How to begin? - Page 3

Know what you want, and when someone asks where your located you might answer them.

Sorry...my post was to your previous post. I took a break before hitting submit and there were several posts since I wrote mine. 

There are breeders who breed dogs who excel at SchH who don't require that you do sports with them, and there are breeders who have dogs like you describe. Heck, I have them sometimes. I don't insist on putting them in a home who will title them; I insist that they go to a home where they will be an integral part of the family and whatever else they do is icing on the cake. Now, they don't go to straight-up "pet homes," because they're not typically those kind of push-button dogs, but for the right family with experience and a good dose of common sense, they're great. 

If you're not in a hurry, you'll find a great dog. 

Agree with the apprehension to buy a club members pup. Unless you see consistent results, I wouldn't consider it. I've seen clubs where they all have Pups from the host members. They all have the same probs cause they all have the same bad genetics and training. You seem to be logical and level headed. You must be a man!!! Lol good luck.

@Jenni  This dog came to us as a foster through an all breed rescue.  As they sent out potential adopters I became concerned.  I didn't think we were the right home for him, but I knew the people parading through the door would be a disaster.  After 6 months we decided we had no choice but to become the right home for him and our lives changed completely.  I doubt any breeder would have matched this dog to us when he was a puppy but I'd like to think we have come a long way since.  I really appreciate the trainers who stepped up for us and helped.  They made all the difference for the life of this dog!

Nope,
definitely a woman.

Sorry Moons... I am a mom and multi tasking (not so successfully) between the dogs and kids and here so I missed your post.  We are in very rural southern NJ.

LOL. Good for you. It was worth it, wasn't it? 

I wouldn't go back in time and get an easier dog for the world, though I will fully admit that between 9-18mos., he had me in tears a time or two. I had to really, REALLY, step up my competence in handling. Now it seems so easy and obvious, but that's definitely not something you're just born doing. I really appreciate his extreme intelligence, problem-solving skills, and "keep you on your toes" temperament and all others pale in comparison, honestly. But it's an acquired taste, for sure, and one I would have preferred easing into, not being thrown into, LOL. 

Sorry to say, but if you don't have a friend that has knowledge, you are going to learn along the way like we all did. Even experienced people make mistakes. Get out and learn the breed. The dog world is small and the true working dog world is smaller.

excepted,
I would offer help but you are too far away.
Know what you want and take your time looking, don't believe everything a breeder tells you, check things out yourself .
Good luck

Ack!  9-24 months was exhausting!  There was ALWAYS something.  I think we are lucky that I am a stay at home mom and my husband has his office in our home- there were two of us to tag team and beat the exhaustion and frustration (amazing how after the fact we would so easily see where we went wrong).