I appreciate the kind words from Laidback and JayHook but I just used to love to see a dog that was trained by the owner. It seemed to be a special bond between them. I do not say that a pro trainer is worthless they have some very good qualities. Unless you are going to run your dog in competition I would take time, fifteen to twenty minutes a day and train the dog myself. In competition if your dog runs the bank to retrieve a downed bird you are pretty much out, but if your dog runs the bank in real life and brings back the bird what the heck? Competition and real life are two totally different things. It is up to you to what you want. mho One last thing when I was judging I loved to see a dog come to the line wagging his or her tail because they were happy, but when a dog came to the line with their tail between their legs I knew they had been mistreated and were afraid they were going to made a mistake. Once again completion and real life are two different things.