New Retriever Training Series by Howard Brown

We’re excited to introduce a new Outdoors International contributor, Howard Brown and are looking forward to his upcoming retriever training series.

My name is Howard and I am an avid outdoorsman. Growing up in Missouri, I started hunting very early in life. It all started out with squirrels and rabbits, and then moved on to turkeys and deer. From about the age of 8, I found it very satisfying to be able to be able to put food on my families table. My brother in law was my hunting mentor and it was he that started me out on the right track. We harvested animals in order to feed our family. As much as I enjoyed hunting, it was never a sport to me. I played baseball and football, ran track and wrestled; those were sports, hunting was just a way of life. We only killed what we could eat and any excess would be spread to close friends and extended family members.

I joined the Marine Corps as soon as I graduated from high school and found myself overseas. The lack of hunting didn’t really bother me, as I had three squares a day provided for me. Remember, hunting was never a sport to me, so I didn’t need to hunt to have access to food. My family didn’t necessarily need me to harvest animals to provide food for them either, as I could send money home to help out. I felt good that I was able to provide for them, even if I was half a world away. I had little need for money, as I grew up poor and was not materialistic in the least, so the majority of my monthly pay was sent home to my parents.

Fast forward a few years and my parents were doing well, not relying on my financial support, and rarely relying on my brother in law to provide meat for them. He still hunted and would send me pictures of his trophies, stories about the conquest and the occasional lie about the biggest buck he’d ever seen. The lack of hunting didn’t really bother me, as I could live vicariously through him.

After spending eight years in the Marine Corps, I settled in Southern California. I went to school and found a good job, living in the city where there was a grocery store on every block. I learned to surf, snowboard and mountain bike, with the occasional camping trip in the mountains, and that was the extent of my outdoors life. The lack of hunting didn’t really bother me, as I was still outdoors and having a good time.

I was a competitive shooter in the Marine Corps and decided to give it a try as a civilian. I shot in every local competition I could find and enjoyed the camaraderie of the shooting community. The lack of hunting didn’t really bother me as I was killing tons of paper and steel targets.

I shopped at a local outdoorsman store, a shop that sold guns and ammo, but also hunting and fishing gear. I was offered a job as the store manager there and thought what a great place to work. Not only did I receive a fantastic discount, but the company also sponsored me for the competitions. I could not have asked for a better job.

The majority of the employees and customers were big into hunting and fishing, which of course I thought was odd being that we were in California. Little did I know that there was a great opportunity for hunting and fishing in this state. I was invited to go deep sea fishing with my boss and a few people from our corporate office and since I grew up fishing in streams, rivers and lakes in Missouri, I thought I would give it a shot. What a difference there is in fresh water fishing and salt water fishing. I had a blast and I was hooked. The smallest fish I caught that day was bigger than any fish I had caught growing up. Now every chance I got I was on the water fishing.

The next trip I was invited to go on was September 1st and it wasn’t a fishing trip. Now some of you might not know this, but September 1st is dove opener. That didn’t mean a lot to me, as I wasn’t even sure what a dove was. I mean, I read the Bible growing up and there was the mention of doves in the scripture, but to kill and eat one was never on my mind. I didn’t even own a shot gun so I had to borrow one from a co-worker. That trip may have been the first day of the rest of my life. It was also one of the most expensive hunting trips I had ever been on. I went through 5 boxes of shells that day. It took me one hundred and twenty five shotgun shells to get a limit of dove. Now that would be fine if the limit were 80 or 100, but nope, the limit was 10. The fact that it took me an average of 12.5 shells to kill a single bird was the focal point of our campfire conversation that first night. Everyone got a good laugh about it and I still can’t live it down. Between the 10 or 11 guys hunting, we had all gotten limits, mine of course being the last bag filled. We breasted the birds and ate every single one that night. It took me close to 10 hours and 125 shells to fill my bag, and less than 2 hours to consume the fruits of my labor.

We stayed in that camp for 3 days, hunting during the day and eating and BS’ing all night. It was a good time and I looked forward to more trips like it. The day I got back into town, I purchased my first shotgun, a Beretta 12 gauge. Not only was it a beautiful piece of artwork, but also a fine firearm.

In October I was taken to a hunt club, where pheasants and chukar were planted in fields and dog handlers would take us out to hunt them. Watching the dogs work was amazing, the handlers let the dogs go back and forth across the field, doing what I would later learn was “quartering”. They would stop and point to where a bird was and we hunters would slowly walk up, readying our shots. The dogs would then flush the birds and sit calmly until we had shot, and then the handler would send the dog to retrieve our kill.

