Hey Man,

Just thought I'd give you an update on how Sadie is doing... It is amazing how solid she is with EVERYTHING! She has certainly "sold" you and your dogs to every single one of my hunting friends and relatives. I can't tell you how many times I've heard: "You're trainer is training my next dog", or "my next dog is going to be a started pup from Long Hollow", etc.

You're season 2 promo looks killer by the way! Hope all is well with you and the family.

Kevin Sellers

I just want to thank you and Blake again for all your hard work and professionalism with my dogs. I will say it again, so happy to have met you guys. Way less stress. I always know you are working with my dogs, they are progressing, they are healthy and cared for!!!

Ryan,

Hope Betty is behaving.... :)

Once again, Thank you for all you and Blake do. I feel very fortunate to have you guys work with my dogs.

Joanna

Hey Ryan,

I hope you are having a great summer and spending loads of good family time.
Figgin is doing well and I'm super excited about chukar season coming up in October.

Hey Man,

Just thought I'd give you an update on how Sadie is doing... She comes to school with me everyday. We do yard work in the baseball field during break, and I usually have kids throw a few marks in the afternoon after practice. Right now we are solidly in the middle of Double T (in Lardy's progression), and will be transitioning to disciplined casting in another week or so. I can't say enough about how strong of a foundation she has from the time spent with you-none of those skills has deteriorated in the least bit. It is amazing how solid she is with EVERYTHING! She has certainly "sold" you and your dogs to every single one of my hunting friends and relatives. I can't tell you how many times I've heard: "You're trainer is training my next dog", or "my next dog is going to be a started pup from Long Hollow", etc. Any advice/tips you want to throw my way will be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

You're season 2 promo looks killer by the way! Hope all is well with you and the family.

Kevin Sellers

Hi Ryan,
I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated you and the family taking in Grace while Rick R. and I were working in Bellevue.
When I picked her up we went to the Tri city area, I couldnt keep her out of the Columbia river, and keep her from chasing pheasant and quail around the desert by Moms and dads.
As soon as we got home we packed up for Idaho, where we are every fall, she did GREAT. Everything from pheasants to sharptails,huns,blue grouse, and ruffed. Also the duck hunting, not like what you guys do, but she was awesome , a couple of big retrieves on wounded diving ducks, it was a blast to spend 5 weeks with her. I want to thank you again.
Hope to talk to you soon. Glenn Hurst

Ryan, I hope your spring/summer is going well, thanks to you Lucy is doing really well, both in and out of the water, marking and retrieving doubles and listening well... Thanks for a great start. I also have a friend from the west side looking for a male yellow or black puppy, his name is Jeff Cunningham and I am not sure if he has contacted you. I think he just wants a good family dog. I told him I would email you and ask. Hope all is well. Shane

It is hard to believe that we have been working and training together for almost eight years. YOU doing most of the training, with us watching on, hoping we are gleaming some insight into your training methods! Sometimes I am not sure if you are training us or the dogs!

We have spent a lot of hours together over the years.....Senior and APLA titles for Neve and Porter and a Master Title on Hershey this past summer, and hopefully to his credit a Master National qualifier this fall. I have never seen a dog that loves to train as much as Hershey and this is a credit to you as his trainer. You are truly the "dog whisper" in the retriever world.

Decoy is retrieving her toy pheasant at 20/30 yards and seems to be a good marker. It is hard for me to believe that she is only eight weeks old! I am sure she will have a bright Field Trial career under your tutelage and thank you again for letting us be part owner in her future.

Darcy White
Clarkston, Washington

“As an avid hunter and first time dog owner, I did a significant amount of research prior to narrowing down a breed, breeder, trainer, etc. However, research will only take you so far. At some point, you have to go with your instincts.

When I was referred to Long Hollow Retrievers, I was immediately impressed with not only the level of detail about their operation found on their website, but more importantly with my conversation with owner Ryan Fortier. When he picked up the phone during my first call to him, he was in a duck blind preparing for the next approach of green heads (I took this as a good sign). During this initial interview of sorts, I found Ryan to be knowledgeable, confident, helpful (especially to a beginning lab owner like myself) and, most importantly, honest about the process. Before I got off the phone, I asked for forms for placing a deposit on my future pup.

When pick up day arrived, my wife and three boys accompanied me to the Kittitas Valley where I was blown away to witness all 5 of his black females retrieve a pigeon at 7 weeks! This made my choice harder but we eventually walked away that day with Long Hollow’s “June”.

After some initial obedience training for several months in my back yard, I decided to send her back to Ryan at the proper time for a 30 day gun breaking and retrieval training prior to the start of her first hunting season. When I came back to pick her up, Ryan took my dog and I to a field where he planted 6 chucker. I then witnessed firsthand her newly enhanced skills. During that short hunt, June found all 6 birds birds, flushed them, I shot them and she retrieved them! We then loaded her up and took her to a nearby pond where ducks were launched into the water 20 to 30 yards out and she again retrieved them, only after being instructed to do so.

