Spring and Summer 2025 Training Spots are full. Please contact us to get on our waiting list. Thank you!

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Training Information

Training is $800/month plus the cost of any training birds we use. Chukars are the primary upland bird we use for training and those are generally $10-12/bird. Ducks are also used and those are $15-18/bird. We spread the price of ducks out evenly across all client dogs so you aren't stuck with a huge bird bill. Owners are expected to provide heartworm preventative and flea/tick preventative for each month the dog is at Cooperstown Kennels.

We specialize in training Pointing Labradors, but we have experience training a variety of retriever and pointer breeds. We only train hunting dogs, we do not do obedience or other training for non-hunting breeds.

Our training is tailored to each dog and client's goals. We do everything from puppy work to obedience to force fetch and collar conditioning to advanced level retriever work and upland work including whoa training and steady to wing and shot work.

We also offer compete in AKC, HRC and APLA hunt test competitions and can help your retriever achieve titles along the way while we work through the training program. We have a pass rate of about 90% across AKC, HRC, and APLA hunt tests across all levels and we expect to maintain or improve upon that in the future!
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Training Philosophy

Throughout our years of training dogs I believe there are several resounding themes that are critically important for your dog to be successful. First, you must be fair. Don't discipline a dog for something you haven't taught them yet. Don't expect a dog to be able to perform a task that they haven't been trained on yet. I like to tell my clients don't ask your dog to do calculus when they haven't even learned multiplication yet. Second, be consistent. Consistency is important for establishing a day to day routine, establishing muscle memory in your dog (yes they are athletes) and consistency is especially critical to avoid confusion during the training process. What was OK for a dog to do yesterday cannot be unacceptable today. This is confusing and leads to a lack of trust between you and the dog. Another premise is that establishing a solid foundation, rooted in good obedience and line manners is key. Ask any pro that competes with their dogs in retriever games and 90% of the battle is won and lost before the dog leaves the line. Coupling a well-bred dog with a strong foundation is a recipe for success.

Next you get into what I can the "Training Pyramid" or the 3-T's of dog training; Teach, Train, Test. The picture below is a graphical representation of how I approach dog training. First, the largest box, and the foundation of the pyramid is "teaching." Teaching is required for every step of the dog training process whether you are training for obedience, upland or retriever work. Most of the time you (as the trainer) are the teacher, but other times you can put the dog in situations where you let them learn things on their own. Just like people, some dogs have different learning styles and certain methods or approaches work better with some dogs than others. An example of "teaching" would be "hold conditioning." This is where we teach the dog to gently, but firmly hold a bird or bumper in their mouth. There are several steps in teaching hold conditioning. Another example of teaching could be marking concepts. For example, you can teach a dog to do multiple re-entries (getting in and out of the water like going over points or islands) on water marks by using large white bumpers and making the marks very visible to a dog. The next level in the pyramid is "training." Training and teaching are purposefully separated with a dashed line to signify the overlap between these two. Sometimes you are teaching during training and sometimes your training results in indirect teaching of the dog. Examples of training could also be the same re-entry water marks. But this time we will go to a new pond and instead of using a white bumper we may throw dead ducks off wingers from a holding blind. But by doing these marks as singles and if the dog doesn't do something correct we help them along we are "training" them. Finally, comes the smallest portion of the triangle, "testing." This is the smallest portion because it should represent the smallest portion of your time during the training process. "Testing" can be done in a variety of ways and is a great way to see what you need to go back and re-teach or re-train to improve the dog's overall performance. Testing can consist of a training day where you run a marking setup as a triple or a double with a couple blind retrieves built in without the use of an e-collar to test the dog's reaction and performance. Testing can also be at a hunt test or field trial or even the ultimate test of a dog's training; hunting season.  

