# Favorite saying or quotes concerning retriever training.



## Cayuga Dew (Nov 30, 2014)

I thought it would be fun to start a favorite saying or quote thread.

Examples:
"_It was great till it wasn't_" 
(I heard this training last week in SC with a group of amateurs.)

I would love to hear some quotes that you've heard pros say.

Please keep it clean.


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## Kenneth Niles Bora (Jul 1, 2004)

from a local pro years back describing the games...
"It is all just dogs picking up stuff, or not"


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## H2O_Control_guy (Jul 14, 2009)

Pro and friend of mine, Perfection is the enemy of good!


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## jacduck (Aug 17, 2011)

Apply when things are not so good. "Your dog really loves you" told to me by a JR judge when I was 1st starting.


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## swliszka (Apr 17, 2011)

My favorite was by Phil Berger (Del-Tone Kennels)deceased..who when referring to Retriever Field Trial News, the "Bible" as being the "Doggy Enquirer" considering all the gossip, ads and self flattery printed.


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## JoeOverby (Jan 2, 2010)

Don't complain...train

Run your dog not your mouth


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## Steve Shaver (Jan 9, 2003)

There is one thing two dog trainers will always agree on and that is that the other one is doing it wrong.


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## Steve Strong (Jan 14, 2013)

Oh well, he sure is a good LOOKING dog...


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## tide pond (Feb 19, 2013)

"you own what you condone"


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## MooseGooser (May 11, 2003)

"The only time She has a good Sit,is when you say Back."

"Do SOMETHING,,, Do ANYTHING,,, but Gawd Dam it,,,DONT do THAT."

These made me laugh out loud when I heard them..


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## Breck (Jul 1, 2003)

You can take the go out of a dog but you can't put it back in. 
. 
Cough? Watch your dog!


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## Peter Balzer (Mar 15, 2014)

Probably not what you're looking for, but we have a running joke in my HRC club, and we particularly like to get one pro with it. We like to yell "diversion" when the dog is coming back with the bird from the blind. But there's no diversion on that series, we just like to see the look of panic on their face and watch them scramble for the gun only to realize they've been had. Its kinda mean, but it keeps things fun.


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## Rick Hall (Jan 21, 2003)

MooseGooser said:


> "The only time She has a good Sit,is when you say Back."
> 
> "Do SOMETHING,,, Do ANYTHING,,, but Gawd Dam it,,,DONT do THAT."
> 
> These made me laugh out loud when I heard them..


In that same vein: "OK, don't sit." liked to knocked me over.


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## 1tulip (Oct 22, 2009)

A spectator in the gallery at the Open had never seen trained retrievers work. A Canadian pro was standing nearby and the guy turned to him and said... "WOW! How long does it take to train dogs to do that?" The pro said... "Oh, about 20 years." The spectator was amazed. "Do they really live that long?" To which the pro responded... "Nope."


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## Laurie McCain (Apr 12, 2008)

Great dog. Shame about the handler.


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## Peter Balzer (Mar 15, 2014)

Laurie McCain said:


> Great dog. Shame about the handler.


HA! the highest compliment and lowest blow.


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## Bill McKnight (Sep 11, 2014)

I once asked Joey Harp if he had any advise as I was going to the line in the 4th series of an all age stake. He looked puzzled then said "pray". Ham did pretty good. So when I came back with Livvy I asked again saying that praying didn't quite get it done. He didn't hesitate "pray harder". Livvy won. Good advise after all.

Ronan Bill


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## paul young (Jan 5, 2003)

"Train the dog you have, not the one you wish you had."- unknown

"Leave something in it for the dog". -Rex Carr

Overheard during a discussion about how fast to progress a youngster; Owner- "She isn't old enough for that" Trainer- "She doesn't know how old she is."


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## MissSkeeter (May 17, 2013)

Here is a quote from Rex Carr on tuneup drills.

"Any tuneup you start, you should do a minimum of 6 times.

At first with a young dog, its difficult,and each day it gets less difficult. 

Now about the third day, lot of people would back off and go do something else.

Hey! put in the 3 days so the dog can go out there and appreciate doing it right! 

Lot of moral value in that.
Because when they start out, it worries them, it bothers them,
but *as they catch on, it tickles them pink!, because when **you shut up down there because they are doing good.*

And they need that reward..."


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## JDogger (Feb 2, 2003)

"He's never done that before." :shock:


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## Mark Sehon (Feb 10, 2003)

4 feet and a black heart!


