Dog trainer

[xedge2002]

I am looking for a dog trainer in the St Cloud area and looking for suggestions. I have a 6 month old male lab. He knows some of the beginner commands but would like to have someone do some field work with him and work a little more on obedience. Hoping to find someone good but also won't break the bank. I did a search but didn't see much for lab trainers. Thanks for the help

[Trapper J]

years ago when i ran akc hunt tests, i was very impressed with a trainer named David Russell. He is located in Ogilvie and his kennel is on line retrievers.I know of a few people that have bought pups from him or have had him work with their retrievers,in the past few years,and they were pretty happy with their experience.You can find his website by punching up on line retrievers.Also have you thought about joining a local retriever club.There are some very experienced people in these clubs that can be very helpful.2 that i used to be a member of was rice creek hunting dog club ,Little Falls and central mn retriever club,St.Cloud hopefully their still going strong.hope this helps.

[hotdog]

TKO Retrievers in Clearwater,Is a very good retriever trainer.Also Randy Gohman at Red-y Retrievers.He is by Pleasant Lake.

[Todd Caswell]

Rick Stawski of Fineline Retrievers in Milaca, google fineline Retrievers. He's in Florida training for the winter but will be home in April. Produced Fowldawg training videos. Iv'e had a dog with him the past four winters and have spend alot of time training with him during the summer monthes, he's a very good young dog trainer, basics and transition, and his grounds are very nice. He trained under Jim Kappes and Wayne Curtis. Alot of his dogs are trial dogs but basics are basics. I would avoid using a pro during the winter unless they go south, better off to wait untill spring. Also you get what you pay for one of the above mentioned I wouldn't send a dog to if it was free.

[Trapper J]

Im curious as to which post your refering to T.C.?

[Todd Caswell]

Im curious as to which post your refering to T.C.?

Not your post

[hotdog]

todd caswell has made a unsubstaniated derogatory remark. I think he should have the guts to make a statement or keep his comments to himself.

[Todd Caswell]

The OP asked for opinions you gave your's I gave mine. I still believe you get what you pay for. There are only a handfull of retriever trainers in MN that have the credentials, knowlege and track record that I would consider putting my dog with. If you want to go out of state there are plenty more, but if you want to stay in state these are my picks. One of the trainers you recomended is fine, the other, no I would not reccomend. If the OP wants to know which one he can get in touch with me.

Dave Rorem

Steve yozamp

Rick Stawski

Dan Sayles

[xedge2002]

Todd send me a PM on which one you would avoid.

Guys I'm not trying to start an argument on here. I am looking for a good place to take my pooch to get some training done. I will look at all of the names I get from you guys and then make my decision.

[Todd Caswell]

PM sent

[Bryce]

Dynamic Retrievers has my youngest and I expect a lot out a trainer.

[hotdog]

todd caswell 136 people have viewed your post and you admitt one the trainers does not deserve your comment.I think you need to rectify this unfounded slanderous statement.

[xedge2002]

Hotdog thanks for your input on my thread, now drop it. If you have an issue with him PM him and quit adding garbage to my question.

[Newby214]

Dan Sayles who runs Cinaroc kennels is great! Although I have not sent a dog to him for training, we did get our yellow lab from him. And we are very satisfied, he recieved zero formal training from a trainer and still is a very above average hunter. My sister and brother in law are getting one of his pups this spring and My uncle got both of his dogs from Dan, both are excellant hunters! Two of the better dogs I have hunted over. I would highly recommend Dan, he is very good trainer and also reasonably priced. He is also belongs to the Central MN retriever club, which is based out of st. cloud. But as I am sure you have found out,as you were searching you found several good trainers out there. That is a good thing about MN,we have several good trainers, just keep narrowing it down and youll find the right trainer.

[sweept]

Tim at Tko in Clearwater is excellent.

[SETDAHOOK]

xedge2002,

PM sent

[nine-tiner]

I have also used David and Michelle at On-Line. I am more than satisfied and will be using them in the near future again. I brought him for the 'basics' plus gun/bird introduction. I am constantly getting comments on how well behaved my dog is, and he is remarkable in the field. I have recommended them to others and will continue to do so.

[duckbuster]

Rick Stawski of Fineline Retrievers in Milaca, google fineline Retrievers. He's in Florida training for the winter but will be home in April. Produced Fowldawg training videos. Iv'e had a dog with him the past four winters and have spend alot of time training with him during the summer monthes, he's a very good young dog trainer, basics and transition, and his grounds are very nice. He trained under Jim Kappes and Wayne Curtis. Alot of his dogs are trial dogs but basics are basics. I would avoid using a pro during the winter unless they go south, better off to wait untill spring. Also you get what you pay for one of the above mentioned I wouldn't send a dog to if it was free.

I would agree with the last sentence that Todd writes. I to would not give him a dog if it was owned my worst enemy. Steve Yozamp is a good young dog guy as well, who is located in Kimball. But as Todd pointed out, Steve is in Alabama until mid May. Good Luck with your search. One last thing, you could try going to the Professional retriever trainers association site for other choices.

[duckbuster]

Dynamic Retrievers has my youngest and I expect a lot out a trainer.

