I got my new dog "kola" and she knows the basics sit lay heel stay and shake but I need someone to set me up on a cheap but good duck trainer she lovesssss the water and she fetches she picked her first dove the other day by herself but still needs real trainer etc

I used silver banded retrievers to train my dog (lab) to track wounded deer, but he is actually a gun dog/ retriever trainer. I was very pleased with him. He is on here look him up.

No such thing as a cheap good trainer. Look to spend a minimum of $450 to $500 a month. There are a bunch of good trainers in this area. Adan Campbell in Tuscaloosa is good as is Thad Simmons a little further south. Larry Key in Tuscaloosa is also good. I can get you numbers and names of more if you are interested.

My lab went thru basic and advanced gun dog training at Oakbowery Kennels in opelika,Alabama. Trainers name is Chris Adams. Very friendly,knowledgeable and all around great guy. Now it's been several years since my lab was down v there but a total of close to 2 years of total training. 5 months of basic, then got him back to season him the first year of hunting dove/duck. Then sent back down for advanced(blind retrieves,hand signals,etc). Ran into problem from summertime storm and lightning which was a nightmare and made my dog gunshy,he worked him thru it is why it took so long on add advanced sessions. He ate the cost of 5 months to get him back where he needed to be. If not he is insured and was going to make it right
I would've got my dog back and either took full reimbursement and value of dog or pick of litter and complete training. Awesome guy in my book. On call vet from auburn once a week to check out dogs and top of the line kennels ,etc. My cousin also had a lab trained by him as well as few other folks in my group. Check him out,i don't think you'll be disappointed. His kennel/ training cost monthly was $450(included everything)

larry key in tuscaloosa is very good.
he always buys a two yellow pups from our yellow labs litter.he loves dixies pups.

Adam Campbell trained my dog. Great guy and reasonable pricing. He will definitely be training another one for me in the near future

Chris at Oak Bowery is a very good trainer. Has one of the best kennel set ups I have seen.

Sent my lab to Chris at Oak Bowery and was impressed with his place and the training my dog received.

Look I am not knocking pro trainer I am just saying if you train your own dog you will learn from your mistakes and it will learn from you. Training your own retriever will give you more satisfaction than you can imagine like I said it is a learning experience. I wish to goodness I could transfer my knowledge to you about duck dogs. Not that I am brilliant, I have trained a few, I have not written a book, I am not that smart, I know all dog are like people they are different. You have to find what will fit into their personality. Some are soft some are hard some will take pressure and some will not. Spend some time with your dog and try to fit into their personality don't make them fit into yours. Correct them when need and praise them when needed. Just my thoughts. Oh how I miss training. It was fun but most of all educational. I learned more from dogs than I did from teachers in school.

Geezer, you're correct by training your own dog you create a strong bond and actually to your speed/actions. My issues arose to where i had hit a plateau with certain actions no matter what i read,seen or acted on. That is were a professional came into play for me. I didn't mind my dog having to start over with someone new and advancing from there. Plus someone with access to the necessary facilities everyday was a required training tool. Same thing goes for my shepherd,she's been training schutzhund/protection with me but finding the right club/people makes all the difference in the world since there's access to seasoned professionals/dogs to help thru those times of need to always excel.

Thad Simmons trained my lab. He did a good job. Was very pleased with how Cooper turned out. I just sent him for obedience and force fetching. Unfortunately, I haven't followed up with the blinds and hand signals as well as I needed. That's on me though. Not Thad or Cooper.

Dr. B

I'm training my own right now, look up the Freddy king videos on YouTube. he will show you what's up. he has a video series on there where he trains a dog named tank. when you look on youtube, search retriever training

Check out Water Dog by Richard Wolters. Pretty much the bible of duck dog training.

Water dog and 10 minute retriever are both great books to keep on hand. I'd completely forgot about those publications,good looking out jlbuc10

Water Dog is a good book. However it is hopelessly outdated. Little to no information on how to use an e-collar. I would reccomend total retriever training or smartworks for videos. 10 minute retriever is a good book but a bit misleading. Going to take more than 10 minutes a day.

Chris Adams at Oak Bowery did obedience training on my male lab and did basic gun dog training on my son-in-law's lab. We like him.

Total Retriever Training by Mike Lardy is and awesome video series to look at.

Dr. B