With my newly trained dog in hand, the opening of waterfowl season started one week later. From my first day out with her on our own, I was completely impressed by her natural hunting ability. She has always demonstrated great blind manners, an excellent nose and a keen ability to track ducks in the air. I also took her on several pheasant and quail hunts and she once again blew me away with her energy, determination and instincts and retrieval skills.

Finally, and most importantly, June has been an excellent family dog. She has always treated my young boys (ages 6, 4 and 2) and wife with care and loves to retrieve any and all items thrown for her.

If you are looking for a instinctual hunting dog that exhibits the character of a champion, I would highly recommend choosing a Long Hollow Retriever.”

Alex B. Hodge, CIC | Broker, Partner

I purchased a 4 month old pup from Long Hollow Retrievers in the beginning of February. He came from Long hollow’s Magic and Gavin’s Point Roughrider. He is a great dog. He learns quickly, is very birdy, is quiet in his kennel, and when relaxing around the house is very calm.

Ryan has been a great mentor for me with my desire to train Diesel on my own. He is always willing to give me direction and assistance when I come up with problems, which is usually due to my inexperience training not the dog. He allows me to come out and train with him on a regular basis, which allows me to ask tons of questions and learn from watching. Ryan is very professional and has some amazing dogs that are fun to watch. I’m excited to watch and see as his kennel and training program will surely grow and expand. He truly cares about his clients and the dogs. I can’t wait to get another dog from him next spring and continue learning how to train.

Is this what you are looking for. If you want something tweaked let me know. I'm just a dumb fireman so I ain't no good at writing. haha see you Thursday.

Austin Lindsey

For over ten years now I have been involved with Ryan Fortier and Long Hollow Retrievers. The level of commitment that he and his family put into their business is second to none that I have found in the outdoor industry. From training my dogs, to instructing me to me on how to be a “wanna-be” amateur dog trainer, Ryan has always given 100% of himself to his clients and their canines. Additionally, Long Hollow dogs set the standard for trainability, looks, hunting desire, and family compatibly. Every time you get the opportunity to see a LHR dog on the line at a Hunt Test, or in the field retrieving a duck 100’s of yards across the Colombia River, you will say to yourself “I want one of those dogs!” From the family guy looking for a pet for his son, to the hardest of hardcore bird hunters seeking that dog of a lifetime, Long Hollow Retrievers fit the bill.

Joshua Wolff

It is hard to believe that we have been working and training together for almost eight years. YOU doing most of the training, with us watching on, hoping we are gleaming some insight into your training methods! Sometimes I am not sure if you are training us or the dogs!

We have spent a lot of hours together over the years.....Senior and APLA titles for Neve and Porter and a Master Title on Hershey this past summer, and hopefully to his credit a Master National qualifier this fall. I have never seen a dog that loves to train as much as Hershey and this is a credit to you as his trainer. You are truly the "dog whisper" in the retriever world.

Decoy is retrieving her toy pheasant at 20/30 yards and seems to be a good marker. It is hard for me to believe that she is only eight weeks old! I am sure she will have a bright Field Trial career under your tutelage and thank you again for letting us be part owner in her future.

Darcy White
Clarkston, Washington

Ryan,
I have been wanting to drop you a note for a while now. Hobbes (full and ridiculous name noted above in the re line) is the only yellow from the July 2011 litter from Bindy and Delta. He is my 4th Labrador and while I have loved them all, Hobbes is the best dog I have ever had. He is mellow, loves to snuggle, and he listens - something I've never been able to achieve with much success with any dog. We hope not to be in the market for another lab for a long time, but I wanted you to know how pleased with are with him. He is a great family pet and a good looking dog. Happy New Year!

Carol Carty
Sandpoint, Idaho

Hi Ryan,

Cash Money J He was going to be Cash McMillan until we saw that his great great grandfather was Frontier Deez IIIX The Money so we tied it all together…

He lives up to his name every day! He was born to Delta and Mercy last March 6th.

We wanted you to know he’s doing great, we’ve been to several weekly puppy manners classes to bring us up to speed since we’ve never had a dog before.

We’ve officially had more training for him then we’ve ever had for our kids, which we had none! But every day it is paying off.

Everyone who has met Cash can’t believe he’s only 10 months old. Matt Lindell made me promise to tell you what a great dog he is. He came over for Christmas Eve and couldn’t believe that with 20 people running around him Cash had no problem lying down in the kitchen hoping for some food to drop his way. Extremely food motivated and can chew for hours on end.

He’s 80 lbs and quite tall apparently. Very well socialized and the older he gets the more affectionate he becomes. He is definitely learning to become more lovey dovey. He was so intense when we first got him that it’s taken a bit for him to mellow enough to just relax. He’s stronger than an ox and wants to learn. Completely understands our schedule and can be quite mellow now until some distractions come along but settles nicely.

