Stan,
I really envy you guys that have the experience, time and grounds to train one. It's just not in my cards. I live in the suburbs south of LA and just letting a dog off a leash is a $180 fine. There's some formal training grounds about an hour from me, if the traffic is light, two hrs if it's rush hour.
With my dog, the first year was had direct costs of about $5k not counting the cost of the dog. We encountered an elbow problem that cost $3500 of surgery, xrays, meds, etc., to fix, and a number of normal smaller/maintenance vet issues, toss in the dog food, equipment, etc., (which my wife kept copious, meticulous notes of) and there you have it. That didn't include fuel costs, stacks of books on dogs or such. The next year, I attended a Hickox class, which cost me $1500 with me and my wife, plus lodging, meals, for 5 days, 2000 miles of driving and fuel costs, etc., etc.. Then there was the DVDs, new training gear, super special E-collar, bird launchers. Probably a $3500 or more trip in the end.
So, while initial costs of a trained dog are pretty big numbers, I see it as either a lump sum outlay for a known dog capability vs. installments amounting to similar total costs and having me do the training, definitely resulting in a less capable dog than any professional could offer. Anyway, I have the wife convinced of this. So don't wreck that for me.
