What to Expect When You Meet the Trainer

Make sure you are prepared and have your puppy well rested. Bring a coy of your puppy's vet records and make sure the puppy is current on all his/her vaccinations.

The trainer will do an evaluation with you and your dog. Having the trainer take over the puppy at this point would be foreign to them and they may not react the same during retrieves as they would with you at home. Feel free to bring your own bumpers or things that your puppy is used to retrieving. The trainer will evaluate the puppy's initial desire to retrieve, their willingness to comply, and the puppy's attitude towards the work.

The trainer will have you throw a bird for your puppy to witness their reaction and see their level of birdiness. Even if your puppy has never seen a bird before, this will still help with the evaluation process. Part of the evaluation will require your puppy to do a couple of retrieves in the water, weather permitting. It is the trainer's job to see if the puppy knows how to swim and if they like being in the water.

We will also look at their gait; is it normal, or are they awkward and having a hard time maneuvering? These are the things that, at a young age, can affect desire to retrieve. Puppies are growing and changing at a rapid rate. The difficulty with maneuvering may appear as a lack of desire to retrieve, when really they may be growing so quickly that they only have the energy for one or two retrieves.

These are all important things for the trainer to evaluate before you leave your puppy. It also gives the trainer a glimpse of what kind of student your puppy is going to be. It is important to set aside the time for this process in case an issue arises so the trainer and owner can discuss it. The better you can prepare and socialize your puppy, the easier it will be for them to transition from home life to living the life of a working dog.