He’s hasn’t been the companion for our daughter as I’d initially planned. He responds so much better to men, which honestly makes my husband very happy. But she taught him to give kisses and that is their thing together and makes her happy. She and I are chump change to him for the most part but he’s smart enough to figure out who meets his basic needs…so he puts up with us.

Anyway, that’ what we have so far, every day is a new learning experience but an enjoyable one for sure!

Thanks Ryan, Happy New Year to you and your family!

Kudos to Ryan Fortier at Long Hollow Retrievers ( www.longhollowretrievers.com ) for getting me this pup and helping to train her up right. It definatly makes hunting more exciting having a dog to hunt with all the time.

7 months in and many great year’s to go!

Hope each of you has a great hunting season,

Alex

Hello,

Steve is thinking about a lab. I'm not sure we're ready, but in case we get serious…are all the yellow pups due September 16th spoken for? Steve would like a chocolate or yellow male.

By the way, Tilly is awesome. She swims all day hunting minnows and dragonflies. She loves go out on the boat and has taken up the paddle-board. She is definitely fit for hunting season.

Regards,
Kelly Jones

Just wanted to let you know that Nike is doing so well with her continued training it is so apparent!! I want to share another story with you.

Keep this in mind: Kamrey has her meds lined up on her dresser.

Kam & I were in the kitchen eating & Nike was laying by the door (she knows not to come in the kitchen while we're eating). After some time passes, Nike comes in the kitchen with 2 medicine bottles. Kam thanks her for bringing the meds, tells Nike, its not time yet & goes & puts the meds back on her dresser. A couple minutes later, she brings the same 2 bottles back, comes in the kitchen & drops them in front of Kam. Once again, Kam thanks her & tells her not time yet. After the third time bringing them, I asked Kamrey what meds does Nike have & she tells me, so I told her to go ahead & take them. It was the meds that prevents Kamrey from having dystonia attacks.

What do you think happened a few minutes later???

Kamrey started having a dystonia attack but it subsided almost as soon as it started thanks to Nike alerting and Kam taking her meds.

Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day!!

LaTonya, Jas
Kamrey & Nike...

Just wanted to drop a quick note that Cooper is doing great in his new home. Eating, sleeping and playing well; already eager to chase tennis balls. Shows a lot of confidence and assertiveness. Great pup…looking forward to working with him as he grows.

Thanks again…will touch base again soon about training.



Scott

Our pup Luna from Delta and Mercy is doing great! Thank you for such a great addition to our family! She is a hard charger for the water, she even experienced some pretty decent waves a couple days ago in the puget after she took a wave right in the face she quickly learned how to charge up and over and find her bumper right away every time. Its pretty exciting time working with her as our experience has been with labs but also working with her Sister Sage a GWH. Its exciting watching them run around the yard using their noses and finding there wings.
Thanks,
Penny

Ryan,

Hey man hope all is well, just wanted to drop a line and let you know Kona is doing great and she is an awesome dog. I really appreciate all that you have done man. Right now we are still working on casting in the yard and doing single retrieves on land and water. She has had some good and bad days but I think I will take the blame for the bad days. Picking up a mud hut in the next couple weeks and I will be getting her out on the boat to get used to that as well.

Thanks,

Mike

Just wanted to let you know that Nike is doing so well with her continued training it is so apparent!! I want to share another story with you.

Keep this in mind: Kamrey has her meds lined up on her dresser.

Kam & I were in the kitchen eating & Nike was laying by the door (she knows not to come in the kitchen while we're eating). After some time passes, Nike comes in the kitchen with 2 medicine bottles. Kam thanks her for bringing the meds, tells Nike, its not time yet & goes & puts the meds back on her dresser. A couple minutes later, she brings the same 2 bottles back, comes in the kitchen & drops them in front of Kam. Once again, Kam thanks her & tells her not time yet. After the third time bringing them, I asked Kamrey what meds does Nike have & she tells me, so I told her to go ahead & take them. It was the meds that prevents Kamrey from having dystonia attacks.

What do you think happened a few minutes later???

Kamrey started having a dystonia attack but it subsided almost as soon as it started thanks to Nike alerting and Kam taking her meds.

Thank you so much. I hope you have a great day!!

LaTonya, Jas
Kamrey & Nike...

Hey Ryan,

wanted to let you know how happy I am with Earl......

thank you for all the help you provided

Earl is a little goofy but that boy can find birds

I'll refer anyone that wants to listen to you and your operation

once again thank you much and hopefully we can get out and chase some birds just for fun someday

Joe from Lake Stevens over and out

once again thank you much

joe

Way to go with the first hunt test successes of the season! Nice job!

Ryan,

the male chocolate pup purchased by Janina Thompson is doing great. I have never worked with a pup so quick to learn. as an added bonus the little guy has a very strong pointing instinct! its mostly scent pointing and with a little sight pointing but either way I have had some GSP's who didn't point this much as puppys. very very cool. he has no fear of the water what so ever, we took him to the a couple weeks ago just to let him sniff around and see the sights and much to my surprise he jumped in on his own and swam about ten yards out to try and catch a gull.

you breed some impressive dogs sir.

