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Here's a dog, Stargazer, or Star for short, that came back from a Pro trainer because she wouldn't point. Point she does, but, she also flags. Before she left to go to the Pro, she didn't flag at all. This little dog is well bred. I won't mention who this dog is out of here, for personal reasons, but, suffice to say that this dog came back a virtual basket case. Afraid of men and extremely hand shy. She will now respond to me, but, under certain conditions, she'll still shy from my hand. The dog is mentally quite tough.. although not as tough as her Daddy.
She'll make a nice gundog, although she'll probably continue to flag on point, but her future is happy and secure. She's one of the lucky ones, in my opinion...
Be extremely careful in sending your hunting pup off to a trainer. Do the same type of homework that one would do in selecting a breeder. Go with your pup so you can be trained as a team.
Don't allow what happened to this nice little dog happen to one of yours....
Another situation where "Caveat Emptor" applies.... Let the buyer beware!
Bill: that is a nice looking Gordon, for sure. I couldn't agree more on your comments about trainers. We looked up and down the East Coast before settling on the guy to force-fetch Momo. I also agree that 'training the handler' is equally as crucial -- although I heartily endorse our trainer's decision NOT to let me come visit as Momo's force-fetching progressed (because Momo can be both stress-avoidant and a stubbornhead and so having me show up halfway through would have probably set things back). The biggest unexpected thing I am working through (as detailed on my blog)is simply the recalibration of our dogs to working with me -- which is just to say that even though the commands were the same, my and my trainer's communication styles are different.
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