I would like to thank you for the great job you did with Tess.  Her first day hunting went great...we were hunting from a blind and Tess could not see the ducks go down...With very little assistance from me, she found every bird and brought them back to hand....Everyone, including the guide, was very impressed with her. 

The second day...ducks everywhere!...The guide told me she was running out retrieving a duck, dropping it at my feet and going for another.  The guide asked if he could take her to look for a cripple...I could not believe it, He called her to him, walked a short way into the field, set her up and told her back.  She took off and after a very short hunt brought the duck back to him.  

All I can say is thanks to you and Tonja for everything.  She is a dream to have in the field.  On a two-day guided hunt we worked with two different guides who both were very impressed with Tess.  They both wanted to know who trained her and your information was proudly given to them. 

 Thank You!!!!!

~Carville & Elizabeth Evering 

I have been meaning to email you! Duque is doing great! Your training has made a huge difference! We can now enjoy him so much more. He is still a puppy (which we like), but he can now focus on us (even make real eye contact, which he couldn't before). We are using the e-Collar and that helps too.

We are very grateful and we know now that we can make it work with him and keep him and enjoy him! Before sending him to you, I was thinking that we had made a terrible mistake! Now I don't know why we waited so long to have a dog!

So thanks! We will definitely take him back to you for boarding when we travel again in the future, and have him have some refresher training!

~Graciela Vidal~ 2010

Puck was bred to be a part of a medical research study, so he had no exposure to the “real world” until he was about 5 months old. Until then, he had no obedience training.

After hearing about Leatherwood Kennels through a friend, I decided that I needed to be proactive to make changes to benefit the well-being and safety of my dog. Puck was 9 months old when I consulted Linwood and Tonja about training. I was averse to the idea of leaving Puck for so long. However, Tonja and Linwood made me feel very comfortable leaving him and assured me that he would be well cared for.

During all of his training, I felt very informed about Puck’s progress. I was able to visit and see a few of the training sessions; I was amazed at how much progress was made in his obedience in such a short period of time. I became increasingly involved in his sessions, and was able to start taking over.

When it was time to bring him home, I was very concerned that I was going to negate everything that they had done with Puck during his training. Tonja personally spent time training me, so that I felt comfortable when I left with Puck. She raised my confidence in working with my dog, which is most of the battle with regards to training.

Leatherwood Kennels is responsible for shaping both my dog and me as a dog owner. Linwood and Tonja have both the skill and experience necessary to train dogs well. But beyond merely training dogs, they have a passion for it. And that has made a world of difference in my life and the life of my dog.

~Julie Shelton~2010

Cole is the reason I found Leatherwood Kennels at Shady Oaks. In the Fall of 2007, I was searching for another pup, and met Gene Kirby and Pro Trainer, Linwood O'Briant. Linwood helped me with Cole's obedience, and after MUCH persistance on my part, I began to clean kennels, throw birds, and finally became Linwood's Assistant Trainer. Through a lot of hard work & patience from Linwood, Cole learned to swim (yes, really), be obedient, mark & retrieve birds, and handle. Cole achieved his AKC Junior Hunter Title in 4 of 4 attempts, and his AKC Senior Hunter Title in the Fall of 2010. Under continued training with Linwood, we have begun working toward his AKC Master Hunter Title. I never would have dreamed that a little black pup and I could have achieved these accomplishments.

~Tonja Reeves-Ridgeway~2010