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12 Week Retriever Foundation Program. 

Puppy foundation & raising Retriever pups age 8 weeks - 12 months

$5000.00 (12 weeks)
 

Tailored to fit the needs of family companions in the style of a true competition dog. We will groom your puppy/adolescent to become a well mannered and stable / balanced retriever with a strong foundation. Our goal is to lay the groundwork for your future titled Master Hunter and/or your best friend in the duck blind during hunting season.

This retriever foundation program and retriever puppy raising program focuses greatly on direct and indirect  environmental exposure and socialization practices. Trainer Danielle Pellicci works diligently to build and maintain a working retriever's drive while also teaching emphasis on impulse control. Our goal is to develop a dog that will enjoy working with YOU and paying attention to YOU, not always be focused on the distracting world around them. 

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Skills focused on during puppy raising: 

• Housebreaking.

• Place training (& casting to place).

• Crate training (loading into vehicle safely and under control).

• leash walking.

• Target "touch" training.

• Proprioception exercises. 

• Basic puppy commands including:

  • Here

  • Heel

  • Place

  • Sit

  • Down

  • Kennel

• Age and maturity appropriate Introduction to:  ​

  • working alongside other dogs & honoring. 

  • travel

• Pups are started with positive, balanced and fair methods. All pups are marker trained (clicker and/or verbal) and taught with POSITIVE motivational techniques.

• As the pups age and develop we introduce fair and consistent pressures (leash, collar & proximity pressures as well as e collar conditioning) so that your puppy understands both reward and consequence.

• Our goal is to develop a puppy that will be eager to learn and prepared emotionally for his/her future no matter if for sport or pet!

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Skills focused on during retriever foundation training (basic obedience as described in puppy raising above plus) : 

• Intro to shot ducks, crippled birds, frozen and live birds (pending age / maturity etc.. all retrievers will have appropriate bird exposure). 

• Gunfire intro. 

• water retrieves.

• Force fetch & collar conditioning (pending age / maturity)

• Holding blind practice

• Simulated hunt test set ups.  

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Because every retriever is a unique individual, each will learn / develop and mature at varying rates we can not guarantee a dog[s projected rate of advancement.  However, if a dog has good drive and solid nerve, it is not uncommon for a young dog who has completed 6 - 9 months (depending on age at start date) of our foundation program to be ready to run an AKC Junior Hunter test.