Handjem Retriever's southern training grounds and other near-by properties will be the site for this four-day workshop. This basics/transition workshops is for dogs that at a minimum are at least seven months old, ready for force-fetch, and doing simple land and water marks. Upper level transition dogs may be working on the introduction to cold blinds. This is for field trial and hunt test prospects.
The workshop will run from 8:30 AM Thursday March 7 through Sunday afternoon around 1:00. Purina will host a dinner on Thursday night.
The format will be similar to Mike's other workshops with 8-10 handler/dog teams getting real-time coaching as they train their dogs on yard work, field drills, and marking set-ups and simple blinds. The training will be customized for each dog so observers and handlers will see how the TotalRetriever program is actually implemented with a variety of dogs.
The workshop is designed to help handlers and observers understand and implement the methods promoted by Mike through his total retriever videos and Retriever Journal articles. Observers should be familiar with those methods prior to attending the clinic. This is not a seminar that will describe the program step by step. Handler-dog teams need to be trained by the approach and methods that Mike advocates in order to effectively participate.
We have accepted 10 handler dog teams. You can still register to get on the waiting list as a handler. We continue to accept observer registrations.
Registration for observers and handler waiting list is still open.
Additional information on schedule details, exercise areas, maps, and what to bring will be provided when you are accepted.