How to Choose a Professional Waterfowl Dog Trainer
Any decent dog owner is going to have questions before dropping their dog off with a professional waterfowl dog trainer for an extended period of time. Before choosing a hunting dog trainer in Iowa (or whichever state you’re in), make sure you’re asking the right questions and that you’re confident in the responses you receive. Every person is going to be willing to accept a different caliber of hunting training program for their dog depending on their values and beliefs - so do your research.
Ask Questions and Spend a Day with Your Waterfowl Dog Trainer
As you start browsing professional hunting dog trainers, remember that you’re entitled to answers about safety, treatment and training curriculum. All of these areas will impact your waterfowl dog and their progress regardless of the length of program, be it three months, six months or an entire year. Look for basic information on the website but don’t expect a trainer to post too much information about their technique.
Instead, we highly recommend talking to the dog trainer and asking to spend a day watching them run through their typical waterfowl training session. This gives you a chance to observe the trainers’ methods. At Fowl Water Outdoors we want to meet the dog owner in person and spend time getting to know them. It helps the owner understand what we’re about and gives us an idea if you’re a good fit for our kennel.
Before you arrive, determine what’s most important to you; is it the outcome, the environment, the focus of the training program? Then, list out any nuances or quirks about your dog that you need to consider. Be honest when you evaluate your dog so you can pinpoint what’s going to be most important for your duck hunting dog’s success.
Red Flag: If a trainer gets offended by your questions, they’ve got something to hide. Professional hunting dog trainers gladly welcome questions because more often than not it shows that an owner is invested in their animal and cares about them.
Type of Hunting Dog Trainers - Field Trial, Hunt Test and Hunting
If you haven’t heard of field trials or hunt tests, start reading. Depending on the waterfowl training facility, your trainer may focus their training around competing and/or passing these tests. This will naturally lead them to place different levels of importance on your dog’s training. Knowing if you want a field-trial-trained dog or not, will drastically alter the course of your dogs’ training, and most likely have a huge impact on where you send her.
This topic can be touchy for trainers and owners - so we’ll try to minimize controversy by giving you a brief overview of the differences and let you look further into it. You’ll find a number of resources online that ask the question; can a field trial dog be a good hunting dog?
Fowl Water Outdoors has trained dogs for all scenarios and have identified a few differences in the way we handle these dogs.
Field Trial / Hunt Test Training
More apt to focus on obedience and commands
Concerned with precision
As one field trial pro states in this outdoor life article, "Field trials were originally designed to mimic a day in the field, but today they're about as far from that as you can get.
Focused on marking concepts and blind-running ability: inside of 200 yards for hunt test training; in excess of 200 yards for field trial training
Difference in training setup - the birds will be thrown by people from a distance
Hunting Dog Training
Focused on real-life hunting scenarios
More customized training; the personality of the dog influences training program and pace
A quote from the same outdoor life article clarifies that hunting dogs are more experienced in real-life hunting situations like, “waiting hours in the blind for a flock - and knowing how to handle typical things that happen afield, such as a diving cripple. A dog that's hunted knows how to behave and respond in these scenarios while trial/test dogs haven't had the chance to figure it out.”
Difference in training setup - we shoot over the dog at birds flying through the air
Red Flag: If a waterfowl dog hunting trainer refuses to run drills in front of you - something is wrong. All dogs will be at different levels so the dogs aren’t going to perform perfectly, and what you want to watch is how the trainer corrects the dog. You’re there to observe training methods, not perfectly accurate dogs. If you can’t see how the trainer responds to a dog not listening or obeying, then the trip to their facility was a waste because that’s the primary opportunity for you to view how the hunting dogs are being treated.
About Waterfowl Dog Training Facilities
The number one factor when you’re choosing a hunting dog trainer; confirm they have a facility. There are a lot of dog trainers out there who will have a program for waterfowl dogs, but it’s not their full-time job and they usually won’t have a facility. A full-time trainer (or a part time trainer with a facility) indicates their commitment to the training schedule and likelihood to give your dog more of their time.
What to Look For When you Visit the Kennel
Individual Runs - Every trainer should have their training dogs in individual runs. Any trainer who doesn’t, is just asking for issues.
Space - The facility should have enough room for every dog to have their own space. All a dog really needs is a 4x4 or 5x5 space to be able to stand and stretch their legs - they’re going to be running intense drills and getting plenty of exercise outside of the kennel, so the kennel itself doesn’t need to accommodate room for exercise, but rather room for rest. At Fowl Water Outdoors, client dogs have 10 foot runs just because that’s our preferences, although it’s not really necessary.
Anti-Fight Panels - For more aggressive dog personalities, some kennels will have anti-fight panels to give the animals more separation.
Indoor Kennel Areas - Above everything, confirm that the training dogs are kept indoors, especially in the midwest with the extreme temperature. Dog houses don’t provide enough warmth in the winter or protection from the heat.
Sanitation - Don’t be afraid the ask about the cleanliness. How often is it cleaned, how frequently does the entire space get sanitized. What kind of sanitizer does the kennel use?
Finally, observe the other dogs reaction to the trainer. When a dog first comes out of its run for training, it should be excited to be out and looking forward to its work retrieving marks or whatever is planned. They should be happy, and wagging their tails.
Red Flag: The dog trainer won’t let you see the kennel or training facility. There is absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t see where your money is going. When clients visit Fowl Water Outdoors, we make sure the whole facility is open and running, clean and the dogs are fed and watered. We’re excited about your interest and ready to show you everything. When a trainer doesn’t prepare their kennel for guests, they aren’t looking forward to your visit and that should be a major warning sign.
If you’re interested in seeing how Fowl Water Outdoors trains its hunting dogs, fill out the form below.