I am looking for a good trainer for a lab in North Texas that will force fetch.

I have a 10 month old lab that is whistle trained. (Stop, Sit, Here) He will do overs and backs. Gun broke/honors other dogs while working. All around ready to go but still drops the dummies at my feet. If you ahve any body that I can talk to let me know.

You're going to get a number of opinions, so just get ready!

OK y'all, hold your breath, you ARE seeing this from me!!!!


Look into Angie Becker at Tioga Retrievers. I recommend her cuz she does FF and your dog is obviously trained well in OB, so he can weather the FF without losing heart.

Hmm interesting...

Yes, Angie is a great trainer if you are looking in North Texas.

http://www.tiogaretrievers.com/

One thing I will say...you have class. You haven't stooped to the level of a lot of people on here and then turn and recommend one of the people that led a revolution against your practices. I honestly couldn't do it and Angie might be one of the nicest people you ever met in person but the way she has conducted herself here on this board would keep me from ever recommending or using her for anything.

I have always recommended Ronnie Smith 817**996**3831. He is a super nice guy will shoot you straight and I believe he wouldn't mistreat my dog. Tell him Judd said Hi.

Ya know Judd I would encourage you to go meet Angie, heck, go to one of her training days and I think you would change your mind. She is a great person and even better trainer. There was really no reason to say what you said about her when you have never met her regardless what has been said on this forum.

My point is someone asked for a good trainer and have never met her or seen a product of her work....so....

Thanks

Are you going to recommend yourself? You said you did some gundog training....

Thanks Judd. I never take anything Angie says personally. Yes, I definitely get the impression that she has something personal against me and for the life of me, I have no clue why, because we've never met. But, that's not a cross for ME to bear. I'm confident in my practices because I've watched them turn out one good pup after another for almost 10 years, now.

I have also worked with dogs after Angie has worked with them (surprise - I never posted that here, either!) and they were brought to me because they had broken spirits. Usually, these were young, green dogs that 'shut down' from being worked harder and faster than they could handle. Now, I considered this before recommending her, but I decided to throw her name in the ring for the following reasons:

1) She does FF and she is after results first & foremost;
2) The poster made it clear that he demands his dog perform to the 'T' (I came to this conclusion based on the fact that the pup is only 10 months old and a bird dropped at his feet was not sufficient to meet his expectations); and
3) Given the two considerations above, I assume the dog is used to being trained accordingly and will not be 'shut down' by Angie's training style (which, admittedly, is different than mine.)

NOTICE, I said DIFFERENT... not 'right', not 'wrong.' There are disciples of either camp, however I will always contend that it is just a matter of personal preference (FT vs hunter; FF vs don't; e/pinch/choke collar vs not, etc.) At the end of the day, (regardless of all the accusations otherwise), I'm here cuz I love hunting and I love the dogs... and in my heart I like to believe that's what we are ALL here for.

As for 'class', thanks, but I give the glory to my Lord & Savior who is the source of any "good" in me.

Dawn

AS FAR AS I KNOW ANGIE IS TOP NOTCH. I HAVE MET HER AT SOME HUNT TESTS, WATCHED HER WORK, AND HAD MY LAB SNAKE PROOFED AT HER KENNELS. MY LAB WAS TRAINED FOR 5 MONTHS BY ANOTHER TRAINER AND I WISH I HAD USED ANGIE. JUST MY OLD PINION!

No, phb, I'm not. Read my response to Judd and you will see why - I don't think my training style is what the poster is looking for. In addition to that, I'm not in North Texas.

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO DAN KIELTY AT CADDO MILLS?

Well, I asked EasTexHunterRetriever ,,,,, Are y'all the same person??

Interesting after all this time you have never mentioned you have worked with dogs after Angie had them...hmmm Angie is very good at what she does, takes it seriously, and is an advocate for the breed in general. That is why she gets passionate when it comes to things like clearances, which has been the subject of concern with Ironspike in the past....and it still is in my eyes...

I think Dan is still there.

Someone can form an opinion of someone else based upon the actions and words put into text enough to know someones personality. The sooner people learn this that are in the service business the better off their business will be.

Had I said all those things without the preface of never meeting her that would've been wrong and unfair of me. I don't know if Angie would admit it but she knows she has been fairly abrasive (saying it nicely) to some people here.

Perfect example...she got hammered on a swap & sale post last week. I wanted to come to her defense so bad but didn't because of things that have been posted and said here by her. That was a beautiful dog and a great price.

Also IS...your actions show your faith and beliefs. Something I should try and learn from your example is not holding grudges and letting go of things when you feel you are wronged. You are a better person than me, don't stay gone so long...there are some of us here that enjoy your posts.

Ironspike you are correct I expect a lot from my dogs and train them accordingly. I do not baby dogs and if they don't have the drive then they go to a new home. This dog is one of a diffent nature has great drive is smart and birdie just can't keep the dummy in his mouth. If he loses heart after FF he is not the dog for me he will end up being mama's dog. Keep the names comming though as I will interview all trainers and choose after talking a bunch.

Thanks for the replies.

Than

Absolutely that someone can form an opinion of someone based upon things that are said but they didn't ask personality they asked about training and you have never met or seen a dog trained by her. So, once again, I think what you posted was beside the fact. Let this person get recommendations based upon training and let them make a decision about whether or not the trainers personality suits them.

I know Angie has been abrasive on this board on occasion...LOL That is a "part" of her personality. She cares about the dogs she trains but she tells you what she thinks and is honest about it....

That is not 100% true but I'm not getting into that on a public board. If what you said was 100% true than I would've not posted...you're right.

Okay Judd, I am a little confused but we will leave it at that you can PM me with the "not on public forum info" if you would like

It's important to know what a person's after, and your post was very clear. Absolutely nothing wrong with what you want out of your dogs and I hope you did not read into my post beyond what I said... different strokes for different folks. I'm glad I was on target - sounds like you've got a fine dog in the making.

There was nothing to read into. I know both sides of the coin have had dogs that needed it and dogs that didn't. He just happens to be one that needs it, and I don't think it will break his spirit. Thanks for being honest.

Sorry ETH, didn't mean to stomp on your thunder. I didn't see the 'popcorn guy' and thought phb was asking me.

I have passion too... I just choose to 'express' it differently than you do.

As for not mentioning that I've worked with disheartened pups that have been thru Angie's program, there's been no need to mention it prior to this post. I don't look for opportunities to put other people - or their programs - down. To have mentioned it otherwise would have been irrelevant and served no purpose other than to just breed negativity. This particular post, however, was very relevant - 10 month old pup, doing well to this juncture, handler/owner looking at FF, wants pup to perform to competition standards.

In my post I presented the pros of working with Angie, but subsequently was honest about potential pitfalls (which, based on the information the poster provided), I did not think would affect this particular dog. I didn't mention potential pitfalls in my original response because until someone voiced their concerns about recommending you, I felt it was still irrelevant. However, when the subject came up, I felt it was prudent to let the poster know I'm aware of instances where those training methods had gone wrong, but explained why I made the recommendation, anyway.