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I was saddened to hear the story my longtime friend and Texoma striper guide Jacob Orr told me concerning his pup “Ember”. After nearly a $10,000 investment on the dog and 13 months of professional training it was apparent that she wasn’t going to cut it as a duck dog. Jacob joins the show to talk about his experience and he the trainer took advantage of him as he continued to pour money into a bad investment. Should a trainer be able to figure out pretty quickly if a dog has the drive/demeanor to be a polished retriever? Does Jacob feel he deserves some of the blame? What does the future hold for a dog that doesn’t want to hunt? Hopefully his experience will be something we can all learn from.

Then we get a neutral 3rd party’s take on Jacob and Ember’s situation when veteran trainer Rusty Haglund of Trigger Time Kennels joins me in studio. Rusty sheds some light on how potential clients can vet a specific trainer/kennel to see if it’s the right fit. Does Rusty think Jacob deserves any blame or did the trainer abuse the level of trust Jacob put in him? What should the physical appearance of a dog being worked everyday look like?

We also talk nutrition, supplements, and common in the field injuries to look out for. Rusty also gives us his mentality when it comes to collar conditioning (the e-collar was something Ember was deathly afraid of post training). What about using real birds vs bumpers? We cover it all and much more with Trigger Time.

(Rusty shooting over/casting one of his labs during a training session)

 

Hunt test results are just one of the many ways to vet out a potential trainer. (Rusty and one of his chocolate Master Hunters)