# Dan Hosford- Working Man's Retriever



## Jessica Payne

I never see anyone talk about using the Dan Hosford material...is there a reason? I think he's really awesome...and super easy to follow, especially for beginners like myself. Is he just undiscovered, or is everyone partial to Evan Graham or Mike Lardy? Just want some insight!


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## John Robinson

Are you talking about Dan Hosford from Spokane? He's a real nice guy, I remember him from running NAHRA back in the 90s. I didn't know that he had a training program. Is it a book, DVD both?

John


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## FOM

Never heard of him....


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## 2tall

I googled and came up with 4 videos @ $35 each that cover ob and the conditioned retrieve. Most people here are very performance oriented and want a complete program that has proven successful in whatever venue they compete in. That may be why you don't hear him mentioned. I did not know who he was either. That does not mean he does not have something to offer.


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## paul young

i judged his string of dogs at the NAHRA invitational. every dog was well mannered, eager and a joy to watch. i believe every one of them passed, if my memory is correct.

whatever he has to say is probably worth listening to if you in the HT game, in my opinion.-Paul


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## Howard N

paul young said:


> i judged his string of dogs at the NAHRA invitational. every dog was well mannered, eager and a joy to watch. i believe every one of them passed, if my memory is correct.
> 
> whatever he has to say is probably worth listening to if you in the HT game, in my opinion.-Paul


I don't know him other than seeing him at a few hunt tests long ago, never trained with him, but my opinion is the same as Paul's.

.... and from the little I was around him, he was a straight shooter and a nice guy.


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## SloppyMouth

A very nice and knowledgeable man. His DVDs have just started coming out. The conditioned retrieve set was released last year and the obedience one came just a month or two ago:

http://www.goestores.com/storename/danhosfordtraining/ViewDept-259259.aspx

They're both 2-disk sets that run 6-7 hours and are broken down step-wise so you can watch it and then train it. What's really cool is that he's using dogs in that phase of training so you get to see different escape responses happening in real time and how to deal with them.

I know he's about completed the upland DVD, which is about 3 hours in duration, I believe, and is planning a puppy DVD, started dog, advanced dog, secrets of blinds and I think there's another one or two planned. He has a pretty good Facebook page with some videos, etc:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dan-Hosford-Training/117323798321747

Like I said, and others did too, nice guy with lots of knowledge. Been at it since 1971.


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## jgrammer

When I got my first field golden and decided I wanted to work on putting a WC on her , several people recommended Dan. I have worked with him for 3 years now and believe me, he had his work cut out training me, training the dog was a piece of cake. One of his favorite sayings is “Rarely is it the dog I worry about.” Dan’s passion is training the trainer to train their dog and this comes across in his DVD’s. He is excellent at explaining not only how to do something but why. These videos are just starting to come out. I only wish they had been available when I started out! They would be a good addition to anyone’s training library.


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## Doc E

I've known Dan for 11 years and consider him a friend.
He is very well known out here in the West and particularly the Pac NW, especially in the NAHRA circles.
He is a darned good trainer. I've seen Dan run hundreds of dogs -- a few of his lower level dogs seem a bit intimidated when coming to the line (but very mannerly), but his upper level dogs are very very focused and do not seem intimated at all.

I haven't seen any of his material, but my guess is that they are worth the money.



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## Doc E

I've been judged by Dan a number of times and I've judged him a few times.
I may be cutting my own throat here, because Dan threatened me that if I ever put this picture of him up in a public area, that he would never pass me again ;-)...

Just to show you that he is a "real" dog person, here is a pic of him giving lovies to a pocket pooch............... It took me a long time to be able to sneak up on him and get a picture like this.
I suppose my days of passing a Hosford test are over with ;-)












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## Dustin D

Just wanted to bump this seeing he's got an Advertisement Tab at the top.

Anyone use his programs recently? or at least viewed the material?


