Training

We recommend DJ & K's Kennels for training your hunt test dogs.

Training for Titles, Hunt Tests and Field Trial

In the efforts to continually improve our program, Dances With Dogs Retrievers pups are placed in training at 6 months of age. Extensive research went into choosing a trainer that we would not only trust with our dogs, but a trainer/handler that produced results while training each dog as an individual, with constant and consistent guidance and patience.

DJ&K Kennels in Lovington, Illinois was recommended to us by not only dog enthusiasts and breeders, but recommended by other trainers of Hunt Test, Field Test and Gun Dogs as well. David James is a master at handling each dog; he evaluates each animal and builds on their strengths while patiently guiding them through their weaknesses. In the end the dogs he trains stand in the Winner’s Circle.

Our dogs go to DJ&K Kennels at approximately 6 months of age; our males as well as our females will go through the same program,

which could take 6 months to 18 months depending on the dogs’ ability. If the dog is enjoying the program and gaining his test passes then they will stay with the program in the hopes of achieving a Master Hunter title.

We do not believe a title makes a good dog. But, by working to achieve titles on our dogs we are assuring our puppy families that when they purchase a Retriever from Dances With Dogs Retrievers, whether they intend to hunt or are simply looking for a family companion, they are getting the best all around Retriever, with health clearances, proven pedigrees, early socialization and natural retrieving ability proven through acquired titles.

Therapy Dogs

Several of our dogs we choose and train to be therapy dogs for the Delta Society. A therapy dog is a dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, schools, with people with learning difficulties and stressful situations such as disaster areas.

Therapy dogs come in all sizes and breeds. The most important characteristic is its temperament. A good therapy dog must be friendly, patient, confident, at ease in all situations, and gentle, they must enjoy human contact and be content to be petted and handled, sometimes clumsily.

A therapy dog's primary job is to allow unfamiliar people to make physical contact with it and to enjoy that contact. Children in particular enjoy hugging animals; adults usually enjoy simply petting the dog. Statistics show that an animal can, at times, provide a safe environment, comfort and a feeling of security to individuals going through stressful situations.

The dog might need to be lifted onto, or climb onto, an invalid's lap or bed and sit or lie comfortably there. Many dogs contribute to the visiting experience by performing small tricks for their audiences or by playing carefully structured games. Extensive training and socialization is required. Each dog must pass an evaluation before being accepted as a Therapy Dog.

Raising the Breeders Bar
We continue to raise the bar in breeding Retrievers by choosing to PennHIP all of our dogs. PennHIP is a multifaceted radiographic technology (x-ray) for hip evaluation. The technique assesses the quality of the canine hip and quantitatively measures canine hip joint laxity.

The PennHIP method of evaluat ion is more accurate than the current standard in its ability to predict the onset of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD), is the hallmark of canine hip dysplasia (CHD). The distraction index assigned to each hip joint is based on precise measurements and mathematical calculations.

Recent studies of the OFA method of hip evaluation reveal a wide variation in the

conformational grade assigned by different radiologists. Not only might one radiologist disagree with another, but may even contradict himself and give different grades to the same film on different occasions. A test comparing positioning shows that the hip-extended position used by OFA tends to drive the femoral head into the socket, masking the amount of laxity and artificially improving the look of the hip joint.

As part of the strict quality control with PennHIP, all x-rays must be taken under anesthesia to provide the greatest amount of muscle relaxation. This is particularly important when using a special positioning device called a distractor to help demonstrate hip laxity.

To maintain the integrity and validity of the PennHIP method and its ongoing research, all x-ray films taken are submitted for evaluation. This prevents corruption of the data, which occurs when films are screened and only the “best” are submitted for consideration.

PennHIP evaluation reports are not pass-fail. Instead, each dog is ranked compared to other dogs of that breed. A dog with a percentile ranking of 30 percent has tighter hips than 30 percent of the dogs evaluated. In other words, 70 percent of the dogs evaluated have tighter hips than the patient.

Our dogs are tested for EIC. Exercise Induced Collapse (EIC) is a common cause of episodic exercise intolerance and collapse in otherwise healthy, adult, Labrador Retrievers They are also tested for CNM, Centronuclear Myopathy (CNM) is a grave disease that has been of concern in Labrador Retrievers as well and the symptoms are similar to that of Muscular Dystrophy.

Each step we take over the normal acceptance procedures for breeders assures anyone purchasing a dog or puppy from Dances With Dogs Retrievers that they will enjoy all that a wonderful, healthy Retriever has to offer, and we hope it raises the bar for other breeders to do all there is, in their power, to breed only the dogs that are the top of the breed, the “cream of the crop”.