Stevenson Gun Dog and Obedience

We dropped our golden retriever off at 7 months with barely any training before hand. We gave him to Jeff for 4 months and let him work his magic. He is a completely different dog now. He has all the playful energy a puppy should have but can now control it. He listens to all of our commands and is amazing in the fiel. Jeff let us work with him every weekend we had him at training not only to show us the progress but to help us as well. Truly an amazing guy to work with thanks Jeff

We dropped our 7 1/2 month chocolate lab off at Stevenson Gun Dog in March and picked him up this past week. All I can say is I am not sure if this is the same dog I dropped off 3 months ago. The dog we dropped off was a rambunctious, leash pulling, counter surfing, food begging, lovable, but difficult lab, who had no real interest in keeping his attention focused on any one thing for more than about 10 seconds (unless it was our dinner plates). The dog we got back was a cool, collected, very focused dog, who no longer leash pulled, jumped, or begged for food. Don't get me wrong the bird training was fantastic and he got our lab to not only love finding birds, but also got him to love going into the water (which for some reason this lab had no interest in before). However, the day to day obedience and calm demeanor we now have with our lab has gone volumes with reducing the stress in our home. As far as the bird training goes Jeff knows how to develop a dog's nose and to get him to understand what his job is once he is in the field. Jeff starts at a very basic level with the forced fetch (which is done in a very humane way), and by the time the dog has that down, the retrieving, introduction to the shotgun, and tracking down birds all fall into place. The first 8 weeks is so important in developing the dog, and I now realize there is so much more to a trained hunting dog then just throwing him out in the field and hoping he finds some birds for you. There is a skill to it, and it can be developed, and that's what Jeff excels at so well. A couple other things we found to be very unique with Stevenson Gun Dog compared to other trainers we looked at was Jeff's facility is impeccably clean. There is no smell, no dog poop on the ground, no barking from the kennel, nothing to indicate this was a dog training facility. In addition, Jeff allows you to come out once a week to visit your dog, so you can not only "love him up", as Jeff says, but to see the progress he is making, and it is amazing to see from week to week. Jeff keeps very few dogs in his facility at one time so they all get plenty of time and attention. If you are considering having your dog started and are looking at trainers, I will save you some time, and tell you to go see Jeff. You will not be disappointed, and when you pick your dog up you will wonder like I did, "is this the same dog I dropped off."

Jeff is incredible. We both have nothing but positive things to say about him, his training styles, or the outcome. He is happy to answer any questions and explain why he does what he does. It is approaching a year since our yellow lab was with Jeff and the training still sticks. The obedience and gun training have been a major positive in our dogs development. We would recommend Jeff to anyone looking for dog obedience and/or gun training.

I could not be more happy with my expertise, professionalism and honesty we received from Jeff during the 8 weeks my Fox Red Lab, Direks was in training. Before sending Dierks to trained retrieve, he was having difficulty with anxiety, retrieving, holding, and most importantly hard on birds. With each week that went by I was able to either go watch Dierks train or get weekly updates from Jeff on his progress. After the 8 weeks it is truly amazing how Jeff was able to break all of Dierks bad habits and turn him into a hunting machine while still being an amazing obedient family dog. Jeff also advised us on healthy food suggestions, training collar and suggestions for continued training. I will be sending all of my future dogs to Jeff. Thank you again!