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## Pam Spears

Dan has been filming episodes for a t.v. show, "The Working Man's Retriever," that will air on the Sportsman Channel. It think it starts in April. Might be a good way to get an idea about his program prior to purchasing the DVDs. I have it set to record already, LOL.


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## Chris Atkinson

Dustin D said:


> Just wanted to bump this seeing he's got an Advertisement Tab at the top.
> 
> Anyone use his programs recently? or at least viewed the material?


I have Dan's material and found it to be great! Among the most interesting to me is Dan's use of a special table for his force breaking teaching. It is almost like a ladder that puts the dog's front end elevated and the dog's rear end down low.

The dogs seem to react to the use of this "ladder table" in a very ineresting way. 

I've never seen anything like it before. The dogs get on it and they are extremely relaxed and very compliant.

I asked Dan if he invented this, or how he came up with it. He told me he learned it from a groomer he knew years ago. The groomer used this table to get client dogs to stand still while he worked on them.

I'd recommend the Hosford material for anyone wanting to gain some tricks, and definitely as an option for someone getting started training their first dog.

Chris


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## Guest

Chris Atkinson said:


> I have Dan's material and found it to be great! Among the most interesting to me is Dan's use of a special table for his force breaking teaching. It is almost like a ladder that puts the dog's front end elevated and the dog's rear end down low.
> 
> The dogs seem to react to the use of this "ladder table" in a very ineresting way.
> 
> I've never seen anything like it before. The dogs get on it and they are extremely relaxed and very compliant.
> 
> I asked Dan if he invented this, or how he came up with it. He told me he learned it from a groomer he knew years ago. The groomer used this table to get client dogs to stand still while he worked on them.
> 
> I'd recommend the Hosford material for anyone wanting to gain some tricks, and definitely as an option for someone getting started training their first dog.
> 
> Chris


Have you viewed this in person or just via his DVD? There is a huge difference you know.


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## HarryWilliams

When he takes a dog from their inside kennel, he has the dog go up on that table/stand and he brushes their coat, pet's them and talks to them. He then takes them out to air and to work. That's a routine he uses that I have seen. The dog's love it. I've know Dan for 25+ years. When I'm in Spokane I go visit him and he's always been generous to allow me to use his grounds.

I've trained with him very little but judged and seen him run his dogs alot. He's very professional and he is very much into training the trainer. He is able to communicate very well with the novice. 

I've recommended numerous people to visit him with their dog with successful outcomes. I'm looking forward to the TV series.

Good going Dan. Harry


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## Chris Atkinson

Melanie Foster said:


> Have you viewed this in person or just via his DVD? There is a huge difference you know.


No. I have not seen Dan train in person.  

In fact, I have not seen his DVDs since a few days after they hit my mailbox! I have a tendency to loan this sort of stuff out to newer members of our training group. I actually would like to get my copies of Dan's material back to review them more.

Despite my years in the hobby, I've actually had relatively few opportunities to see a pro train. Most of my pro viewing is when they are on the line at trials and tests handling.


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## Happy Gilmore

Melanie Foster said:


> Have you viewed this in person or just via his DVD? There is a huge difference you know.


Are you due recognition in the credits for this golden grooming trick?


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## SloppyMouth

Melanie Foster said:


> Have you viewed this in person or just via his DVD? There is a huge difference you know.


With quite a bit of experience in outdoors media, from television to magazines to websites, I can tell you Dan's stuff is probably the most off-the-cuff, true-to-life material ever. You can make crap look like a diamond on video, but Dan's stuff, which I've been present to watch the taping of, has a very specific point but is also very true-to-life. He uses novice dogs and their handlers, and it's taped just as if he's training them on his grounds with no camera present (which I've also witnessed). In fact, he probably gets more tongue-tied when I suggest trying something different or making another point. Most of it's done in one take because he's been doing it for 40 years and already knows the answer, plus future ramifications and how they'll play out for both the dog and the trainer. 

He also uses that table for force fetch, hold, grooming, nail clipping and inspecting and "de-burring" dogs after every hunt, as well as inspecting eyelids, ears and the like. Good stuff.