Hey Ryan, Pretty whimpy season for us as we really only got to hunt during our holiday trip to MT. Too many kid things going on for us to pack up & head east.

Griz was a rockstar on some pretty tough retrieves – as I didn’t see where the bird landed (or even see it fall) and he swam thru the channel, behind some logs in a bush. Wish I had it on video, but Tater did a quad retrieve on 4 geese we shot and while 2 were easy, the other 2 were in the river and floating at high speeds with the ice. Swam down river, stuck in a whirlpool and finally got to the bank and ran 2-300 yards down the bank and back into the river to get him (btw it was about 0 degrees and covered in ice).

Let’s stay in touch and am sure we’ll connect in summer/fall – if not before.


Bob

Ryan,
Hey just wanted to give you an update on Houghton. He is possibly one of the best dogs I have ever seen. Everyone that cones around him can't believe how well tempered he is. He is learning fast. He has only had one accident in the house the first day we brought him home from then on he goes and sits in front of the door. He is doing well with the bumper as well. We trow is a couple times a day. I started some leash training as well and he picked up on that after about five minutes however the first five minutes were painful. I have been feeding him a little under two cups of food twice a day. He is also starting to like his kennel. If you have any advice on what I should be doing any would be great. Thanks again for breading such a good pup. Take care and we are looking forward to coming back and doing some training.

Matt

Hi Ryan,

Liked your video on Delta. He is a lucky dog. I named the new pup Dutch and he reminds me alot of the other dog Jet. They seem to have the same personality traits, alot in common. Went hunting today on the North Fork of the Skagit River and shot a limit of ducks with Dutch. He made a real nice retrieve, about one hundred yards on the flats. Duck hunting has been real slow over here for the last month with the mild weather. I usually hunt the fields around home but decided to try the river delta and it worked out great. Dutch likes the water and feathers very much. He is going to be a good hunting dog.

Thanks for the emails

Jay Van Putten

A quick note, you spent about 10 days with my 2 year old lab Jake getting him accustomed to birds a few months back. I just returned from N Dakota where he tracked, pinned, pointed, flushed and retrieved numerous roosters (catching 2 w/o the aid of the gun) over 3 days. Performed like a pro and the work you did with him obviously had him effective the moment he left the tail gate – many thanks.

All the best

Chee brought 4 birds in on the opener. But the last mallard hen made my day. He was lost in the rice but corrected after hearing my whistle. It was AWESOME!!

One hell of a dog.

Bob Stewart

Dear Ryan:



I thought you might be interested in a quick report about Nash’s hunting trip to Montana. In short, he was terrific. We hunted Saturday through Monday and he just got better as he figured out how to find and work the birds. He really never stopped hunting and started showing some real pointing attributes, as well. In all, I estimate that he pointed 10 birds and put up about 30. It was also very easy to tell when he was working a bird. Finally, he found a number of crippled pheasant that we otherwise would have lost.



It was a great trip and Nash was more than I could have hoped for. Thanks for all your professional help.



Jim

Hi Ryan,



Long time no talk to, man!



Hopefully everything is going well with you. We’re getting excited to see Kona in action again this season, but, unfortunately due to changes at work, I doubt I’m going to be able to hunt her as much this season as last.


I was pursuing your website the other day, and saw all the sweet upgrades—nice work!


Anyways, hopefully your family is in good health and a whole slew of people singed up for training this past summer.


Talk to you later!

Cash just keeps getting prettier....

Inger Brockman

Hello Ryan,
Well, we've had the pup for a little over a month now and I thought I'd take time to drop you a note and let you know how things are going.
First of all, my compliments to you, your wife, and I am sure your kids on socializing the pup. He is so calm around people and when being picked up or handled. You folks did a nice job of familiarizing him with these kinds of things.
We are currently working on basic obedience,...sit, stay, come etc. He will sit on a single whistle blast(little treat helps when he forgets), and he comes in on a "toot, toot, toot,toot. We laid some scent trails with dead pheasants and he worked them up fine. Even dragging them around after finding them! Slowly introducing him to loud noises, blank pistol, cracking 2X 4"s etc. and distant 20 ga. gunfire. All told things are progressing fine. He is outside in his run now and has been for the past two weeks and seems to have adjusted well to it. I think he prefers it as he has lots of room and fresh air out there. We call him "Gage" as maybe, just maybe he will be the dog on which all my others will be measured, lets hope so.

Best wishes for a great fall
Mike Wright & Gage

Remember your little gals?

Here is one of them as a service dog...in Texas now for this little gal. She is rolling and stated school with the child Monday. doing great, school very impressed with dogs temperament, breeding. She is service dog for Anxiety & Seizure. they named her, "Nike". Child is 16 years old and the dog and child will be going to college together!!!!

