There is no greater bliss than live one’s purpose.
Our retrievers are working retrievers. They are descendants of generations of canine companions that hunt with their human counterparts. When harvesting upland game or waterfowl, a working retriever is essential. Often, game lands in an area inaccessible to the human hunter. Enter the well-trained retriever to recover dinner.
The ultimate test for a working retriever is to work in a real time hunt and retrieve dinner for its family. There is a process to test these working dogs to a standard established to determine their readiness as a hunting companion.
In these tests, the retriever’s natural abilities and trained abilities are judged.
Natural abilities: marking and memory, intelligence, attention, nose, courage, perseverance and style.
Trained abilities: steadiness, control, response to direction, and delivery.
Here are some snapshots of Tim, The Forester Artist, with the girls yesterday. It was a very difficult test. Twenty-eight dogs entered, twenty-one competed, only eight qualified.
Congratulations to Blitz on her first Senior Hunter qualifier.

Blind retrieve: the retriever does not know where the bird is. The handler must guide the retriever with whistle and voice command.

Teka greets Kathleen, one of her people who came to watch her at the event. Teka properly loved up both Doug and Kathleen.

Tim, The Forester Artist, with Blitz and Teka.