GUNDOG GARAGE

Dog Training for the Companion Gun Dog

GunDog Garage is designed for the companion gun dog — the dog that needs to be steady in the field and reliable in everyday life.

This program builds practical hunting skills while reinforcing obedience, impulse control, and real‑world manners. Whether your dog is learning to retrieve, hold steadiness, or transition seamlessly from the house to the hunt, GunDog Garage focuses on clear communication, purposeful training, and results you can trust — in the blind, at camp, or out in public.

Puppy Development

Get In Gear

Get the engine started before problems start.

The critical development and socialization period for puppies lasts until around four months of age. Get in Gear focuses on building confidence, engagement, and teamwork while leveraging your puppy’s natural genetics during this formative window. This program bridges the gap from early puppyhood into adolescence and is intended to be completed by six months of age.

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NAVHDA / Versatile Pointing Dogs

GDG Pointing Dog

For the Companion Upland Dog

Our GDG Pointing Dog program is structured around the NAVHDA Gun Dog Test standard and produces not only a dog that is a respectable upland hunter, but also has functional obedience at home and in the real world. Dogs will learn all of the obedience and "yard work" to be ready to work steadiness/flushing drills in the field while also having the best obedience in the neighborhood.

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Retrievers

GDG Retriever

Proven work from the neighborhood to the duck blind.

The GDG Retriever program lays not only the obedience foundation, but also prepares them for handling/casting and should produce a dog with manners in the blind. Don't have THAT DOG that gets uninvited from the next hunt because they don't know how to behave.

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Retriever Rehab

Repair your Retriever

For when you've been told "that dog won't fetch."

While we don’t like to see it, we regularly get calls to help dogs that have already been through other programs and were over‑pressured, resulting in poisoned force fetch, trained retrieve issues, or being washed out entirely. Don’t give up just yet — because you haven’t tried everything. Our approach uses a dual‑reinforcement system that gives the dog far more motivation than simply avoiding pressure from an ear pinch or e‑collar, helping rebuild confidence and reliability in the retrieve.

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"My Chesapeake Bay Retriever was a square peg who another trainer tried to put into a round hole during months of retriever training. She has plenty of drive and natural ability, but had been pretty much ruined by constant pressure with no clarity. She came home to us unwilling to even look at a dead bird and refusing to fetch a bumper. Josh worked with us very patiently and methodically to rebuild her confidence and complete her force fetch/trained retrieve."

Adrienne Morse ⚙️ Houston, TX

Maximize Your Dog’s Potential
at Home and in the Field

You CAN have it all — an enjoyable companion and a reliable hunter — but only if you do it right. Build the team player you want in any environment by working with your dog’s genetic desires, not against them. GunDog Garage is training for people who give a damn about their dog’s experience in the process and want to do it right the first time.