Legend Retrievers is a family run business, owned and operated by Allie, Zach and their three children.
Teaching our dogs early that working for us is fun is the key. Some trainers see a working dog as only that- a dog that should push hard and work- who cares if he is having fun. My program is built around the philosophy of your dog enjoying to work for you, therefore never seeing it as work at all.
I use specialty, low pressure training techniques, obedience drills and a modified 24 step force fetch process. Traditional force fetch broke the training down into 4-5 phases, using high pressure techniques to force a dog through something that was difficult for them to understand. The modified 24 phase force fetch technique drastically decreases the pressure placed on the dog, while breaking each step down into an easy to understand session, setting your dog up for success in training.
Why Working Dogs?
Every dog, no matter the breed, has a natural desire to please, produce desired behavior, work for you, and to go where you go.
My goals in dog training are to turn every dog--even the leash pulling, hand licking, counter surfing, menace of the neighborhood--into a walking-at-heel, kindly greeting the neighbors, traveling with you on family vacations, amazingly well-behaved working dog! Because no matter the job--being a superior family companion, a therapy dog, ESA or retriever, your dog should love to work for you!
​
Working for you fulfills your dog, making it rest easier at the end of the day knowing that it has done its job and can count on being able to do it for you again tomorrow. As enjoyable as it is to have a dog as a part of your family, it is that much more enjoyable to have a dog that is capable of doing more with you, such as going more places- like to the neighborhood park, off lead, on a snow day, because it is trustworthy and well behaved enough to do so.
For this reason, I place the emphasis in all of my training programs on obedience and manners. Not just during training, like at other facilities. Every dog in my program actually comes into my home and spends time directly interacting with my me and my son. I enjoy teaching it how to put its obedience skills into practice in real-life situations at all times--not just being obedient when wearing an e-collar. It should respect and socialize with children and with dogs of different personalities and temperaments. I use this in-home time to address any unwanted behaviors with which you may ask for help, such as counter surfing, chewing, and potty training issues, among others.
Dog training is not simply my profession--dogs are my way of life. As a full-time professional dog trainer, part-time sporting dog photographer, and AKC Hunting Test Judge, you can see where my heart lies. I receive so much joy from the interactions and affection I get from my dogs that my goal is to bring this same joy into your life as well!
-Allie
The Lab Lady