The other has been named Daisy and is alerting for a Diabetic child of age 2. She is doing a good job of this and lives her in Kentucky...Louisville and we will get to see her thru her whole lifetime. Getting video and photos ready to send so you can claim your website that your dogs make great Service Dogs.

thank you for helping get us these lovely dogs. They are awesome. Will send more updates later.

Liz

I toldd my brother Pat that I would send an update on Ike, the pup we picked up last Jan. She's a good one. She's retrieved quail, duck and geese so far. Made a great retrieve on a double Pat made in the Boise River, both ducks were banded. Hope the hunting has been good for you.

Dear Ryan,

We hope that you and your family (dogs included) are doing well! Matt and Kona have had limits the last two weekends and she is doing spectacular thanks to your work with her!

Quick story...Kona went out for a bird her first time out this season and it dove 4 times on her! Finally on the 4th time it came up it was close enough for her to snag it. Matt was so proud of her persistence to stay out there and come back with something (thank you force fetch!).

We look forward to working with you again some day in the future with more pups we plan on having after Kona some day. We will always have a hunting dog in our household! :)

Sincerely,
Matt, M’Lissa and Kona

Hi! Just wanted to check in and let you know Bailey is doing great!!! She had her pictures taken yesterday and they they turned out so cute. She also had a lot of little kid exposure there. Everyone loves her. She is pretty potty trained and is doing great on her leash (and of course has the "sit" and "down" command mastered.)

Today Shelly came over with Lucy and Bailey had such a great time. I thought you'd like to see of a couple of pictures. Take care and thank you so much!!! Kim Giles

Just wanted to shoot you over a quick update on "Kona." She is doing great and loving life. Got her doing hall retrieves every night and getting her used to kennel life (she is going to be a stubborn one). From the looks of it she is going to be one hell of a bird dog. I'll get you over some pics soon.

We should be heading over East here in a few weeks to get some birds, if you have some spare time and need a couple hunting partners your more than welcome to join. Thanks again man she is going to be a great dog.


MIke

Ryan,

Thank you (and your wife, your kids, Darcy, Darcy's son etc) for the opportunity to get one of Long Hollow's pups. We have named the pup "Bodie." (He's pretty "relaxed," so a "surfer" name fits ;-). He is such a good dog so far. He's sleeping in his kennel all night w/o complaining. He had the "sit" command down w/in 15 minutes of getting home (literally). He has only had two accidents in the house (by the end of the first day with us was going to the back door to go out). Other than nipping, he's doing great.

I'll send a few pics later.
Thanks, once again!
Best regards,

Chris

Ryan:

Your dogs are the best! I love my puppy chip and i love all of your dogs they are so cute and nice and very smart and strong and good at everything!:)

-sarah habs:)

ps tell your kids hi:)

Hi Ryan,

Scout is doing great at home-remembers lots more than I expected about the routine, and all the other dogs seem to be glad she's back. Bob has had her out hunting two or three times now, and they have done just fine-not too many birds (days have been too nice) so it has been perfect for them to get some time just hanging out in the blind. Scout has been really good and has listened and almost done everything right-he's happy with her. We've done a few training sessions, too, and all seems to be going really well.

Thanks for everything, and we really appreciate the great job you did with her. I know you really wanted her to continue in your program-but she is exactly what we wanted her to be, so I hope that kind of makes you happy, too.

As always, I will continue to send anyone who asks your way! Have a great hunting season and happy holidays, and take care!

Marlana, Bob and Scout

Dear Ryan:

I thought you might be interested in a quick report about Nash’s hunting trip to Montana. In short, he was terrific. We hunted Saturday through Monday and he just got better as he figured out how to find and work the birds. He really never stopped hunting and started showing some real pointing attributes, as well. In all, I estimate that he pointed 10 birds and put up about 30. It was also very easy to tell when he was working a bird. Finally, he found a number of crippled pheasant that we otherwise would have lost.

It was a great trip and Nash was more than I could have hoped for. Thanks for all your professional help.

Jim

Chee brought 4 birds in on the opener. But the last mallard hen made my day. He was lost in the rice but corrected after hearing my whistle. It was AWESOME!!

One hell of a dog.

Hi Ryan,
Below is what Ringo has done.

Big Meadows Upland Bird Championships, Lovelock Nevada, February 2010

4th place in pointing doubles

Lahontan Valley Bird Dog Club Spring Shoot, Fallon Nevada, April 2010

3rd place in pointing doubles

At this time it appears that Ringo has won the Fred Smith “Dog of the Year” award for 2010 but they have not announced the winner yet. This is the high point dog for the 3 spring events. The Reno event was canceled due to bad weather. Ringo is the high point dog.

Willie

Pepper is doing well and he is retrieving lots of bumpers on land and water at about 75 yards...He has moved into the family and thinks he runs the house, and he even has Porter buffaloed!

