I have a 3 month old male Brittany I am wanting to have trained when he hits the 6 month mark. He is my first bird dog, so I understand I need about as much training as he does. I want to focus more on retrieving first before doing any upland training. That being said, what trainers do yall recommend near the San Antonio area? I want to be able to go as much as possible, so the closer the better. I also understand you get what you pay for, but I also want to try to stay at a reasonable price. He already shows the drive and natural retrieving skills. Any info is much appreciated!

Adrian

John Rabidou at Uodibar Kennels in Hondo
210=216-6469

BonnieSue Porter Cibolo Creek Kennels in Cibolo, Tx 210-659-0914

Leon McNeil, Devine, Tx. 210-336-9833

If you can, take a basic obedience class with your dog in SA. You should be doing that now.
If at all possible see if the trainer is willing to work with you on a mentoring basis. You learn a lot more that way and understand how your dog was trained, making it easier to work with him once he backslides (he will).

Rabidou is the best overall trainer, and he is a no bs guy. If he can't work with you he will recommend someone.
He is not what you call a people person but if you pay attention you will learn a lot.

BonnieSue is better at dealing with people.

Leon is good but has a full time job teaching and guides so he may not have the time.

Also, if you can, get ahold of the Huntsmith videos. It is a good system Especially, their method of training whoa with the whoa post --but you have to put the time in (It takes 1.5 months to 2 months to whoa train the way they do it. (about 10 to 15 minutes two to three times a day.) If you do basic obedience and can do whoa training before you go to a trainer your dog will progress much faster.

You might also contact the people at Joshua Creek ranch. This is a planted bird place but they might have a guide there that works with dogs. I can't recommend them because I have no personal knowledge of their people.

Thank you for the info and advice! I do have him in a basic obedience class right now, and he is doing great. I will look into these recommendations!

Highly recommend Ben Kuykendall of HighPoint Kennels: http://www.highpointkennels.com
Also Mike and Bonnie Pirtle: http://www.quaildog.com/quaildog./Home.html
Both of them are Brittany breeders and understand how to train Britts. Some Pointer trainers are too heavy handed for most Brittanys. So be sure any trainer you consider has successfully trained Britts.

I'd get him broke on his birds before I started on retrieving. Retrieving is natural to a lot of britts. He will be nine months old in August. That a good time to take him to a trainer. You can go from the trainer to hunting in November.

Some trainers are too heavy handed for ALL breeds.

If you can arrange to participate in your dog's training you will probably have a much better outcome. Your Britt is likely to do a natural retrieve. If you go this route, only throw 3-4 times, then quit leaving him wanting more. Natural retrieve dogs sometimes get bored with the game. If you always quit before they are ready they stay interested. In fact, it isn't a bad idea to keep most training sessions fairly brief and to repeat as often as possible.

You might freeze a couple to use this summer for retrieving.

Good stuff!! Thanks again for all the great recommendations and advice! I'm going to look into all of them. I do have dove and ducks in the freezer. Just need to get some quail in there.

Good looking pup!

Much appreciated! I am also a novice at picture uploading.

Just marking as well. - thanks