​Training Grounds, Facility and Information

We have a state of the art, indoor facility (built in 2021). Our kennel facility features a non-slip epoxy floor, in-floor heat, air-conditioning, 17 individual 5'x5' kennels each equipped with a Kuranda dog cot. We have a 100' x 25' fenced in airing yard filled with pea gravel directly attached to the kennel building. We have one of, if not the cleanest kennel facilities you will ever see, as cleanliness is part of the "Cooperstown Way." Clean dogs are healthier dogs and healthy, happy dogs perform better. After all, these are canine athletes!

​We are located on 5.11 acres with a nice 1 acre training pond designed for teaching, a pattern field, and a puppy upland area. Additionally, we have access to a few hundred acres of private land in the area and we train with several other professionals and amateurs throughout the Midwest. We also train at the Mead State Dog Training Area that has some really neat fields and water that is both "technical and ducky". Our training grounds include lots of technical water and "ducky" water in addition to woods, hay fields and CRP fields. Whether you buy your dog from us or just send it here for training, it will be treated like it is one of ours. 

​When your dog is here with us, they will be treated like they are one of our dogs. For more information on training availability and pricing please email or call us. Training references available on request.

*To ensure a quality experience for your dog we only take a limited number of client dogs in for training each year, so contact us early to check for availability.
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Front of kennel building

View of inside of kennel building from NW corner

Our pet-friendly couch

South side of kennel building with A/C unit

An individual kennel - 5'x5'x6'. Each with their own kuranda cot, floor drains, and 24-hr access to clean water.

Feeding area and sink

North side of kennel building

View from SE corner of kennel building

Close-up shot of the textured floor and floor drains

Technical water we have access to train on.

Justin and Lou (on point) during an APLA test in Conde, SD, May 2019. Photo courtesy - Kim Krull and Jessica Gadeken

Justin and Cooper at the spring APLA Master test in Conde, SD - Photo courtesy - Kim Krull and Jessica Gadeken

Justin and Willie at the Fall APLA Master test in Shioctin, WI. Photo courtesy - Paul Bachman

Justin and Roy at the spring APLA Master test in Conde, SD - Photo courtesy - Kim Krull and Jessica Gadeken

Justin and Cooper at the Minnesota fall APLA test, September 2018. Photo courtesy - Danielle Carter

​This (left photo) is Cowboy. Cowboy came to us at the age of about 2 years and 8 months. Cowboy was already an AKC Master Hunter and HRC Hunting Retriever Champion. He is a very talented boy. But where he really shined was that he had already won multiple super major events in the BDC with his owner Mike Vaughn. If you know Mike, you know he has had immense success in the BDC and knows how to train dogs. The challenge was, he won those events in the flushing division. He came to us to get his natural point steadied up and to run for his Grand Master Pointing Retriever title. Running in BDC flushing Cowboy was encouraged to break point, break on the shot and even catch birds. All of which are automatic failures in master level APLA tests. I'm pretty proud that in only about 3 months we were able to get Cowboy "re-trained" and he went 2/2 in the APLA to earn his Advanced Pointing Retriever (APR) title. Then a few weeks later we capped things off going 2/2 in Master APLA tests to earn his Master and Grand Master Pointing Retriever titles. It was a fun and rewarding challenge to train a dog like this.  Video of Cowboy and I during his Master Pointing Retriever run to the right. Thanks to T. Moua for the great video (see below).

This is Levi. He is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Levi spent about 6 weeks training with us in 2020 and a couple months in 2021.  He has now gone 4/4 in HRC Started to earn his Started Hunting Retriever title. Congrats to Levi and his owner Janessa!

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​Training References - What the clients are saying:
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Brooks - Labrador Retriever

I have sent Brooks to Cooperstown Kennels for two consecutive summers. Justin has done an outstanding job with Brooks. Advancing and strengthening obedience while developing strong line manners and marking skills. The second summer was primarily focused on the upland work and pointing. 


Justin has tremendous talent at reading and evaluating each dog he trains. He meets them at their skill level and develops and/or modifies drills that help the dog gain skills and confidence. 

