08/22/2024
This! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Nothing is more aggravating than someone asking….what’s this dogs age? What’s his/her level? As if there is a specific age a dog should be to be at a certain level. I will train the dog in front of me, ALWAYS
It takes as long as it takes.
Know your dog…
So many times we see people ask “Where should my dog be at a certain age?” And there really is no set answer for that.
Theres a lot of different variables that can alter that answer.
1. How often do you train?
-Dogs learn off of repetition. The more you train them, the quicker they learn. That’s why you see dogs with a Pro that trains them 5 days a week excel faster than a dog trained by their owner 1 time a week.
2. Pedigree
-Pedigrees matter! Dogs that are bred from highly hunt tested and field trial lineage is more likely to turn out quicker than your average bred dog with no titles. You are comparing generations and generations of well trainable dogs to a high standard to dogs that have not proved anything not shown any of their lineage trainability.
3. The dog itself.
-Some dogs just are slower starters than others and require you to train them slower.
EXAMPLE: Meet Briar…
Briar is a 2 year old British Labrador Retriever. Briar’s owner had all the proper steps done to ensure she had a quality puppy. She picked out a reputable breeder with a great pedigree of proven dogs and proven producers, she raised her with my guidance & she sent her off to me to be trained at 6 months old. However, while all the other dogs in the kennel her same age were running Seasoned & Senior last year, Briar was running Junior & Started. And now while those same dogs are training for Finished & Master, she is training for Seasoned & Senior. Is there anything wrong with Briar? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Briar just was a little bit of a slower starter. There was even talk about washing her out a time or 2. But her owner had listened time every step of the way and understood that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. And we stuck at it (with plenty of breaks). And now this little pup that we once had to force to pick up a bumper, is a psychopathic retrieving machine that is excelling in everything we throw at her. She’s working on finishing up her water T now. She is such a talented pup. All she needed was time. In anyone’s hands who would have “rushed” her training, she would have been ruined. But we are so glad to see how far she will go.