Is Tim going to run yours in anything while he is in Texas? I see he is running Coatal Bend next week with a couple of "Q" dogs.

[Bryce]

Have to admit I was dissapointed not to see her entered in the derby but think he has more events planned. I get the feeling he has his work cut out with her. Tim expects a calm dog and we sent him a powder keg. He's confident she'll be running senior events this summer so not too shabby for under a year.

On a side note: see Greg Ye has some dogs running. Would love to still have my dogs with him. Just couldn't handle the the long break in running events. OP should be able to search him as great trainer. Missouri based was the last rumor I heard almost a year ago.

[duckbuster]

I am pretty sure Greg is working for/with Bill Eckett. I think that would put him out of the range of what the original Op is looking for.

GOOD LUCK to your dog done there this winter with Tim. I hope you have some successes!!

[duckbuster]

todd caswell has made a unsubstaniated derogatory remark. I think he should have the guts to make a statement or keep his comments to himself.

Kind of a hypocritical statement when you hide behind a user name like you do. Todd is out there for all the world to see. Why do you think the comments are "unsubstantiated"?

I have seen the person who Todd is thinking of and I have judged with this person. Very, very hard on dogs to the point where he trains with Malice.

[Todd Caswell]

Have to admit I was dissapointed not to see her entered in the derby but think he has more events planned. I get the feeling he has his work cut out with her. Tim expects a calm dog and we sent him a powder keg. He's confident she'll be running senior events this summer so not too shabby for under a year.

On a side note: see Greg Ye has some dogs running. Would love to still have my dogs with him. Just couldn't handle the the long break in running events. OP should be able to search him as great trainer. Missouri based was the last rumor I heard almost a year ago.

If she is still under a year that I'm sure Tim is doing the right thing by not running her in trials untill she is good and ready, as owners we always want to see our dogs running as early as possible but in the long run youll be glad he waited . Good luck with your dog..

[Brad B]

3rd vote for Tim at TKO in clearwater. I have known him since the early 90's and trained with him in the mid to late 90's when I ran hunt tests. I also have had 2 dogs with steve yozamp back when he was working for phil berger at del tone kennels. greg ye is good to. I met him back when he had his one dog with steve yozamp and was just starting out.

[Todd Caswell]

Most of my free time during the summer is either spent training during the week,and either running, working at, or simply watching/ taking photo's at field trials or HT's on the weekends. I enjoy watching good dog work and a big part of that means watching dogs that have a good attitude. Not all dogs are born equall and some will have better attitudes than others but when you see 4 or 5 dogs in a row come off a truck with a poor attitude somethings up, It's a red flag for me. There aren't many of these guys out there but there are a few and it amazes me that they stay in bussiness, for one the dogs typically don't do wel and word gets around the retriever world is pretty small.

The trainers I mentioned above Stawski, Yozamp, Rorem, Sayles along with T. Springer, T. Landecker as others have mentioned are all good dog people, the dogs respect them but they still run with style. And they know how to read dogs, were all good dog trainers untill something goes wrong, the secret is knowing how to fix it or work through it.

another one I have always been impressed with is Dave Smith, the dogs on his truck ALWAYS look good physically and mentally, Iv'e never seen a pro air the dogs on his truck during the course of the day more than dave does, he treats his clients dogs very well.

[hotdog]

I would like to air my concern with Todd Caswell's original statement.

He gave a negative connotation TKO Retrievers,which has since, I think been exonerated. I would not claim to be an expert on Labrador Retriever

Trainers.However I do know the area and told him what I knew as far as Trainers in the area.I know that these men earn there living from this work and negative publicity like this could be harmful to their ability to earn a living.I hope this clears the air as far as TKO concerned.

In regards to Red-y if anyone has concerns I think fair to say what they believe.After all a spade is spade you might as well call it one.If ruffled anyone's feathers I apoligize,but I did not think this forum was being fair to the offended party.

[duckbuster]

Unless I missed it, I am not seeing where Todd pointed directly at TKO.

[hotdog]

He didn't say it was not him either.As matter of fact he did not stipulate who it was to date there fore he has not clear Tim's name.

That should be apparent. Read the post.

[hockeybc69]

Tim Landecker at TKO did great with my dog(that little bugger in my avatar).

My ONLY real gripe with Tim is the fact that he is tough to get in touch with. He has an answering machine, but doesnt return calls very well. A bit on the frustrating side at times.

I found the best way to catch him to talk with Tim is to call after 9pm. Then I had good success on getting him.

[Todd Caswell]

I would like to air my concern with Todd Caswell's original statement.

He gave a negative connotation TKO Retrievers,which has since, I think been exonerated. I would not claim to be an expert on Labrador Retriever

Trainers.However I do know the area and told him what I knew as far as Trainers in the area.I know that these men earn there living from this work and negative publicity like this could be harmful to their ability to earn a living.I hope this clears the air as far as TKO concerned.

In regards to Red-y if anyone has concerns I think fair to say what they believe.After all a spade is spade you might as well call it one.If ruffled anyone's feathers I apoligize,but I did not think this forum was being fair to the offended party.

I probablty should have came right out and said wich one it was, really didn't want to throw the guy under the bus For the record it was not Tim Landecker of TKO I was refering to, Tims a good guy and his dogs look good.