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## Bob Z (Mar 16, 2013)

They are ALL goofy, son. Doesn't matter how much you spend on 'em or how many letters are behind the names.


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## MissSkeeter (May 17, 2013)

*Watch your dog!* (not the marks...)


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## barbless (Aug 9, 2015)

There are two types of dogs..........."dogs that break and dogs that are going to break"


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## Zach Fisher (Jan 16, 2015)

Don't brag on a dog until he's dead or retired. He'll find a way to make a fool out of you.


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## K-Dog (Feb 1, 2017)

"The difference in degrees of success relates to the amount of mistakes that are made"

"if you train a young dog for momentum precision will arrive. If you train for precision demanding perfection momentum will depart" ~ Rex Carr

"repeat the concept not the blind"

"After the applied pressure and you don't get the response you are looking for, simplify" ~Mike Lardy (Lardy says this during his water cheating sequence - TRT)


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## M&K's Retrievers (May 31, 2009)

Not training but "That dog needs to get someone to take him hunting" after several misses. Anonymous guy on the other side of a tree line.....


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## cakaiser (Jul 12, 2007)

Bill McKnight said:


> I once asked Joey Harp if he had any advise as I was going to the line in the 4th series of an all age stake. He looked puzzled then said "pray". Ham did pretty good. So when I came back with Livvy I asked again saying that praying didn't quite get it done. He didn't hesitate "pray harder". Livvy won. Good advise after all.
> 
> Ronan Bill


Another from Joe.
" This dog is land eye dominant."


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## John Condon (Mar 27, 2013)

My personal favorite "she doesn't do that in training"


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## Charles C. (Nov 5, 2004)

Zach Fisher said:


> Don't brag on a dog until he's dead or retired. He'll find a way to make a fool out of you.


Truer words have never been spoken.


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## jd6400 (Feb 23, 2009)

"Back" to the clubhouse to get a ribbon...."Over" to your truck to go home.....Jim


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## dorkweed (Apr 14, 2009)

"Dog training ain't fair."

"I've got 3 retrievers and a Golden."

"He's a good deal worse than no dog at all."


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## Chad Baker (Feb 5, 2003)

"Hard to get too, easy to find!"


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## dorkweed (Apr 14, 2009)

Anything by Gene Hill.


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## NateB (Sep 25, 2003)

I have always heard it as, "OVER to the next series, BACK to the truck"


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## NateB (Sep 25, 2003)

Dave Rorem (paraphrasing) "Train on what the dog presents you." If you are planning on doing x today but the dog shows an issue with Y. Work on Y


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## polmaise (Jan 6, 2009)

If it hadn't run in,that would have been one of the best marks I've seen .


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## Longgun (Sep 19, 2009)

Carol Cassidy - Blow till you pee
deb


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## Dave Burton (Mar 22, 2006)

The very first time I met the late Mr Steve Ferguson at a trial and we were talking about how the wind changed and now all the dog were doing it and he said to me " There are a lot of words to describe this game, fair ain't one of them"


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## swliszka (Apr 17, 2011)

Over to the bird and back to the truck. No forward progress.


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## David Maddox (Jan 12, 2004)

Hubert Pyle, A great teacher of dogs and men, believed that "once you think they've got it, you're half way". This philosophy has not only helped in training dogs, has played a major role in my High School teaching/coaching career!!!


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## Cayuga Dew (Nov 30, 2014)

I really have enjoyed the contributions to this thread.


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## Chris Atkinson (Jan 3, 2003)

Joe Letta was an Upstate NY pro who retired several years ago. He had a unique sense of humor. One time a client dog gave a "no go". Joe did not miss a beat as he realized what had happened and what was next. 

To quote Joe as it unfolded: 

"Back....back.....back to the truck." He calmly turned, thanked the judges and heeled the dog off the line.


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## Mike Berube (Feb 8, 2003)

barbless said:


> There are two types of dogs..........."dogs that break and dogs that are going to break"


Respectfully,there are three types of dogs
1. Dogs that break
2. Dogs that are going to break
3. Dogs you don't want


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## Mike Berube (Feb 8, 2003)

Attended a Mike Lardy seminar years ago. Mike introduced Dennis Voight, Ray Voight, and Pat Burns. When Mike introduced Pat Burns he said..."I met Pat years ago and he was training a Chesapeake with a garbage can lid" That image has never left my mind...priceless


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## Mike Berube (Feb 8, 2003)

Met Jay Sweeze years ago at a field trial in Maine. He introduced himself as he was waiting to run a dog in a very difficult open. Dog after dog was picking up. I asked him... "sir, how are you going to pick these birds up", thinking he had some sort of secret strategy...he replied, "one bird at a time".


