dogs won't mature and be able to compete regularly for ribbons until they reach 3 years or older typically.  Prime age for a pointing trial dog is probably 6-8 years old, but its not uncommon for dogs to achieve FC status before 3 years old.  The AF AA National Champion a couple years back hadnt even turned 4 yet.

[Happy Gilmore]

A very good retriever will be handling at a high level by two years old. Most who become consistently successful in AA or MH stakes are 3+ in retriever trials/HT's.

[ghosthunter]

I can't sell them. It keeps me awake at night. They are friends.

[ttown]

Dropped Lola (my lab pup) off today with Pat at NW Performance Dogs.  We worked with her and some ducks for a bit.  I will try to get some pictures next week when I am back there with her.  She looks really excited so far.  I am excited and learned a lot also.  I will update the forum with the progress she makes with Pat in the next few weeks.  She is only 7 months old right now so hopefully she is ready for this.   

[ttown]

I tried to post yesterday but it did not show up for some reason. 

I met with NW Performance Dogs for an hour at the end of week 1 Sunday. 

Lola did really well for being a week into training.  Pat planted some Pheasants and she flushed them I shot them and they were picked up and dropped at my feet.  She loves to swim and returned birds to my feet from the water also. (she's a swimming machine)   Lola is really understanding the commands for a 7 month old and stayed with us the entire time.  I am excited to see what she is going to be doing in week 2.  We threw a lot of birds at her Sunday and I could tell she was having fun with them. 

I attached a picture that I took after we were done.  I could have got one in action but I did not want to be that guy taking pictures instead of training.

[ttown]

Trying again.

[ttown]

Just wanted to let everyone know my pup is done with her month at NW Performance.  She had a good time and loves to hunt and really loves ducks!  Pat did a good job I met with him once a week and worked with her.  Monroe is a long way for me but I think it was worth it he does a nice job.  Now where are the birds??   

[jetjockey]

You have it easy.  My trainer is 5 hours from my house, and that's only because he moved 3 hours closer.  Now I only drive across 3 states instead of 4.  3 weeks ago when I picked her up it was easier just to fly her home.  Man the things we do for our dogs!

[ttown]

Wow I do feel better now.  I guess mine is pretty close..