Part 3

This is the final video in my Amateur / Pro Debate series, and today I want to talk about one of the most important things you can do as an amateur. 

You must focus all of your training precisely where your dog needs it. 

Truly, it's that simple! But how do you know where you should focus? In order to create an effective training plan, you need to know where you’re going. Now, that might sound obvious, but how often do you really consider the qualities that you’re trying to foster in your dog?

In today's video, I discuss the qualities that make an excellent retriever. Because when you understand these qualities, you get a better sense of where you need to focus your energy, and how you need to customize your training sessions to make sure you’re moving closer to your goal.

This is the amateur advantage - you can constantly evaluate your dog’s behavior, their skill set, track what you have and haven’t covered, and monitor their attitude and confidence level in each individual training area. Then, you can formulate a custom training plan to meet your dog’s needs.