Retriever Training

Our Training Program:

Basic obedience is the foundation on which a Master Hunter is made. Traditional basics include "Heel, Sit, Stay and Come." To this we add "Down," "Kennel" and "Place" which is the command for the dog to assume a remote position and the "Trained Retrieve" which ensures your pup will deliver your bird gently to hand, every time.
We also teach good manners in the house so your pup will be welcome anywhere you go whether it be a motel or a friend's living room.

Field Training: Hunting dogs and Hunt Test dogs need more advanced skills due to the "extreme" retrieves that are part of any normal hunting day afield or under judgment at a Hunt Test. In our field program your pup will learn triple marked retrieves on land and water as well as the hand signals and whistle commands necessary to run blind retrieves but we don't stop there.

Thirty years of hunting has taught us that a retriever needs to know more than just retrieving so we also teach your pup to ride on a quad runner (ATV) so your trip into the dove field or out to the goose blind is uneventful. Your pup will also learn to work out of a boat and a pit blind or lay under a goose decoy until sent to retrieve. As many hunters enjoy upland hunting we will also teach your pup to quarter a field or ditch bank and flush any bird he finds.

Then we put the polish on with "Shore Breaking," "Taking a line" and rock solid obedience at any distance. When your dog has finished this program he will truly be a "Master Hunter" and will be welcome in anybody's blind.

We run a full schedule of AKC Hunt Test events starting in February and running into October. We have extensive experience handling dogs in retriever field events and are happy to handle your trained dog for you if you wish.