Please allow me to introduce myself by giving you a biography of myself to date.
I have been training retrievers since 1974 for fieldwork. I trained my first dog to be Qualified All-Age in Field Trials in the U.S. and Canada at 14 years of age. I became interested in training dogs by being exposed to it by my parents (Van Lee Labradors) who breed retrievers for fieldwork since the late 1960's. They not only breed Labradors for fieldwork, but they were also competitive with their dogs in AKC and CKC Field Trials while I was growing up. It was they who taught me the beginnings of training retrievers as we shared the same interests.
After learning as much as possible from my parents and their training partners I then pursued training with different people, both professional and amateurs to continue to gain knowledge and experience. I continue this practice even today to keep learning and improving. The sharing of information is invaluable.
In 1980 I had the opportunity to become an Assistant to a Professional Field Trial Trainer in California, Dana Brown Istre. I worked with Dana and her husband, Grady, for a little over a year assisting in the training of many dogs who were FC's and/or AFC's or who later gained those titles. This is where I learned the "basics" of the e-collar program and had the opportunity to train with people like Rex Carr, Jim Dobbs, Judy Aycock, Patti and Rick Roberts and many other successful "dog people".
I have trained many different breeds of dogs for obedience and have trained numerous retrievers for hunting. I now continue to train some dogs for obedience, but my primary training is for clients who hunt their companions on waterfowl and upland game. I encourage my clients to get involved in AKC or NAHRA Hunt Tests and working their own dogs at the events, however, I do enjoy running Hunt Tests and offer my services to handle your dog if that is preferred.
I enjoy teaching both people and dogs the skills needed for an obedient, well-mannered companion whether they enjoy hunting together or if they want to participate in AKC and/or NAHRA Hunt Tests. Training the dog is only half the "team"- having the dog work and perform with his or her owner is what, I believe, makes the training complete.
To date I have titled nine (9) dogs in the Master, fifteen (15) in the Senior and twenty one (21) dogs in the Junior Stakes in the AKC Hunt Test program. I qualified four (4) dogs for the 1999 Master National and passsed three (3) of them in the 1999 Master National; qualified and passed one (1) in the 2000 Master National; qualified and passed one (1) in the 2004 Master National, Van Lee's Travel'in Man which put him in the Master National Hall of Fame. I also train my own dogs for AKC Field Trials and have made three (3) dogs Qualified All-Age.
I truly enjoy what I do and believe that maintaining a dog's attitude is an important factor during training. Although this is work for the dogs and work to train them, it must also be fun and enjoyable for the owner, trainer and the retriever! |
