If you’re seeking a hunting dog trainer in Texas, you’re in luck.
We know Texas is a big state, but there are numerous qualified trainers throughout this large state as you’ll see from the list below; we hope you’ll find one in your neck of the woods. 
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1. Duck Dog Trainer
Located in Winnie, Texas, Duck Dog Trainer is owned by long time pastor and duck hunting dog trainer Brian Johnson. Duck Dogs provides a wide range of courses for dog owners looking to get their Labrador retrievers to duck hunt, win hunt test titles, or simply behave as the family pet.
While Brian has trained Master Hunters and Hunter Retriever Champions, he developed a real world duck dog certification program with testing in wetlands and out of duck blinds among multiple gunners shooting birds.
Duck Dogs also sells hunting dogs.
If you own a hunting dog, you’re sure to enjoy their hunting dog training blog as well as their Instagram page loaded with absolutely beautiful photos of proud hunting dogs showcasing their retrieved birds.
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Check out Duck Dog Trainer’s obedience and hunting training programs aimed primarily at retrievers and bird dogs.
2. Jordan Valley Retrievers
Owner Eddie Hicks has worked with dogs for over four decades including 30 years training dogs full time. He has trained over 900 Labradors and field dogs over the years!
Eddie has been responsible for training and showing Budweiser’s famed hunting dogs for the last 25 years. Hunting dog training and indoor boarding is available at his facility just southeast of Dallas. (Note: Most hunting dog trainers have outdoor boarding only.)
Jordan Valley Retrievers provides 3 levels of hunting dog training:
Their basic hunting program includes force fetching on land and water, basic lining drills, an introduction to handling, and steadiness. Your dog will be introduced to multiple marks in the basic hunting program.
In the intermediate hunting program, your dog will be introduced to advanced concepts in marking, pattern blinds, cold blinds, and cheating drills taking them to the Senior Hunter or Hunting Retriever level.
The advanced hunting dog training includes multiple marking scenarios, precision blinds, intensive handling drills, and challenging retrieving scenarios. These dogs can typically compete at Master Hunter and Hunting Retriever Champion levels.
3. Lone Star Retriever
Lone Star Retriever is owned by Tom and Samantha Garza, DMV. They are located in the middle of South Texas about 90 minutes South of San Antonio and one hour north of Corpus Christi.
They’ve been in business since 2016.
Most of the training is done at the kennels but they take the dogs across South Texas a few times a week to give the dogs exposure to several hunting scenarios.
They are a 30 dog training facility and normally have a several month wait list.
Their phone number is 361-815-3818.
4. One Shot Retrievers
Owner Alex Brittingham has become recognized in the waterfowl community for her Jack Russell Terrier, Gator, who retrieves ducks, geese, and cranes. She’s located in East Central Texas southeast of Dallas and Waco.
Their training includes boarding, puppy and obedience training, as well as gun dog training and AKC hunt test. Their gun dog training is a 4 to 6 month program for dogs over six months of age.
At the end of the training, your dog will be able to perform single marked retrieves, be ready to hand deliver, be steady to shot, and more.
Check out a proud Labrador retriever graduate from their Instagram page.
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See more details for Alex’s basic and advanced gun dog training classes.
5. Oak Creek Retrievers and Training
Oak Creek Retrievers and Training is located in the Bryan College Station area of Texas. They are a full service kennel offering boarding, obedience, and 3 hunting programs.
Owner Chris Krause grew up hunting the Katy prairie, as well as the Gulf Coast and river bottoms. His lifetime pursuit of waterfowl gave him the knowledge of what is required in the field with hunting dogs.
His goal is to have a dog that’s visibly excited to hunt with each retrieve.
Chris holds certifications from Animal Behavior College and Penn Foster Career School in animal behavior and training. He trained under legendary retriever trainer Steve Hendricks of Hendricks Kennels, where is served as the first Kennel Manager & Lead Trainer. There he personally trained over 2,500 dogs ranging from Obedience to advanced Master Hunters.