I will be glad when he is totally house broken as we are crate training him and I forgot you get at least once a night with a young pup!

If Pepper is old enough....I would like to pay for his first Junior event and run him...Will bring him over for a training session so you can analyze his progress.

Give me a call when you get a chance. Miss Hershey...How is he doing? There are several trials the first part of June in your area and Spokane if you think he is ready to do his Seniors by the 1st of June.

Has Pepper had any training???? If not he is doing extremely well!

Thanks for letting me shoot photos on Saturday... Your Labradors and your training program are truly amazing...

Jordan

My new English Pointer that Long Hollow helped me find and train is doing awesome...

Long Hollow's Smokin Joe...

Cash just keeps getting prettier....and WAY better at holding still for the camera.

Thanks for letting me train with you on Saturday... Copper is the best dog I have ever had...

Thanks again.
Dan

Cheese had a great Season and I can't wait to get out and train with you some more this summer...

Matt

Thanks Ryan for all you help with Diesel and I am now looking forward to Rider's bright future as a Hunt Test dog in you program...

Matt

Ryan,

It was great to see you and train with you on Saturday... Your program has really evolved...

It was a great experience for Ruger also...

Thanks
Aaron

Ryan,

Kona is doing fantastic... I really hope I can find time for Kona and I to get out and train with you this summer...

See you soon
Adam

Long Hollow is training our second dog "Darby" I got to see her this weekend and she is doing wonderful... Darby is a very immature 1 year old black female... She is through Basic Retriever Training already and moving into Advanced Training...

Thanks to Ryan and the Team...

Marcy

Thanks to Ryan and the Team for having me out for a day of training last weekend... Finally got River off his butt and it was a great experience for the youngster...

Noland

Cooper is 12 weeks today so we are going to step up his basic sit, stay and come commands. it is interesting to see him gradually develop his independence. is there a type of training collar, not an e collar, that you recommend ?

My dog Bindy was trained by Ryan at Long Hollow Retrievers... She is now a Senior Hunter...
Now Ryan is training my new dog for the Masters...

Their program is very interactive and I have been able to learn right along with my dogs...

Billy

Thanks to Ryan and Long Hollow Bird Dogs for all their hard work...

In February my English Setter Charlie placed 3rd in his first NSTRA field trial...
Bob

I am getting my new puppy from Long Hollow this Summer...Thanks Ryan.
James

My Chesapeake "Rufus" has been with Ryan for a year and he is on his way to be running at the Master level before he is two...

Thanks for everything Ryan
Todd

My Long Hollow English Setter "River" finished 2nd in the NSTRA Big Sky Regional Elimination Field Trial in 2010... Qualified for the dog of the year trial in Amo Indiana...

Thanks Ryan

Rawly is working out well. We like him pretty well. He's in the house with us and the other dogs. They get along well.

River is coming along too. She is pointing and has a natural honor. She is fun to watch honoring the other dogs.

Ryan: Thanks for the info. Nate is almost there. He is retrieving dead birds. Need to work on water retrieve when the weather warms. He pointed his first pheasant three weeks ago. Shot 5 roosters over him and he never batted an eye. He is a pleasure to hunt with. He knows and obeys the sit,heel,stay and here commands. I can only say that you turn out a fine breed of setters. John Dibert

Just wanted to send you a quick note . . . we’re thoroughly enjoying “Griz” ! He’s a great pup . . . he’s got a great mind and is a bit more docile than our Tater was when he was a pup.
I took this pic a week ago . . . .
Hope training is going well !

Thanks,
Sharma

Hi Ryan,

We ran the Big Meadows Upland Bird Championships in Lovelock, Nevada this week end. Ringo had some great runs both days. I had a bad judgment call on a flush today that cost us 2nd place, we ended up with a 4th place finish and a $400.00 pay out.

We had a good time and Ringo looked very good. We are going to run in Reno on the 6th & 7th of March.

Dear Ryan,
Matt and I hope your hunting season is off and running! Matt and Kona are well are their way to a great season as well! Hope things are going well for you, your fam, and all your pups in training.

Talk to you soon!

M’Lissa and Matt

Hey Ryan
Hope all is well and you’re enjoying the cooler weather. I’ve been out hunting with Coho a few times this year. She’s doing great hunting quail and I’m really looking forward to getting some Pheasants in her mouth starting this weekend. I’ve been diligent about putting her e-collar on while we hunt but I have not used the remote.

Ryan; I Was working Nate with a pheasant wing on a pole. He made a sight point and then tried to catch it. I would move the wing away from him each time. After awhile he would circle and get on the side I was moving the wing too, hoping to catch it when it moved to the right. He figured that out in a matter of minutes. He amazes me everyday. John D.

