I recently found an article by James Spencer titled Chesapeakes Aren't For Everyone. In this article he states that CBR's are best trained by thier owners.

How well do CBR's do with Pro Trainers?

It CAN be done but in my experiance they take better to the one they bond with. none of my past chessies would listen a wink to my wife and the current one does when he feels like it!!!

If you go with a pro i think most everyone will tell you to find one that has a good track record with chessies and plenty of experiance with them!!!

I am fortunate enough to live near Bruce Ahlers.The trainer Bruce recommended (Greg Lister) is experianced with CBR's and Bruce trains with him several times per week. I will be involved in his training several times per week as well as soon as his 30 days of solitary confinement are up.

hunt-chessies and Paul F - you two guys have related dogs. Out of same sire. I hope they are doing fine and that you are both not disappointed in your pups. Lucky to be near Bruce Ahlers. He is one of the top chessie people. He runs serious field trials.

If I were you I would try to find a trainer and work with them.

If you do send your dog away. Try to find a trainer that does not have alot of dogs. Go and watch them train more then a couple times. Go to thier kennel and visit. See how many dogs they are training.
Sending your dog away to a trainer is going to takes its toll on you and your wallet so unless you can send your dog away for 5-7 months and are willing to spend around $3000 dont do it. Also after you get your dog back from the trainer you still have to keep up the training.

Also some trainers try to stick to 1 program and dont venture off the program and just wash out dogs that cant stick to thier program. If you go to a lab trainer most likley your chessie wont get a chance.

I sent my dog to a trainer and it didnt work out. I got him back and worked with a lab field trial guy of course he cracked on me for owning a chessie but he helped me and my dog alot.

Moscowitz, I could not be happier with Gus. He is a great dog. He looks a lot like Hunt-Chessies pup. I hope he does well with his training. I have high hopes for him and I will keep you up to date on his progress.

My pup (Huntley) is 6 months old now and is a DREAM so far..... I'm going to knock on wood now..... LOL

It's been a great start and i couldn't be more pleased with him. I think if he can figure out a way to stop me from screwing everything up he will be a star in the Hunt Test's and a stud in the blind.....

It's me i worry about!!!

Paul where is your pup from and how old??

Paul F, sounds like you are very lucky to be able to train with an excellent experienced CBR person. If Bruce Ahlers recommends a trainer I'd say that is a very good thumbs up & likely an excellent choice.

I do agree with the Spencer article and think most CBRs will put forth their best effort for their owners. However I think most good ones are fine with 'boot camp' when they are younger for getting their basics done. IMO it's when they're older that they won't put forth their best work living in a kennel or on a truck fulltime as one of 20 dogs.

Gus is out of Westwinds Telus Abby from Wendy Shepard and of course CH Silvercreek Murray Samual MH . Huntley looks just like Gus. Keep me posted on Huntleys progress.

Julie R, thanks for the reply. I will be involved in Gus's training several days a week. I plan on handling Gus in any hunt tests he participates in.Gus will live with me and not the trainer. He goes to work with me everyday when I have him, we are joined at the hip.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Paul F,

I do the same. My girl goes to work with me every day and we train after work at least three times a week. I spend weekends training with a pro. It has worked out well. I can't see sending my girl away. I enjoy having my dogs around too much and I enjoy training on a regular basis. Good luck and have fun---Paul

Paul.... we have litter mates then. That's the same breeding mine came from. I actually had first pick male out of that breeding and i couldn't be happier.

I'm glad to see im not crazy too.... everyone around here thinks i'm nutts because i take my dog to work almost every night!!! Some people take smoke breaks.... I take a dog break, LOL!!!

Hunt-chessies,
Gus has gone to work with me everyday since I got him in February. I run an outdoor sporting goods store and Gus has free reign of the building. It has been great for his socialization being exposed to new people constantly, Everyone wants to pet the puppy.He is very easy going and affectionate but still a little shy around some people.

It's great to have contact with Gus's littermate.

Stay in touch.

Hi Paul,

Ultimately training a Chessie yourself is the correct thing to do. However not everyone carries the skills or has the facilities that are required to do it correctly. Depending on how you want to use your dogs and just how serious you are will determine what you should or should not do .

For Instance:

I know this guy who all his life dreamed that some day he would enter a field trial with his dog . So he set out to make his dream come true. He found what he thought was a great trainer who had a decent track record with labs (not Chessies) and who had a program that was believed to be the best for a person who wanted to do the things the guy wanted to do. So the guy spent a few thousand dollars and went along with the program believing this trainer knew what he was doing.

