Copperwood Kennels

“I want to provide my review and opinion of Copperwood Kennels as we have utilized their hunt training and boarding services.In 2013, we purchased a pedigreed yellow labrador from another vendor with the intent for her to be a waterfowl retriever and family dog. We were recommended to Copperwood Kennels through mutual friends.In meeting Matt Tuttle, the owner and dog trainer of Copperwood Kennels, we were immediately aware of his down to earth personality and dog friendly demeanor. We were impressed right away with the basic training skills we saw he had already implemented into his own dogs.Matt took our lab, Auburn, at 6 months and trained her for the remainder of the year. It was very hard to give up our puppy to someone else for so long, but Matt and his wife were very understanding. We routinely received videos and pictures of Auburn as well as updates on her progress. My husband was even allowed during specific training exercises to participate and learn as well. When visiting Auburn at the kennels which is adjacent to their home, I especially liked seeing that Auburn was treated with the same love and attention as Matt’s own hunting and family dogs.His patience and dedication in training Auburn is evident in her great hunt seasons. Watching Auburn retrieve is truly amazing as it shows amazing skill and disciplined training. She is now two years old and we continue to utilize Matt’s services for boarding whenever we are headed on vacation because it is evident she is excited to reach the Copperwood Kennels farm.My husband also has Matt run her through hunt training sessions prior to waterfowl hunting season as sort of a refresher course and opportunity to get her back in shape.I would highly recommend Copperwood Kennels to anyone interested in looking to get a well-trained hunting dog. The quality of service provided to your four-legged friend is top-notch and Matt is an amazing and attentive dog trainer.”
– Kathy

“Matt did a fantastic job training our black lab puppy. My wife and I dropped off our 6 month old pup with Matt early in the summer and picked him up a little more than three months later. Our dog was fully trained and ready to hit the field that day! Matt’s training is everything as advertised and more. I especially liked how Matt made himself (and our dog) available for visits and training sessions. Matt did a great job not only explaining all the commands being used and how he was training the dogs but also explaining some of the nuances of the training and teaching me not just what to look for in my dog but also what to expect from my dog.Finally, we were worried that our puppy was going to come home a hunting machine (not that that would be the worst thing…) and lose some of his personality. Quite to the contrary, Matt takes time to learn each dog’s personality and adjust his training accordingly. He was able to talk to me about my dog’s personality (a little hard headed) and was able to tell me how that changed the way he worked with my dog and how that affects how I should work with my dog in the future.All in all, I could not have been more pleased with Matt and all the work he did with my pup. Matt checked in with us regularly and was great about sending email updates complete with pictures. He also fielded numerous emails/calls from me explaining how training was progressing and how my dog was doing. I couldn’t recommend Copperwood Kennels enough.”
– Luke

“Koda is doing great back at home! We are really happy with the level of training that he received in just 3 short months. You did a great job working Koda through force fetch and obedience training and also building on his drive to mark birds. The transition from training with you at Copperwood to coming back home and working was seamless, I can’t wait to get him in the blind and start hunting. I think he’ll out-shine dogs with more training from competing kennels! This is by far the best experience we’ve had with dog trainers/breeders and appreciate your open communication immensely. It’s great to be able to call or email you for an update or question and hear back immediately. I will recommend Copperwood Kennels to all of my friend and hunting partners and plan on sending Koda back again soon!”
– Sean