I have learned a lot with the time spent with Justin. His new kennel building is an awesome facility. I highly recommend anybody wanting to bring out the best in their hunting partner to give Justin a call. 

C. Dupre, Manitowoc, WI

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​Major - Airedale Terrier

​Major went through our bird and gun introduction program, we got him force-fetched and retrieving on land and water and now he is a pheasant hunting machine for his owners the Thomas'. Good boy Major!

"Justin is an excellent trainer. My experiences with him were top notch. My Airedale is a versatile and valued hunter and companion. Justin gets the
credit. 5 stars."

C. Thomas, Stevens Point, WI

4xGMPR HRCH Cooper and SHR Daizee

I found Cooperstown about 5 years ago and boy what a life changer. I bought a pup from Justin and had no idea what I got till we hit the woods with this dog. Justin ran him [Cooper] in the hunt test world and excelled Beyond my expectations. Justin runs a top notch kennel and is a top notch trainer that cares about the dog. I just bought a second dog [Daizee] from him with the same results. I highly recommend Cooperstown Kennels

R. Zembo, Superior, WI

Lexi

Justin is very knowledgeable and experienced in training Labs to point, retrieve, and obey in the field while making your hunting dog a complete family pet. We have taken Lexi back to
Cooperstown Kennels just for boarding while we were on vacation and Justin takes her out hunting/training & Lexi loves to stay there.

- D. Olson, Pulaski, WI

Scout

Justin helped me pick my black female from a breeding he knew specifically to get me a smaller dog that could literally run all day on grouse. Justin handled puppy training first (Scout never ran off, chewed, had in house accidents or had any barking problem, period).  At six months, Justin picked up her training again and at nine months she was running the grouse woods like she was two years old. Blind retrieves, finding birds, pointing woodcock rock solid and generally making much older dogs look, well, amateur.

This was and is Justin's work. Scout is the sweetest dog you could want and will run any dog or hunter into the ground and she is just getting started. She is now with Justin for force fetch and after that will be whoa and after that, well, after that I will keep taking Scout to Justin as long as he will have her. He is good. Period. Do yourself a favor and pray that Justin will agree to train your dog. You will not ever regret having done so.

Tim Nettesheim, Milwaukee, WI.

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MPR, HR Northstar's Hoosier Daddy? (Hoosier)

Video of Hoosier doing some puppy upland bird work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL43_EEmR8g

Hoosier is a half sibling to our Mays and Nellie was fun while we had him (age 8-16 weeks).  Troy has done more work since, getting Hoosier his CPR title in the Fall of 2011 at only 7 months of age!  We look forward to watching this youngster develop and turn into a superstar!  Since then Hoosier has earned both his Master Pointing Retriever and Hunting Retriever titles.  Here what Troy had to say about our training program -

Justin & Bre  

"You guys do an incredible job with these young dogs! I knew it the first time I had Mays in for a bit of training.  She was so well adjusted that she had been exposed to anything you could imagine.  And so when it came about this past year when I had some young dogs that I wanted to get that same kind of environmental enrichment I asked Justin if they could train them and he stated they would do that for me. The results for both of the dogs that they did for me were awesome. I would ask them to do that for me again in a heartbeat ! Thanks guys a keep up the great work ! "   

                                                                    - Troy Benson

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GMPR, HR Northstar's Lonesome Dove (Deets)

Deets is a great example of a Cooperstown product.  He started off with us going through our puppy program, then returned for force fetch, whoa breaking advanced retriever training, and earned his Certified and Advanced Pointing Retriever Titles with the APLA as well as his Hunting Retriever Title (HRC) being handled by Cooperstown Kennels.  Deets resides in the Dakotas with his owner Dustin Toy, enjoying ample duck and pheasant hunting opportunities.