See Chris’s retriever training programs.
6. Texas Duck Dogs
Texas Duck Dogs serves Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio dog owners from their north Texas facility. The owner and head trainer is Wade Cashion, a 5th generation dog trainer. His family has a long history of raising and training prestigious hunting dogs.
Their Basic Hunter program will train your dog as both a family dog and a hunting dog. It includes basic obedience training, plus the field work needed for an occasional dove or duck hunt. Texas Duck Dogs also offers duck dog training and dove hunting training specifically.
Wade even sells corn and gluten free dog food that’s made in Texas.
You’ll enjoy Texas Duck Dog’s video on how to select a puppy that can be trained as a hunting dog.
You’ll also enjoy their hunting dog training tips.
Check out Texas Duck Dog’s hunting programs.
7. Redmark Kennels
After a long history of training and titling dogs in AKC Hunt Tests, in November of 2012 owners Mark and Debbie Watson moved to a 57 acre property. They had planned to retire but instead opened a boarding kennel that trains hunting dogs.
Redmark Kennels is located about an hour from downtown Austin, near Lexington, Texas. They pride themselves on having some of the largest dog runs in the industry with 30 indoor/outdoor runs and 6 attached play yards.
They provide boarding as well as general obedience training and hunting dog training.
Their Gun Dog Training program teaches a dog to listen during a hunt, remain steady and get conditioned to the sounds of a gun, and be able to retrieve and deliver marked birds straight to your hand. This program takes 6 to 8 months, depending on your dog’s learning abilities.
Read about their hunting dog training.
8. Drake’s Sporting Dogs, LLC
Drake Sporting Dogs got their start in 2007 after their owners found a black lab puppy he trained to duck and dove hunt.
Friends saw the good job their pup was doing, and Drake began training their dogs to hunt, too, after numerous requests.
In July of 2015, Drake Sporting Dogs moved all their kennels and 55 dogs northwest of Houston to Montgomery, Texas where they offer outdoor boarding and hunting dog training.
Their phone number is 281-793-2413.
9. Big Country Kennels
Big Country Kennels has 75 covered runs, indoor/outdoor kennels with heat and AC in Albany, Texas, about 2.5 hours from the Dallas Fort Worth area.
They have Texas Covey Houses on their training lease and an abundance of quail on over 6000 acres for training bird dogs. The area is known for quail hunting.
In business 25 years, Big Kennel’s training philosophy focuses on developing a dog’s maximum potential vs simply completing a program.
We love their philosophy, which I’ve summarized here: Developing a bird dog is done by having the facilities, the birds, and the land vs restraining and correcting. The dogs teach themselves in a real setting, with the reward for learning being the birds that the dog has retrieved thereby making praise irrelevant when rewarding this behavior.
They offer training in the following areas:
- Whoa
- Handle in the field
- Pointing and holding wild birds
- Backing (honor point)
- Retrieve training
Big Country Kennels provides hunting training, dog boarding and sells bird dogs.
10. Cross Creek Kennel
Professional Dog Trainer Matt Larkin has been training dog for 27 years. He specializes in gun dog training, working retriever training, and dog obedience. From his Crockett, TX, location he has trained dogs from Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin, Waco and other Texas towns.
Matt’s dog training includes:
- Obedience Training (non-hunting dogs)
- Basic Gun Dog Training (includes obedience)
- Advanced Gun Dog Training
- Continuance of Advanced/Hunt Test Competition
They have trained many Hunting Retriever Champions (HRCH) over the years which can be viewed on their website.
Hunting Dog Trainers in Texas Summary
As you’ve seen, Texas is home to numerous well qualified hunting dog trainers. Some specialize in training retrievers while others specialize in training bird dogs.
We hope you’ll find just the right trainer so your dog is confidently bringing birds right to your hand in no time.