Hey Ryan,

I have had Earl out for 5 weekends in a row and he is doing well........it would help if I was a better shot but I am working on it.....should be able to get him out every weekend until it closes

could not be happier with his ability to locate birds and I am still learning how to read him......he goes thru phases, you know does not want to get into the cover some of the time and then gets turned on by birds and really tears it up.....if I compare him to the golden retriever I had at the same point of there careers Earl is ten times the bird dog and I really liked the retriever

had him out for chuker a couple of weekends ago and really liked it and I think that is where he is in his element.....plenty of room to roam and not to concerned with his range, just have to keep him from falling off the cliffs but I think dogs have an instinct to not want to fall off any more than I do

Ryan~
I wanted to share a couple of the photos I took yesterday of Maggie while we were with you.
I thought you would like to see them as a testimony to your work.

Thank You again!

on the point
retrieve

Hi Ryan,

The dogs and I've had some very enjoyable Chukar hunts over the past three
weeks. Jackson has had some real solid points and honored his Mom's point
the other day. Last weekend he had a great find and point, locating birds
over the ridge and 400 yards out. He held the point until I got there and
shot a bird, just like you want it to happen.

Ryan,

got Earl out this past weekend

I was happy with him, he did better than I was anticipating

he did find a few birds......a little to far out for the 2 roosters and did not have a shot but a real nice point on a hen off some RR tracks

starting to see how he works and learning his signs

Hi Ryan:

Thought I'd give you an update. Between two rounds of puppy obedience classes and weekends at the lake along with some opportunities to go hunting, Shiloh has matured right out of the crazies. She is doing well with her indoor training as well and is just now really beginning to adopt us as her family. I think she was just too busy/immature before. She wants to be near us and is a joy and a love. She is becoming a beloved member of the gang. She has a permanent home here. Thanks for being understanding when I wasn't sure.

Shiloh and I went as "guides in training" for the local Youth Hunt a few weeks ago. Shiloh and a friend's German Short Hair Pointer worked the fields together and flushed a pheasant for a young first time hunter. She bagged a nice bird and it was great fun. I think before we attempt that again though, I'll have Shi shaved to the bone so as to avoid all the burrs and foxtails. She was a mess when we got back and it took about two hours to get her combed out, not to mention the pain she had to endure. She was so uncomfortable that she didn't mind my pulling and clipping. I had no idea she would pick up sooo many burrs, seeds and stickers!

Hope all is well,
Thanks.
Laurie

Ryan,

Had a really good hunt with Brad , Josh and group today. Luke had a very good day - Josh shot a couple of birds over some nice points ( photo attached ).Luke had 5 nice covey finds , and a couple of good backs. I think Josh and Brad also got some photos.
Looks like I will be over to the Quillomene around 23 Oct for a few days of Chukar - so I may be here in early Nov. if you are still coming over. Hope to see you then,

Tim

Ryan,

The pictures are great! You have done a marvelous job!

We do appreciate hearing from you and all your hard work!
Lynn

P.S. trying to plan a hunting trip to the Dakotas!

Ryan,
I wanted to thank you for your time last Saturday. We enjoyed the time with Magnum and the hospitality that you and your family extended to us during our visit.

David Henry

Hey Ryan,
I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to show me around your place today. I took my black lab out today with those two chukar. We were only quartering for about ten minutes, she caught one of the birds, and then she starting having another eic attack. This time it completely cripled her, her front legs quit working this time. I ended up carrying her about a half mile back to the truck. I took her to the vet, and got the blood test done, she fits 5 of the 8 criteria for a dog with eic. I will have the results on monday, so I might be looking for a new pup sooner than I had anticipated. But thanks again for the help today, and I appreciate you taking my dog in.
Thanks again.
Sean

Ryan,

I wanted to send you an update on Kimber. Reminder: she was sold to me this summer as Belle. She is a great family dog and is developing nicely into a great bird dog. She is currently 6 weeks into a 3 month training program. Most of the pics are from the trainer. In the months she was at our house we quickly fell in love with her. My 5 year old daughter took a particular liking to her. Without too much training on my part she would naturally point, retrieve "most" of the time, and swim like retriever! Now with her trainer she is being refined. She started force fetch this week. All in all a great dog that myself and my family are very happy with. Please feel free to use me as a reference. I'll try to keep you up to date with info as she returns home and we hunt whats left of this season and seasons to come! Thanks Again.

Rich Bott
Park City, UT

Ryan, thank you for the update, sounds like your operation is going well.

A quick note, you spent about 10 days with my 2 year old lab Jake getting him accustomed to birds a few months back. I just returned from N Dakota where he tracked, pinned, pointed, flushed and retrieved numerous roosters (catching 2 w/o the aid of the gun) over 3 days. Performed like a pro and the work you did with him obviously had him effective the moment he left the tail gate – many thanks.

All the best

Ryan, I wanted to publicly thank you for having me over to your open training session even though I haven't put River on your trailer. The amount of assistance, guidance, and just watching a pro at work far outweighed any help throwing I provided you, definitely worth the drive. Thanks for keeping it simple yet very meaningful.

Feel free to use me as reference anytime.