Videos of Deets showing off his beautiful point. Deets locked up with style and staunchness on a chukar http://youtu.be/wEArJ7sxJZE

Young Deets working on a little whoa training at CK.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqpE52iOfcA 
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CK's Turkey Creek's Homerun Hound (Tater)

Tater was a young dog we started and sold after he went through our puppy training program.  When he left us he was absolutely bird crazy and boy can he POINT!  Here what Eli had to say -

Justin and Bre

"Getting Tater has been one of the best decisions of my life.  Not only does he have outstanding prey drive and intelligence, but he also has a great personality.  He truly is a versatile hunting machine that doubles as a wonderful companion.  I attribute all of Tater’s best qualities to his early training with Justin and Bre at CK.  He was crate trained, socialized with the rest of the CK pack, and exposed to birds early and often.  The result is a bird-crazy pointing lab that is comfortable in any situation.  At 7 months, Tater has already retrieved doves, ducks, grouse and pheasants and has been consistently pointing pheasants for over a month now. The biggest challenge I’ve had so far is getting him to look away from the birds when taking pictures.  I am very excited to hunt with Tater for many years to come."

                                                            - Eli Felts

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GMPR, HR Cyclone Hardball CK PR (Cy)

Cy is a young dog out of our Mays x Kenai breeding.  Cy came back to us for training when she was about 4.5 months old and before she was even 10 months old, Cy had earned her Certified Pointing Retriever title with the APLA and her Started Hunting Retriever title with the HRC.  She is an energetic, enthusiastic, pup who has a great point, high drive and is a quick learner and excellent marker.  Cy has a beautiful build and nice blocky head and weighs in around 60 pounds.  Here is what her owners had to say.

"Thank you Cooperstown Kennels! Your professionalism, knowledge and PATIENCE made
her a successful retriever. Not to mention a kickin' bloodline!  Thank you for all your hard work with Cy, we love her and she is doing awesome.  We can't wait to hunt her this fall."  - Anne Marquardt

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Hunt Testing

We compete with our dogs in the APLA, HRC and AKC hunt tests. We have run 100s of tests all around the country and currently have over a 90% pass rate across all levels and venues. We can take your hunting dog and help them reach their full potential, all while putting some cool titles on them along the way. We are hoping in the near future to dip our toes into some SRS and Qualifying Field Trials if our time and schedule allow for it.  If you are interested in having your dog compete in hunt tests please let us know!

3xGMPR HRCH Cooper with his 2019 ribbons. He went 4/5 in APLA Master and 4/4 in the HRC to earn his Hunting Retriever Champion title! Cooper was bred, trained and handled by Cooperstown Kennels.

4x Grand Master Pointing Retriever - Lou. Lou was bred, trained, handled and is owned by Cooperstown Kennels. Lou went 8/9 in the APLA to complete his 4xGMPR title!

L to R: Autumn, Molly and Fergie - 6/6 at the River Valley HRC Test, June 1-2, 2019. We own all three of these girls and all are sired by Grand Hunting Retriever Champions with pointing lab titles. Firepower!

Perfect 8/8 weekend at the 2020 Muddy Waters HRC Test. L to R: Teddy, Fergie, Ruthie and Autumn.

The Fantastic Four. All four are new Grand Master Pointing Retrievers (Sept 2018). L to R: GMPR HR Beckley, GMPR HR Willie, 1.5xGMPR HR Lou, GMPR HR Cooper. All 4 were bred, trained and handled by Cooperstown Kennels.

4/4 Weekend at the Muddy Waters HRC Test, August 4-5, 2018. All four dogs earning their Hunting Retriever (HR) titles. They went a combined 12/12 in Seasoned to earn their titles. All four were bred by Cooperstown Kennels.

8/8 in HRC Seasoned at the 2018 WisIll HRC test. L to R: Willie, Beckley, Cooper, Lou. All four of these dogs were bred, trained and handled by Cooperstown Kennels.

Grand Master Pointing Retriever - Autumn. What a stunner!

North - Certified pointing retriever title