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## Dustin D

Thansk for the links and info SM!

Also on Dan's Youtube Channel is the 
"Introduction to the "Dan Hosford Signature Standing Table" video. For those of us without the DVDs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORSo8mzJEHM


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## Dustin D

Published on *Aug 21, 2012 *by WorkingMansRetriever


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## Erin Lynes

Hey! That dog Lyric that is shown there was bred by me! I know that her owner Jen has been training with Dan quite a bit and really thinks highly of him.


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## retrevrman

I met Dan years ago when he came out to judge a NAHRA test up in Wyoming ran by the Hidden Pines (back when there was NAHRA in this region) Great guy, very knowledgable, and very easy to talk dog stuff with. Folks up in NW are lucky to have him. 

Greg


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## 2labs

retrevrman said:


> I met Dan years ago when he came out to judge a NAHRA test up in Wyoming ran by the Hidden Pines (back when there was NAHRA in this region) Great guy, very knowledgable, and very easy to talk dog stuff with. Folks up in NW are lucky to have him.
> 
> Greg


Those were what we in Cheyenne remember as "The good ole days"!


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## Ryan M

I like the show and have been DVRing it. I am sure it will help get some hunters off the couch and train their dogs a little more. The training tips are good, the goose calling during the hunts... not so much.


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## Hells Canyon

I have been a student of Dan's for many years now. Both of my goldens and myself for that matter are featured in his tv show, teaching videos etc... he has helped me become a much better trainer and handler. Even his videos are focused on the hunting dog, it all translates into the competition. I have enjoyed Dan for many years and am looking forward to hunting with him in the near future. Good investment.


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## dtrkyman

I was about to start a thread on Dan and found this one, I have set my dvr this past spring to record his show, I have 63 of them on there lots of the same ones.

As stated above his show seems very true to life and not staged, I know this because it is basically boring and not much emphasis put into production, while it may not be Aesthetically pleasing it is very straight forward and easy to follow.

Having only had one lab and training it myself with really almost no research at the time, I have been looking at a lot of info here and anywhere I can find it since I am in the market for a pup right now. I am not interested in Hunt tests or trialing, my dog will hunt and hunt often and I find a lot of the discussion on here hard to follow and get lost in the terminology used here since I am not familiar with the training world. So for me it is nice to see very simple solutions to common problems with actual dogs having those issue's.


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## Gooseman

I have seen several of his shows on the sportman's channel. Never met him, but he seems to know dogs.


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## Wingman509

Do you have to order the dvds online? Or does he sell them locally here in spokane?


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## Chris Atkinson

Wingman509 said:


> Do you have to order the dvds online? Or does he sell them locally here in spokane?


If you are local to Dan, you should give him a call. I bet he has some on hand and you can probably swing by and pick up what you need.


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## Jmeade

I have a bunch of these episodes saved on my dvr as well....waiting for some time to watch them.


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## dtrkyman

Update, I emailed Dan regarding information on how he picks a pup, he promptly responded with some advice and also wants me to let him know how it goes when i get my dog picked out. straight up guy IMHO.


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## Scum Frog

I've been looking at Dan's stuff on youtube......I like him!


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## Jjohns2vt

Dan's training DVD's are awesome. His DVD's are super detailed and he actually uses dog's that are not fully trained unlike most. He has an upland training DVD coming out this month or April. He has been very willing to answer questions. The only thing I don't like is waiting for more of his training DVD's to come out (but well worth it!!!!).


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## Scum Frog

Woohoo! just found out we get this show on WildTV in Canada!


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## SloppyMouth

Wingman509 said:


> Do you have to order the dvds online? Or does he sell them locally here in spokane?


He has a store that you can find on his website: http://www.wmretriever.com/

The obedience and force fetch DVDs are more than seven hours in duration. The upland DVD, which should be out very soon, is about 3.5 hours, I believe.


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