BLACKTAIL
LABRADORS
ABOUT KRIS HUNT
LABRADORS
ABOUT KRIS HUNT
| Hello and Thank You for visiting my Website. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ People ask me how I got involved in dogs, and I have to say I was born in to it. My mother was training and running retrievers while she was pregnant and I swear I came out screaming ‘no – here’. I ran my first picnic trial when I was 3 years old. We were in and out of the game for many years. When I was 11, I got my first ‘real’ field trial dog, a fast crazy little dog named Izzymae. We earned some derby jams and Qualified All Age with a Qual 2nd, I think I was 15 yrs old. A few years later I got another field trial dog named Abby. I was lucky enough to have two very successful field trialers take me under their wing, Dick and Estelle Bartlett. The Bartlett’s spent a lot of time with the great Rex Carr. They had many Field Champions and ran numerous Nationals (as well as judged). I spent my summers living and learning from the Bartlett’s. After college graduation, all I could think about was getting back into the ‘dogs’. I bought a field trial pup from Idaho. Unfortunately, the dog developed epilepsy and was retired. The next pup came from Sureshot Kennels in CO and I named him Gabe. What a beautiful dog he was. I spent countless days over the years training with Don Remien, Karl Gunzer and Bill Totten, absorbing everything I possibly could. Gabe was qualified all age with a Qual win, but unfortunately we lost him at an early age. Then one day while throwing bumpers for Don Remien, a young precocious derby dog named Twist came out in the field. I was so impressed I knew I had to have one. Tim Coulson set me up to get pick of the litter on the repeat of Twist. I named the pup Barkley, unfortunately my mother got ill and I wasn’t able to run Barkley in the derby. I sent him to Don Remien and Karl Gunzer for a few months while I took care of my mom. The first and only time I sent a dog to a pro, Karl ran Barkley in one qualifying and WON. The following year Barkley and I were on our own and finishing All Age trials with jams and RJ’s and eventually started placing, earning an Amateur First and 2 Open fourths in 2005. I bought and started training another dog, this one from Ron Keihn in Wyoming and I named him Luke. Luke got 4th place in his second derby at 14 months old, he WON his next derby at 15 months old. Luke is now Qualifed All Age with a qualifying 1st and 2nd. Besides running Field Trials, I also run AKC Hunting Tests. I've earned numerous Junior and Senior Hunter titles. Luke and Barkley earned their Master Hunter titles without failing a single test. I am also an avid waterfowl and upland bird hunter. In January of 2007 I was presented with an opportunity to train a dog professionally. I mulled it over and decided to go for it. I am happy I did. I still work my full time job, which provides a lot of flexibility to continue doing my first love, training dogs. This first year has been a learning experience and lots of fun. I only take 3 or 4 dogs at a time because I want to make it fair to everyone and most importantly I want to keep if fun for me and successful for the dogs. The dogs spend time in outdoor kennels as well as getting personal house time. The dogs learn to be an all around 'good citizen'. I am looking forward to much success and happy owners in the coming years! And it would not be complete if I didn’t say I owe so much to my Mother who has been there through thick and thin and has thrown countless bumpers for me and the dogs. Kris Hunt BLACKTAIL LABRADORS BUTTE, MONTANA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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| The first 2 years.... January 2009, it is 2 years since I started training dogs as a professional. Well over 22 years now working and training retrievers and I still love every minute of it. The first two professional years I trained several dogs for hunting, two dogs that ran field trials and hunt tests, three dogs that ran hunt tests, and prepared several other dogs to start their field trial careers in 2009. My star pupil in 2008 had to be Foxhaven's Born To Run "Dash", owned by Jared Snarr. When I first got Dash, he was barely handling in the field. Dash has a natural talent for marking and once we got control on the blinds, he did remarkable. He started and finished his Senior Hunter title going 5 attempts and 5 passes. He also has one Master pass. Dash ran 8 qualifying events earning 6 finishes!!! That is a 75% finish rate, unbelievable. Dash was QAA with a First Place at the age of 2 yrs 6 mos. He also has a third and fourth place and 3 Jams. Mishka, Newt, Decoy and Reggie tried for and finished their Junior Hunter title without a single failure. Newt also earned a derby JAM in three trials. Owners of hunting dogs have sent glowing reports about their dogs that were trained here. All are doing very well in the field, both upland and waterfowl. Many of those dogs will be returning to Blacktail for advanced training. What a wonderful compliment that is. I'm still running two of my personal dogs in All-Age, Luke and Barkley. Barkley was out most of 2008 with an injury but earned a JAM and a FOURTH place in the OPEN at the end of the year. Luke finished 2 OPENS earning JAMs. I have been lucky enough to find 4 wonderful birds boys (and girl) who I can rotate coming to the field with me. They are all very hard workers and are instrumental in teaching the dogs how to manage the field. I have also gotten access to even more training grounds than I could imagine. The latest is a few hundred acres (soon to have water) just 5 minutes from my house! In 2009, I will have four dogs that will embark on their Derby Career and three dogs will be running All-Age and Masters. My kennel is full until fall and I am looking forward to building on relationships and starting new ones. Best of Luck to you and Your Dogs, wherever they may be...... Kris Special Thank You to Mary Steinfeldt for all you do!!! |
| PROFESSIONAL DOG TRAINING BLACKTAIL LABRADORS BUTTE, MONTANA (406) 490 - 7088 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
Updated 2 January 2009
