Long Hollow Retrievers

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.

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.

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

“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.”

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.

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.

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

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!

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

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.

Thanks,

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,

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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! :)

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,

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!

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 Hunter