1. Pick a puppy which is a driven natural retriever, loves the water and whose parents are both natural retrievers and love the water. (of course it must also be healthy in mind and body with boldness ...not aggression...and not fearful of loud noises.) Finding a driven retriever that loves water frofm parents of same may take some searching because of only being recently allowed to run in Hunt Tests. Pick a puppy that is confident, outgoing, very birdy (i.e. it likes a wing or pigeon) and shows prey drive. 2. Read everything you can find about field training. See the books and videos resources. 3. (Probably the MOST important) Find a professional to help you who is experienced with several breeds of dogs, has an open mind, is willing to work with you and who has successfully trained dogs for field trials or hunt tests. If possible (rare commodity) that person would have a range of knowledge including other canine venues, such as competitive obedience, Schutzhund, herding, police dog training. The more varied the experience of your teacher (including work with several breeds of dogs) the better able they are to help you problem solve and evaluate the needs of you as an individual handler and your individual dog. 4. Set up a regular training time 5. Find a group of people who are willing/able to get together to train together on a regular basis. A dog trained 5 days a week is more apt to make significant progress than one trained weekly or monthly! 6. Find several training sites to work your dog. It is only by varying the terrain and conditions that your dog becomes an advanced and/or "finished" field dog. 7. Attend several (many) hunt tests and field trials. Observe each level, observe the successful handlers. Join a retriever club and volunteer to marshall at tests. This is a wonderful way to meet people and learn! Ask questions, ask questions, ask questions and observe, observe, observe. 8. At least 3 months before entering any test/trial event read the test giving organization's rules and judge's guidelines at least FIVE times. Make sure that your dog is trained well past what he will be required to perform! 9. If you are prone to "performance anxiety", as most of us are, especially if we are handling a Poodle in a field event, read the book "That Winning Feeling" (1997) by Jane Savoie, and "The Mental Edge" by Kenneth Baum. Also you may find the audiotapes with the same name and topic and authors helpful. The books can be obtained from amazon.com, the Savoie tapes can be obtained from www.dogandcatbooks.com, and the Baum tapes can be obtained from the author. (instructions for obtaining his tapes are at end of the book) Thanks to VIP
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