How important is training a pup/young dog

I personally like to work with my pups some. I think its as much interactin/socializin with em as it is trainin em that I like. I will set up 2 maybe 3 mock trails for em, this is usually just to get an idea of who is progressing the fastest. I bring em to my lease at around 4-5mths just to let em run and explore.....also helps me to figure out which will naturally leave out and who is a straggler. As far as pens go, i keep a hog at the house 24/7 and i will show it to them a couple times and let em watch my #1 dog bay it for a few minutes from an early age, if they decide to bay with him then great, if not i put em up for a while then try again in a month or so. i don't really consider it training them as much as I consider it conditioning them to my expectations.

"the sun is shining somewhere in texas" -Jason Boland