Little did the guy know that this trainer doesn't run field trials or hunt tests, claiming he spends the time with your dog not traveling.He also comes from the "Chessie Thing School" which means every time he encounters something he can not handle with the dog or resolve he blaims it on the dog or you. He claims to be a Rex Carr junkie however forgets that Rex never blaimed the dogs .

Consiquently this trainer tortured the guys dog 3 days before their debut in their first ever field trial causing the guy to seek emergency medical treatment for his dog.

The incident was reported to the authorities and nothing was done. Even the ACC Regional could care less. The fact that this trainer is connected to the very innermost circle in the field trial world here in Northern California denied justice for the guys dog and to this day who knows how many other dogs the trainer has injured and tortured. Sadly the guy is now black balled and considered bad news by all the friends of this trainer because they don't want to rock the boat. They want to train on the trainers grounds or participate in his functions. The grounds are famous for local field trials.

So Paul it is my best advice in what ever you decide for your dogs. Do your homework , research, track records that are from top of the line dogs anyway, might not mean anything.

Definately don't use a trainer who doesn't know Chessies.

Ohhh the guy mentioned above has decided not to associate or participate with people who only care about themselves. He and his dog are doing great and hunt together often.

There are some real good trainers out there who know these magnificent dogs. I don't want to insult any of them by leaving any one of them off a list so won't leave one.

I wish you all the very best and hope that all your dreams come true.

Kent

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Crossfire Hurricane,

I've got a four year old chessie that has a SHR and Jr. title. I trained the dog myself with help from local pros (private lessons) Wanting to advance the dog we sent him to a pro for advanced training. We did our homework and found a pro that works with chessies. Gator has full run of the house. Pretty much runs the house. We were very reluctant to send him away. Had always heard they were a one person dog
This trainer lives about five hours from our house. We go see him every four to six weeks. Get a room and he spends the weekend with us. He's been at the trainer for about four months. We have seen no change whatsoever in his attitude. He has taken to Mike (trainer) as if he were part of the family. This kennel has about ten chessies. They all seem to be very happy. As much as it broke our heart to leave him there we are convinced that it was the best thing for the dog. I think the key is to know the trainer. He has to know chessies

Thanks Greg, I am glad your dog is doing well.I know the trainer gus is with (Greg Lister), he is very experienced with chessies and understands the breed.I can't visit with Gus for the first 30 days, after that I will be there 3-4 times per week to train with Greg.

I am fortunate to have Greg Lister and Bruce Ahlers living less than 1 hour from my home.Greg is the pro trainer and Bruce runs his dogs with Greg frequently. I know Gus is in good hands.

I am glad I did not choose any of the Lab oriented trainers in the area. It sounds like that would have been a huge mistake.

Sounds like you made a great choice. If such a successful and respected amateur like Ahlers recommends this trainer, it's surely a good choice. And you are lucky to be so close so you can go train with your pup.

The 30 day thing is pretty common. I think most trainers like to give the pup time to adjust to kennel life and establish a bond before the owher comes back into the picture. I think it's harder on the owner than the dog!

Julie, It really is hard on the owners. My wife and I can't wait for July first to come so we can go and see Gus.

Thanks for the reply.

Hey Paul I'm pretty excited too. You are really committed to having a competitive chessie running hunt tests and field trials. You are doing it right. I can't wait to read about you guys and your accomplishments in the field.

If Dr. Bruce hooked you up you are in great hands.

I know a guy who enys you .

Best of luck !

Kent

quote:

I am glad I did not choose any of the Lab oriented trainers in the area. It sounds like that would have been a huge mistake.

I was finally able to get things together and send a very talented young bitch off to a field trainer last year to be forced and started for hunt test work. The gal was a lab trainer, but I've known her for years, and she was recommended by a couple of other chessie people. The long and the short of it is that she came back to a total basket case, and even had burn marks on her neck from the e-collar. When I asked the gal why she pushed her right into the ground, she said "because she has to submit and wouldn't".

I brought her him nearly in tears as it had been a chore to get the money together to do this and now I had a bitch that was a mess instead of ready to run hunt tests.

The other side of this is that if I didn't work full time, I could have trained the bitch myself, but I just don't have that kind of time not to mention places to train or.....the old story!

But I started working with her, and by late spring, I had Annie nuts on birds and dokken ducks, and now she's back to retrieving her bumpers with her old enthusiasm. What did I do? Just what I told the trainer to do: back off, get her attitude back and she would find the structure would come back with it. I won't be running hunt tests with her anytime soon as I still don't have the time to put into her that she needs for that, but I'm thrilled that she's working so beautifully and no permanent damage seems to have been done fortunately.

Moral of the story is do it yourself, or make sure you send the chessie to someone who knows chessies.

Kathy Miller
Sandy Oak Chesapeakes