I decided to put on a hunt myself at a local club, but thought I would save the $50 it cost to have a dog and handler. I figured me and my buddies would be able to scare up the birds. We paid $80 each and got a total of 12 pheasants planted for us. The club owner seemed a little concerned that we chose not to use dogs, but we were okay with that, who needs a dog right? Of the 12 pheasants that were planted, we were able to find 3. Of course they flew away before we ever got the chance to pull the trigger. It was an expensive lesson, $320 worth of lesson to be exact, and we had no birds in our bag at the end of the day. Hmmmm, I thought, maybe that club owner actually knew what he was talking about when he said we needed a dog. Just think, another $50 dollars, plus a small tip and we could have had a feast of pheasants to share with our families that night.

Well you probably guessed it; I knew immediately that I needed a dog if I were to continue on with this bird hunting thing. I had never hunted birds growing up and had no idea what a bird dog was. I was starting to see that hunting was a sport, one that I enjoyed, but didn’t see that it is so much more. I will get to that a little later.

We had hunted over “poodle pointers” at that first club. They were ugly as hell and I just couldn’t talk myself into owning a poodle or any sort, so the research began. I spent countless hours on the internet looking at bird dogs. I liked the look of the German Shorthair Pointer and loved the drive that they seemed to have. Further research made me realize that the drive they show while hunting doesn’t quite go away when they get home. With the guidance of my bride, I decided against a GSP. My bride found the Brittney Spaniel in an AKC book and we loved the look and the ability of this breed. They seem to be a good pet as well and that was important to us. That settles it, we’re getting a Brittney.

While looking around for the right Brittney, I met a man who would later become not only a friend, but also my mentor. Paul Cacciatori is a dog trainer located in Southern California. He was one of the first to start the AKC hunt tests and was a field trialer back in the day. He gave me advise on what to look for in a hunting dog and invited me out to an exhibition to see some dogs work. Paul has 16 dogs at a time on his training truck. As one completes its training, a new dog is always ready to take its place. The exhibition consisted of quartering on land, marking birds shot in the field and then retrieving in water. Water??? I thought? Why would you bird hunt on water? That’s just silly.

As my bride and I were watching these beautiful animals work, we noticed a trend. There was a Brittney, a German Shorthair, a Visla and 13 Labrador Retrievers. We watched all the dogs work in the field and it seemed that they were all at the same level, with the pointers just being faster than the Labs. But when it came time to go to the water, the Labs excelled over the pointers. Paul trains the pointers to do water work, but they didn’t have the same intensity in the water that they did in the field. The Labs on the other hand were all about the water. Paul simulated a duck hunt, something that I had never done, and all of the dogs did an outstanding job. He was able to keep the dogs relaxed and calm, the dog never leaving his side until Paul said the dogs’ name. Then like a rocket, the dog would jump into the water and swim to the bird. Like I said before, all of the dogs did an outstanding job, but the Labs did it with the kind of grace that I am unable to explain with words.

After the exhibition, I asked Paul why he didn’t tell me that Labrador Retrievers were so versatile and could accomplish what seemed to be every aspect of what a bird dog is. His explanation is probably what made my bride and I love him from the start. He told me that the dog I get won’t be a tool for me to use while hunting, this dog would be my best friend and a valued member of my family. He told me that I came to him saying I wanted a Brittney and it wasn’t his place to talk me out of my choice. He said a Brittney would make a fine choice and that with the right training it could be everything I wanted. So what I realized, is I had to ask the right question. Paul, I asked, what breed of dog do you have as your best friend and hunting partner? So I’m sure you’re all shocked to learn this, but Paul had a Lab. In fact, he had a few Labs. It turned out that he bred some of the finest Labrador Retrievers anyone could ever hope to hunt over.

So Paul Cacciatori, a very well known dog trainer, owns Labs, breeds Labs and never once tried to talk me into buying a Lab. A more honest man, you will never meet. He always stressed to me that this dog would be a member of my family and the breed was entirely up to me and my bride. He offered to help my bride and I find a Brittney that would match up to what I wanted and train said Brittney to do what I needed it to do. Well that settles it, I want a Lab.

