Show Notes
What makes a truly great dog trainer? In this episode, Chris sits down with legendary retriever trainer Andy Attar for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with Andy's journey alongside Pat Burns and Mike Lardy and evolves into a masterclass on dog training philosophy. Andy shares stories from the early days of retriever training, explains why Mike Lardy produced so many successful trainers, and discusses the importance of developing thinking dogs rather than simply teaching techniques. Th...
More from Hunt Test Hobo Podcast
Andy Attar is back on the Hunt Test Hobo Podcast, and this conversation goes deep. After more than 40 years in the retriever game, Andy shares how his approach to training and evaluating dogs has evolved. We talk about the seasonal rhythm of training for field trials, preparing dogs for Nationals, evaluating young dogs, and knowing when a dog simply needs more time versus when it may not have what it takes to become competitive. The conversation really gets interesting when we dive into press...
In this episode, Marc Patton and Chris take a deep dive into water work, including swim-by, cheating singles, angles, reentries, corrections, and how to develop a dog that understands what you're asking rather than simply becoming a robot. Marc explains how he introduces cheating singles, why getting the dog into the water is often the real lesson, when to correct a cheat, and why he believes maintaining momentum is so important. We also talk about stress, over-handling, and knowing when you ...
Crown Champion Luke Cour joins the Hunt Test Hobo Podcast to talk about his journey through the retriever world and the lessons he's learned from Rody Best and Danny Farmer. We talk about trusting the process, building confident dogs, knowing when to step in, and why sometimes you need to let a dog figure things out. Luke also shares his transition from hunt tests and SRS into field trials, how he structures his training, and why competition-style training can make better hunting dogs. A grea...
In this episode of the Hunt Test Hobo Podcast, Chris Rud sits down with Tyler Brenner to talk about one of the most important parts of running the HRC Grand: how you actually prepare a dog for it. Instead of simply throwing harder and harder setups, Chris and Tyler break down the skills that can make the difference when things don't go according to plan. They talk about point-and-shoot training for marks your dog doesn't see, drag-back scent, gun swings, diversion birds, difficult blinds, han...
Water work can make—or break—a retriever. In this episode, Chris Rud sits down with Dan Ihrke to walk through the complete progression they use to develop confident, reliable water dogs before advancing to Seasoned and Finished level work. They discuss building water attitude, introducing force-to-pile in water, teaching water T, avoiding common mistakes that destroy confidence, and why timing, simplicity, and momentum matter far more than most trainers realize. Chris also shares the unbeliev...