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## Scott Adams (Jun 25, 2003)

dorkweed said:


> "He's a good deal worse than no dog at all."


That's awesome!
Cliff Hunt said to me in my first year,
75% of a field trial is won or lost at the line.


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## lennie (Jan 15, 2003)

Two----- 
One training: Simplify, Simplify, Simplify...........

One Funny: Hi Barry, Hi Earlene....How's ole Sitdammit!!!


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## Hambone (Mar 4, 2003)

"Straight lines and short hunts win field trials."


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## Bill Cummins Jr. (Aug 2, 2011)

Mike Berube said:


> Met Jay Sweeze years ago at a field trial in Maine. He introduced himself as he was waiting to run a dog in a very difficult open. Dog after dog was picking up. I asked him... "sir, how are you going to pick these birds up", thinking he had some sort of secret strategy...he replied, "one bird at a time".


 When JJ was ready to retire he sold his dog truck to Gay Houser. Gay asked him if he had any advice, he said "Never Park behind a dog truck !"

That's still true.
Bill


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## Gawthorpe (Oct 4, 2007)

The Whistle around your neck isn't jewelry!

Best Advice from Professional Wives
Dave Rorem's Wife - All these dogs are good markers that is why they are here. What are you doing as a handler to make a difference?
Cindy Lardy- How about shutting your tailgate before your dogs fall out of your truck.


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## PATG (Dec 4, 2013)

First time I trained w/ Roger Reopelle, we ran a long blind with his old dog Chase and he pretty much lined it. I was up next and my dog butchered it and Roger said to me "that is ok , looks like he has never been that far away from home before "


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## J. Walker (Feb 21, 2009)

1) When in doubt, move up and simplify. 2). Always reward effort not just perfection.


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## pagedog (Apr 27, 2009)

I entered my first retriever in an Amateur in Kansas City as a novice trainer around 40 years ago really before I was prepared to compete. To me the first series was a difficult land triple, and I commented to a couple of guys in the gallery that the first bird down was set up to "trick" the dog. One guy said, "We define a trick in this game as something that you haven't trained for and it looks like you have a lot to work on." It made sense than and it still does today!


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## thetrigger (May 4, 2016)

Dog cheated worse than Bill Clinton and the judge said "well, at least he's consistent"


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## 1tulip (Oct 22, 2009)

Longgun said:


> Carol Cassidy - Blow till you pee
> deb


Corollary: Ladies of a certain age should use the porta-potty before going to the line.


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## jd6400 (Feb 23, 2009)

Harvey Shue yelling into Tommy Sorenson after alot of trouble on a setup "he can't heppit",Tommy says"what" ?Harvey say "he can't heppit,he's stupid"....Those that knew Harvey could picture it.We still use this today..Jim


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## Hilandjake (Apr 25, 2016)

"Watch the dog not the mark!"


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## Gary M (Dec 5, 2008)

"If that dog could mark, he'd be a helluva retriever"


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## Cade Gentry (Jan 17, 2005)

Twenty or so years ago standing around with some guys talking about all of the training we had tried to cram into the few days just before an HRC Grand was starting. Probably standing in a parking lot the first morning waiting to go to the test site. Can't remember where. It was a long time ago. Ed Thibodeaux overheard the conversation and in Eds no nonsense way of putting things said "Boys if you didn't bring it with you you won't find it here." I can remember on my way home thinking about those words and what they meant. My work ethic and dedication with my dogs changed after that and so did my success rate.


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## JoeOverby (Jan 2, 2010)

Cade Gentry said:


> Twenty or so years ago standing around with some guys talking about all of the training we had tried to cram into the few days just before an HRC Grand was starting. Probably standing in a parking lot the first morning waiting to go to the test site. Can't remember where. It was a long time ago. Ed Thibodeaux overheard the conversation and in Eds no nonsense way of putting things said "Boys if you didn't bring it with you you won't find it here." I can remember on my way home thinking about those words and what they meant. My work ethic and dedication with my dogs changed after that and so did my success rate.


Cade, he also said he'd rather go out in the first rather than the fourth...that way he could go home with money in his pocket and clean underwear....


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## DarrinGreene (Feb 8, 2007)

From handlers - He is a really good dog... but... Usually right before or right after something goes terribly wrong


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## red devil (Jan 4, 2003)

"My dog lined the blind.......on the way back"


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