I know they have an awesome training program for hunting/field trials but is their 2 week puppy training worth it? We are going back and forth whether to send off our pup or just do it ourselves. The thought of having a well mannered pup come back is nice but is it worth the price tag? He is mostly our boys companion but we plan on training him to dove hunt ourselves. Anyone use them for this? TIA

We got our pup from them and she was a tough minded dominant dog. We sent her back to them for a 6 week obedience class (9 years ago now) and it was such a great decision. Not only did they train her with basic obedience, when we picked her up, they trained us on dog obedience and how to maintain it. Great people and was worth every penny we spent!

We sent our lab there last year for several months. I wouldn't send any of my dogs there ever again.

Rody has trained dogs for at least 6 people that I know including one of my pups that made GHRC (back when he was running UKC tests), Master National pass and was in Super Retriever Series. He is going to whelp out a litter for one of my clients soon. I have heard nothing but positive things about Rody and his business. I understand that not every dog is trainable to the level that owners hope. But in my experience Rody has been open and communicated what he thought the dog's abilities were and did his best to meet client expectations.

Like I said this is just for the simple 2 week obedience class-not long term training bc we simply won't utilize it. I've talked with Kristen several times when we were trying to track down a pup and have nothing but good things to say. Our friends have sent their dogs there as well but for the more vigorous training. I'm shocked there is a bad review from them on here bc I've heard and read nothing but great things. Thanks again everyone for yalls thoughts. Our pup as of right now isn't incredibly hard headed or bad behaved and seems to respond well to our training so we are just tying to figure out what we want to do.

Full disclaimer: Rody is a long time friend, hunting partner, and client of mine.

I was once much more active with our local retriever club. From my experiences during that time, I fully believe there is no part of training a dog that you can't accomplish at home if you have the time, patience, and persistence. All of that said, most individuals will be hard pressed to expose a puppy to as much in as short of time as a pro can.

If your long term goal is gundog, I highly recommend the puppy program followed by basic obedience to establish a solid foundation to build upon.

My own dog is very high drive and extremely independant. Rody tried to convince me to let him, or one of the other pros I am friends with, run her through a basic obedience program. I thought I could do it good enough myself. Things were OK during early training but as we advanced into triples, complex handling, etc the lack of solid obedience was very apparent. We reached a point where I could not take her any farther without going back and solidifying obedience. We worked through it but it was a huge setback. MY next one will be started by a pro.

Yea that's where we are tempted to send him off. We can train him but we have two young kids and another dog in the mix and it's just chaos trying to find time to train one on one. My kids want to be a part of it but at the same time they are young and don't quite grasp what they should be doing. That being said we are extremely lucky in the fact we have ample opportunity for our dog to be exposed to things. He swims in the river and has no problem with gunshots and is just now 12 weeks. At some point we will have a gun dog but as of right now this dude is the kids pet. I just want him well behaved.

Sounds like he's gotten a decent start. Sending him for basic obedience will defiantly pay off in the long run. The puppy program will expose him to the basics but I don't think they reinforce during that time. From your original post, I don't think the puppy program alone will get him to the level you are expecting.

You may want to call Kristen or Rody and discuss your needs. They are in the business to make a living but I have never seen either of them pressure prospective clients.