Yes, we started blinds. Much of my field work with him is dependent on what I am working on in obedience. Obedience is my focus. I have done pile work with my dog, but stopped because I am working on articles and I WANT him to shop, not race out grab something and race back. I did not really have to train him for pile work, whether balls, bumpers or birds. The obedience training was enough that I could just go out there and do it and it was something we could do in the field by ourselves. Now, I do directed retrieves with bumpers and ducks, much like the glove work, instead. It's good practice for both obedience and field.
My experience with field trainers varies. I have seen people kick and hit their dogs, dogs belly crawling in heel position and people threaten their dogs with fists to the face. When I have said something, I get the "that guy is a pro and is extremely successful!" which I suppose makes that type of behavior OK? The dogs that have failed tests that have been FF'ed and trained by pros and the novice owners were dumbfounded because they were lead to believe that since the dog was FF'ed or CC'ed it should be fail-safe. I believe that is a dangerous proposition and an irresponsible statement that I have seen lead to anger toward the dog or further force to get the dog to do what they wanted. I saw a woman with a FF'ed dog run up to her dog and pinch her ear because she dropped a bird and the dog bit her hand out of fear as she crouched and urinated. More than anything, the vast majority of dogs I see, even in the videos of famous trainers, show fear behaviors. What I read, also written by famous trainers, is old school alpha/dominance stuff, which I don't agree with at all, and it bothers me when confusion or mistakes are labled as disobedience or disrespect when it's typically a handling error, a training error or a simple mistake, and the dog is punished.
I was lucky to find a very kind trainer who rehabs a lot of messed up dogs. Dogs with excellent pedigrees that were purchased for thousands of dollars then sent to well-known pros who used force techniques and now the dog needs serious rehab. One was forced to water in the winter with the e-collar and is now afraid of water. This pro teaches a lot of positive trainers and is great at problem solving instead of, when a problem crops up, jumping on the force band-wagon. He might jump there faster than, say, me, but certainly not as fast as many. He also highly values obedience in the field and makes strong suggestions to people that they follow a program, even suggesting Denise Fenzi's online obedience classes (though they are not affiliated and she is R+) to people who do not have access to a good trainer.
There is nothing wrong with trialing regardless of the reason. My comment regarding trialing was that no dog should be pushed beyond his limits (mental or physical) or trained in a way that is unkind for the sake of ribbons and titles.