We love hunting for upland birds and waterfowl with our pup Kona! She is having a fantastic season and thank you Ryan for her first round of training. We look forward to working with you for more training for Kona!

I'm Ryan's uncle and the proud owner of a 14 month old hunting poodle, Lola. She got her first duck, pheasant, quail and ruffed grouse last month thanks to Ryan.

Tiger Mountain Cassandra(Cassie) 4yo

Tiger Mountain Blacks California Gold(Cali) 7mo

Both trained by Ryan, both fantastic!

Ryan,

Luke had a very good 3 days in the Quilomene this past weekend.With a few minor corrections , he handled 10 or 11 coveys very well , and definitely figured it out .He improved as the weekend progressed.Found a lot of birds, and also had some nice long range backs on my partner Lee Hoepfinger's Setter.

At 1 year old Luke is an excellent wild bird dog handling Chukar, Huns, Sharptail, Pheasants and Quail. The more I hunt him the better he gets. I may field trial him some as he gets older - for now he is just getting lots of wild bird exposure.

Best Regards,

Tim Powell Emigrant , Mt.

Hey Ryan,

Just thought you should know...... Little Scooter is a hell of a hunter. Once he rooted up his first big ol' rooster in two foot snow covered CRP grass and saw that big thing flushing away....... The game was on!! He is a hunting machine, he leaves no stone unturned. He'll check every rock, bush, hedge row to find those big old birds. He digs being able to point on the quail cause they don't go anywhere, but once he saw the size and how those roosters exploded from the cover..... He thought that was the coolest thing ever. Now, I can tell he's not to happy when the wild ones won't hold for him, but he's okay with it I think, I'm pretty sure it's all about the hunt for him. He's a smart little guy and is very easy to train. As you know, he's my first setter, but he's been very easy to instruct. He listens very well to me, getting him to sit, stay, lay down, kennel up, here, no, over there (with an arm movement right or left) has been no problem. I've only used the collar to hunt with him twice, that's cause he is ranging out a little too far for me. The wild roosters won't hold long enough for me to get there allot of times, so keeping him in a little closer to work with Mallard has worked out allot better for us as foot hunters.

Anyway, he's an awesome dog, Andi loves the little guy, he sleeps in the room with the rest of us on his dog bed (except when he jumps up on the
bed and curls up on my pillow). And he loves being able to run around all over the place over in Idaho.

Rob Hartnett
Woodinville, Washington

Hi Ryan,

We are very happy with Jackie and she has fit into our life style very well. Georgia and Jackie are the best of friends, Georgia really loves her a bunch. Jackie has had some really nice points. I don’t have any new pictures of Jackie but I will get some of her pointing wild chukar in the near future.

Willie Hunter
Elko, Nevada

Hi Ryan,

We just wanted to compliment you on your training. Kathy and Dave Wilson, and Dennis and I took Charlie and Gauge out hunting this weekend and you would have been amazed at how well they pointed and honored each other. We planted some pheasants and a couple other guys joined us on Sunday and they were really impressed at how well the two of them were working together. It was the first time they had seen a lab point and their comment was "that was beautiful". The Wilson's and us just wanted to thank you for a job well done. I know Gauge has a long way to go but he was sure working great this weekend. He also retrieved his first duck on the Columbia River on friday.

Thanks Again,
Dennis and Phyllis Laukala

I have known Ryan Fortier and the Long Hollow Retriever family for over 10 years. During that time Ryan trained all 5 of my Gun Dogs (Siku, Jada, Herman, Bindy, Delta) and has run 2 of them successfully in AKC Junior and Senior Hunt Tests, and is now preparing two of them to run at the Master level...Along with my construction company I also run Bag Limit Guide Service....During the Fall and Winter we hunt Ducks as hard as anybody....With the guidance and training of Long Hollow Retrievers our dogs are always up to the task....

Ryan's patience and versatility has been proven over the years....But no more then when we put our one year old Cockapoo through Long Hollow Retrievers obedience class...

Thanks to Ryan and Traci our family is now enjoying our little dog Amica...

I have known Ryan now for 5 years now and couldn't ask for a better guy to teach me how to train and handle dogs. I have a 4 year old yellow female "Tori" would be nothing but a plug without Ryan's expertise and instruction. I will be running Tori in senior hunt test next spring. I really have no one but Ryan and Long Hollow Retrievers to Thank.

Curtis Johnson
Ellensburg, WA

Since April of 2005, both my lab and my setter have been under Ryan Fortier’s direct tutelage from start to finish. My dogs are proficient on every upland species and waterfowl as well. However, the two together are a top notch one-two punch on chukar. The training that they have received from Ryan is second to none. Both dogs hunt to their full potential with style, and class. Ryan has also trained me on how to manage my dogs in the field, and help them keep maturing in a positive direction. As long as I own hunting dogs of any breed, they will go to school with Mr. Fortier.

JW
Issaquah, WA