About Us

I grew up hunting all types of game and birds.  I began training my own upland pointing dogs 30 years ago as a hobby.  Then in 1995, my wife and I bought the first of our quality Labrador Retrievers – “Taz” and I made the switch to water dogs. I read all the materials I could find, watched all the known retriever training videos, took all the classes available, and worked with several professional retriever trainers around the country to learn as many techniques, styles and tips as possible.  Little did we know that Taz would change our lives forever!

We fell in love with the breed and intended to begin a breeding program.  Realizing this would take many years of preparation and planning and plenty of land, we made an investment of a small 25 acre “farmette” in western Maryland.  At the time, I was still working with my brother in our very large rebar construction company. 
After building our breeding pack and campaigning our own dogs earning national qualifications, many of our puppy buyers asked me to train their dogs.  Clearly my passion, I decided to leave our construction business and become professional in 2001.  Focusing early in the Hunt Test arena, I am proud to have qualified several Master National dogs, even earning a 3X “Hall of Fame” in 2008 (Thanks Hunter!)

It wasn’t long before I realized I wanted to expand further.  After searching for almost 2 years, in 2004 we found the perfect 440 acre farm to develop into a retriever training facility on the Eastern Shore of Maryland – the Waterfowl Capital of America.  How Perfect!

Now, 5 years later, we have built an 80 dog state of the art boarding facility, and we’ve included 4 additional ponds for training, including a 5 acre technical pond designed by Nelson Sills.  Saddly, Taz earned his dog angel wings this year, but our own pack continues to flourish providing us with great opportunities to provide you with high quality puppies. 

My training program is limited to 18 dogs so that I can devote the appropriate time to each dog.  I train gun dogs, Hunt Test dogs and young dogs destined for Field Trial championships.  I also guide waterfowl hunts (ducks and geese), so please visit our guided hunt page to sign up!

 

FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT

Walker Branch Retrievers is located on 440 acres down a one-mile private road on the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, the “Water-fowl Hunting Capital of America.”  We have several natural ponds and 4 specially designed training and technical ponds that will challenge every level of dog.  Additionally, we have access to thousands of other acres of top quality training grounds and water to provide a variety of training situations.

Our client dogs are boarded in a newly constructed, state of the art kennel.  We provide both covered indoor and outdoor runs constructed of the best kennel materials on the market. All dogs are comfortably housed in spacious runs with radiant heated epoxy-coated concrete floors which are cleaned and disinfected daily. The covered outdoor runs are fitted with a misting system and ceiling fans to naturally cool the hot summer air.  Fresh water and top quality, adult performance dog food is supplied daily.

We train with live flyers regularly.  Bird Pens on site allow us to have an unlimited supply of ducks available for daily training use.  And with a local game bird farm within minutes from us, we can provide a variety of other birds such as pheasant, chukar, and quail for your dog's specific hunting needs.

Spacious stainless steel dog chassi-mounts and trailers custom built for retrievers from the nation's top manufacturers allow us to transport up to 18 dogs to and from the training areas and events. These are insulated to protect from the cold and hot sun and have a ventilation system complete with louvered doors, exhaust fans, breezeways and water tanks to insure your dog's comfort and safety in the coldest and hottest temperatures.

In addition to our full time “bird-boys” staff, we also use a variety of state of the art dog training equipment, including remote controlled bumper and bird launchers during our training sessions to improve your dog's learning experience. We also utilize the efficiency of 4WD Polaris Rangers during our training to maximize our time spent with your dog.