ABOUT US

I came to work for Ed Minoggie back in the summer of 1984. To be honest, back then I was looking for a job. Now, 38 years later, I guess you could say I made it a career. I ran my first AKC hunt test back in the early 90’s. I was hooked. I had found a venue where my training ability could be challenged in a doug-shade-minoggie-kennels fun way. The best part was getting to hunt with these animals and see first hand how the hard work payed off.

For the first several years of training hunt test dogs I pretty much ran just a handful of local events. In 1997 I made my first journey to the Master Nationals being held that year in Butte, Montana. I took 3 dogs and ended up qualifying 2 of them. One of them was named Island Acres Quincy MH. He became the cornerstone of our breeding program. He would go on to qualify at 4 Master Nationals becoming our first Hall of Fame dog.

25 Master Nationals later I have now qualified dogs 100 times. Of these dogs, 22 have now received their Master National Hunter titles from the AKC which also placed them in the Master National Hall of Fame. The bread and butter of what we do here at Minoggie Kennels continues to be breeding and training top flight hunting retrievers. Our dogs are hunted at most of the top tier duck clubs on Sauvie Island. Even after 38 years I still enjoy training gun dogs. It helps remind me of my training roots.

I look forward to each new year. What litter of puppies will we have and where will they go. Which new dogs will show they have what it takes. Duck hunting, pheasant hunting and deer hunting. The Cardinals in the World Series. Lastly, I look forward to meeting you and your dogs that will be coming to Minoggie Kennels this coming year.

I have always had a special connection with dogs. I’ve had dogs most of my life. My first dog was a German Shepherd named Ingrid. After Ingrid, I would bring home any stray I could find. I would bring them home, feed them, love them and teach them some good manners and find them a good home. My Mom would not let me keep all of them or I would have. I trained my first master hunter, Bailey, in the late 90s. Then I was hooked. I started working at Minoggie Kennels in 2000. I feel very fortunate to have a job that I love to go to every day. I get to care for and train some wonderful dogs. Every dog that boards here or is in for training at our kennel is part of our family. My training method, whether it is obedience, gun dog or AKC hunt test training is to train with love, affection and praise with a good balance of discipline. I believe in owner participation, so that the dog and owner can become a wonderful team.