Now my bride had her heart set on a Brittney. She loved the look of this breed and wanted a smaller dog that would sit on her lap as she read or watched TV. A Lab seemed to big for this purpose. I had decided that I wanted a Lab and it turns out that my mind has never changed. What I didn’t want was 2 hunting dogs. I felt that if we got a Lab for me and a Brittney for her, we would be wasting the talents of the Brittney, as I could almost guarantee that I wouldn’t hunt the Britt. I guess I owe the television show Sex in the City a great deal of gratitude, as one night while she was watching the show, Devorah, that’s my bride’s name, saw a small dog that resembled a Brittney. Charlotte, a character on the show had a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. This Cavy was red and white, just like a Brittney, but smaller, a lap dog. My bride, being the smartest woman I have ever met, did her own research without ever telling me. When I thought we were at an impasse, she had her own plan. She sat me down and said that she knew I wanted a Labrador and she was fine with that choice. Man was I stoked. I was going to get my dog. Then she showed me a picture of a Cavy and said that if I got my dog, she was getting one of her own. A fair trade off in my opinion, so the search began.

I told Paul I wanted a Lab so the next time he bred his dogs, I wanted to buy one. Well Paul looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language or something. I didn’t understand what the problem was. I had decided I wanted a Lab and he was a breeder, so the simple solution to my lack of a Lab was to get one from him. Paul explained to me that I didn’t want one of his Labs, I wanted the perfect Lab for me. That might have been one of his or someone else’s but only I knew what my perfect Lab was. He asked me what I wanted in a dog. As I was about to say “I want a bad ass hunting dog”, Paul stopped me once again. He said, now remember, this “dog”, is going to be your best friend for the next 12 to 15 years. This “dog” isn’t going to sit in a kennel 8 months out of the year and then come out to hunt for you when you ask him to. This “dog” needs to be a part of the family, so what do you want your best friend to be? He then told me to go home and think about it.

So I just offered a guy $1000 for a dog and he told me no, I had to think about what I want. A more honest man, you will never meet. So I thought long and hard about what I was looking for in a companion. Being a very detail oriented person, I came up with a list. I wanted a dog that would enjoy hunting with me all day long and sleep in my tent with me at night. I wanted a monster in the field and a cuddler at home. I decided that I wanted a smaller Lab so that he could lay next to me on the couch and wouldn’t have to carry around so much weight in the field. I gave Paul my list and he said he would find me the perfect dog.

Gunner

By this time my bride had found and brought home her Cavy and he was about the cutest thing you could ever imagine. As a puppy he looked like a stuffed animal. My bride wanted a sissy name for him and I wanted something a little tougher. He was already a “chick” dog in my opinion so we didn’t need to straddle him with a name like buttercup or sweetpea. Since I’m of Irish descent and our new Cavy was from Irish descent, I wanted to name him Gunner. We settled on Gunner Sweet Pea McGee. We call him Gunner.

Over the next few months, I had spoken to Paul regularly and was updated on his litters. Never once did he try to sell me one of his dogs and I began to wonder if I would ever get a Lab. Then one day he called me up and said that there was going to be a breeding that would match my list perfectly. I thought, fantastic, can I come pay you now to get my name on the list. Paul informed me that it wasn’t one of his breedings. He told me that his Father’s dog PJ was going to breed to a small yellow female and that he thought it was perfect for me. PJ was a monster in the field, as fast as the dickens and Mikayla was as sweet of a female you could ever meet. So this guy who makes a living breeding dogs, points me in the direction of a litter that he and his family will make no money on, just because he wants to fit me with the perfect Lab. A more honest man, you will never meet.

Devorah with Beretta

Paul called up Kurt, the gentleman who owned the female and explained my situation. Paul talked Kurt into giving me pick of the litter. It was settled, I was getting my lab. The dogs tied and a litter was expected to be born around the first of April and in 8 weeks after that I would have my Lab. Kurt invited my bride and I go come visit the puppies after then had had two sets of shots. I picked out this beautiful black male and knew he was going to be perfect. It was settled, I was getting a black male and I was happier than pig in poop. About 10 seconds later my bride informed me that the yellow female that was on her lap was the Lab that we were getting. It wasn’t that my input didn’t mean anything, well, yeah it was. She picked out my dog and I was going to like it. What can I say, she was right all along.

We visited the puppies every weekend for five weeks and when it came time to take our girl home, we didn’t even have a name for her. Naming a dog is stressful. You want a good official name for the AKC registration, but you also want a good name to call your new friend. Since Paul’s kennel is Starlight Kennels and both the sire and the dam were essentially Starlight dogs, I wanted to use Starlight in her name. One of the dogs in her pedigree had Golden in her name and I liked that a lot. Of course my favorite shotgun was a Beretta, so I decided to name her Starlight’s Beretta Gold and call her Beretta.

Now we have 2 puppies at home and this is where the fun begins…