Special facility for boarding and training gun dogs in Flintstone, Ga.
by Richard Simms
posted September 16, 2009
) Photo by Richard Simms Blowing Springs Kennel co-owner Roddy Reynolds has a reputation as one of the best gun dog trainers in the nation. |
Reynolds fires a dummy into the air, then quietly and calmly says one dog’s name. Only that dog breaks from the pack to make the retrieve while the remaining animals reluctantly, but obediently, wait their turn.
In my own amateurish way, I have trained retrievers. I know the discipline involved in teaching a single dog to do your bidding. To control two, four or even eight at once is nothing short of miraculous for the average gun dog owner. For Roddy Reynolds, it is all in a day’s work.
Now Reynolds has a very special place to work his magic. He and business partner, Bob Foster, have opened Blowing Springs Kennel in Flintstone, Ga.
Bob Foster (left) is the business end of Blowing Springs while Roddy Reynolds provides the reputation and training expertise. Photo by Richard Simms
The kennel, just across the TN/GA state line is on land leased from Rock City’s Bill Chapin. It is named after the well-known “Blowing Spring,” a common gathering place near Flintstone since settlers moved here.
They opened in July and now Bob Foster says, “We’re here to stay.”
Foster also owns Foster Construction.
“With the state of economy, I’ve had plenty of time to help get things started here,” Foster said with a smile. “I’m the business side of this operation.”
That means long days and weeks for both he and Reynolds. Twenty dogs have to be fed, watered, exercised and/or trained seven days a week, 365 days a year.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s also a tremendous amount of fun,” said Foster. “I mean we get to play with dogs all day.”
Brand new kennels can house up to 20 dogs. Foster says their focus is on boarding gun dogs, but Reynolds will have four to six dogs on hand for intensive training.
“You can only effectively train so many dogs at once,” said Foster. “But folks still need a place to board their gun dogs. We have dogs right now from as far away as Atlanta and Charlotte (North Carolina).”
Reynolds’ reputation in the retriever training world is far-reaching, having produced a highly recommended dog training video. A lot of trainers focus on hunt tests, field trials, bird dogs and other things. But Foster, who first met Reynolds as a customer, says he “trains good all around gun dogs… you can hunt ducks or geese or pheasants, quail or whatever. And in addition to that the dogs are very well-behaved. They know how to ride in the car, be around families, hang out in the house and do what they’re supposed to do.”
John Lyman, a Blowing Springs customer, agrees. Reynolds is currently training Lyman's Deutsch Drahthaar, a German breed of what Americans call the German wirehaired pointer. However Lyman admits that most of the dog training process often involves Reynolds training the owners.
“The dogs are plenty smart,” said Lyman. “It’s a matter of us being able to communicate with the dog and them knowing what we want them to do. It’s definitely as much owner training as it is dog training.”
One thing Reynolds teaches owners is about body language.
“Body language is the most important aspect of dog training,” he said. “Every command I give a dog is delivered in the exact same calm tone of voice. The only time that changes is when I tell them ‘No.’ And along with the tone of voice used with ‘No,’ is that body language that says, ‘I’m coming to get you.”
Reynolds says we may have domesticated them, but instinctively dogs are like wild animals. When 15 dogs are running loose in the Blowing Springs exercise yard, it is easy to pick out the Alpha males and Alpha females, just as if you were observing a pack of wolves.
“Body language is animal language,” said Reynolds. “If a grizzly bear wants to talk to you and say you’re doing something wrong, he’s coming towards you. If a grizzly bear doesn’t care what you’re doing he’s walking away from you. That’s animal language… every animal understands this.”
And Reynolds never uses food treats in the training process.
“The reason is that there is not an animal in the whole animal kingdom… birds, snakes, giraffes, nothing that uses treats to teach its young. It’s just not done in nature.”
One only has to watch Reynolds “whisper” to his dogs for a very few minutes to understand that the man knows whereof he speaks.
So what’s it cost?
Reynolds says for a young dog that hasn’t learned any bad habits yet, one month of training will provide the very basic obedience and gun dog behavior. Two months however provides time for Reynolds to teach some more advanced skills.
Foster says, “We should be able to turn a young dog into a good dog in two months… a good citizen and an above-average hunting dog.”
Older dogs take longer.
“You have to break their bad habits before you can start teaching the good ones,” said Reynolds.
The cost of boarding and training is $900 per month. For basic boarding it is $600 a month. Foster says however that the gun dogs they board get much better treatment, exercise, care and attention than they will receive at the basic boarding facility.
“When someone brings a dog for training, we don’t always see the changes as much when we work with them every day,” said Foster. “But when a customer comes back after a month, they’re always just amazed. They say, ‘I can’t believe that dog is doing that’ … so it’s a very rewarding job.”
Learn more about Blowing Springs and Roddy Reynolds HERE.
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Photo by Richard Simms
One of Reynolds' "trainees" stands and awaits his next command. While here it just looks cute, Reynolds says "standing" is actually an important function for a gun dog that might be hunting, retrieving or truly awaiting its next command from its owner in high cover in the field.
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