Our pictures of the Foundation, Intermediate, and Advanced Seminars held here at RSK are up on both of our photo websites.   We hope that you enjoy them!

If you would like to download some pictures of your dog and you then go to:  http://gallery.me.com/ronniesmithkennels

If you’d rather have pictures printed then you can go to:  http://susannalove.zenfolio.com

Thanks to everyone that attended the seminars!  We enjoyed having you and your dogs here with us!

Don Jose Cuervo (Jose) x Smokin’ Cholla (Cholla)

9 pups total (4 females / 5 males)

Puppy Price:  $800 (including $200 deposit)

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B.B.s Got Rythm (Cash) x Full Proof Osage (Osage)

8 pups total (4 females / 4 males)

Puppy Price:  $800 (including $200 deposit)

Our family has bred, trained, hunted and/or trialed this line of Brittanys since the 1950′s.  For decades our proving grounds have been on our professionally guided hunts in Texas.  Our dogs keep proving to us that a dog that can perform in South Texas, navigating cacti and mesquite, adapting to rocky terrain and deep sand, dealing with heat and humidity, crash through brush that is shoulder high to a person, can perform anywhere.  Our dogs give it their all in the field, but are easy to handle and enjoyable to be around.  In order to continue to ensure the quality of our line of dogs, we do ask that our pups go through our formal training program at about a year old.  We believe in our Brittanys and are proud to stand by them.

Contact Susanna Love and

RESERVE YOUR NEXT SMITH BRITTANY

(click on thumbnails below to see full-sized image)

Keep your ear tuned in to the Big Billy Kinder Outdoors Show! You’ll soon hear  one-of-a-kind bird dog stories such as Puddles the field trial Brittany and her friend George, the pet bobwhite quail.

Bill Kinder happened to be at RSK at the same time this summer as Ronnie’s uncle and bird dog legend, Delmar Smith.  Bill was picking up his Brittany from training and Delmar…well, he comes by occasionally to keep us all in line!  The two sat down for a chat for the radio show. Delmar has spent his life training animals and he still has a way of teaching us at the same time he makes us laugh.

Delmar is always giving away pearls of wisdom.  Some of those pearls may be as simple, yet thought provoking as “You teach a dog something every time you put your hands on him” and “The last person to have touched a dog has left his fingerprints all over him.”

The dynamic duo of Bill Kinder & Delmar Smith is too entertaining to miss! Catch them in action on WBAP 820 in North Texas or the internet (podcasts are available for each show)!

Their work ethic and compassion for dogs is second to none. They were at the kennel every morning at 4:00 a.m.  Even after the last dog was worked, put up, and cared for, they were tending to the kennels making certain every water bucket was clean and disinfected and every kennel run was spotless.  All of this they did with enthusiasm and a smile on their faces.

Both Jerimiah & Chris have a good touch with animals.  Like us, they will be students of animal behavior for the rest of their lives.  We are proud to have them in our network of Huntsmith Trainers.

Ronnie Smith presenting Jerimiah Davison with Huntsmith Certification

Jerimiah Davison has hunted his entire life and bought his first bird dog 12 years ago.  That bird dog literally changed his life.  He has trained his own dogs for years, but has taken his training abilities to a new level.  He is currently relocating his kennels to northern Nevada.  Jerimiah plans to have his training facility open to the public soon.  In the meantime, you can contact him through is wild bird hunting guide service, Western Wing Adventures.

Ronnie Smith awarding Huntsmith Certification to Chris Smith

Chris Smith once said “My wife says I have a sickness. I tend to disagree, it’s more like a passion.”  How true that is!  Chris has worked with animals most of his life, but then the bird dog bug bit him.  Chris currently owns and operates BackCountry Bird Dogs near Billings, Montana and is accepting dogs for training.  We’d like to congratulate Chris on his field trial placements this weekend.  This was the first trial Chris has competed in since obtaining his certification.  His German Wirehair dog Ruger won second place in Open Derby.  Chris’s vizla, Dunken, received two legs on his junior hunt test (scoring 9s & 10s).  In the same weekend, his weimaraner won Prize 2 at a NAVDHA trial.  We’re proud of you, Chris!

If you are interested in applying to become a Huntsmith Certified Trainer contact Susanna Love at RSK.

Thanks to all of our clients for allowing us to work their bird dogs! Also, a special thanks to our 2011 Advanced Level Trainers Chris Smith (Backcountry Bird Dogs) and Jerimiah Davison (Western Wing Adventures) — you guys are great!

Enjoy the video!

Ronnie Smith Kennels on Vimeo

When dogs first arrive at our kennels each summer to begin training, the atmosphere around the kennel is similar to that of a dorm of freshman college students. There’s excitement about the new social life. Of course, no college dorm would be complete without the 2 am “Chatty Kathy” that keeps everyone up late and makes it a little rougher to absorb the lessons of the early morning classes! Every bird dog class has at least one of those too! Overall, there’s just a little anxiety about the new environment and all the bustling activity on the grounds. There’s even an adjustment period while being introduced to the new curriculum and the teachers.

Your dog’s hunting performance will benefit from regular workouts on wild birds in the hands of professional trainers. Young dogs see a significant increase in proficiency in handling, finding birds, and maturity.  For this reason, there’s always a little competition to see which of the young RSK dogs get to go on the trip.  This year RSK has two first year dogs…and you can bet both of these girls are going!

It has been a hot summer across a lot of the country.  Most likely your older dog has spent a lot of time lounging in the shade and is a little on the soft side.  A dog that has been laid up for the summer months simply isn’t going to be able to transition smoothly back to the bird field and will need some help before he can perform well on hunts.  This trip gives your dog that opportunity to get back in shape, proficient and focused for your hunts.

We guarantee your dog will never be lost amongst a sea of dogs while in any of our training programs. We work to bring out the best in each individual and “leave no dog behind.” Ronnie and Susanna will be spending plenty of one-on-one time with each dog during this trip.

Why should your dog spend September being trained by Ronnie and Susanna?

1)  A trained dog’s performance and proficiency always benefits from additional professional wild bird training.

• ~First year dogs will transition from training on pen raised birds to the real world experience of wild birds.

• ~Seasoned dogs will fine tune their hunting skills and be physically and mentally ready to hunt for you.  

2)  A solid month of wild bird exposure will be an experience your dog will draw from for the rest of his life, you can’t beat this experience for “making” a bird dog.  

3)  Your dog will receive individualized attention and care.

4)  Ronnie and Susanna constantly strive to keep their dogs in the best health by giving them good care and nutrition.

5)  This class gets your dog in proper conditioning for your hunts. 

Let Ronnie and Susanna do the training so that you can enjoy more of your hunts this year!  

(Click the link below to download signup form)

2011 Wild Bird Training Registration

*If your dog hasn’t been through our training format yet, it isn’t too early to reserve a place for him in next year’s Formal Training Class & Wild Bird Excursion.  Email Susanna for details.

The allure of cool crisp prairie mornings with the sun’s early rays reflecting off of bird dogs in pursuit of wild upland game as their genes have destined them to do since birth.  That is the essence of what draws Ronnie and I to take a select crew of bird dogs to the Big Sky Country of Montana for a month of training.  This year Ronnie and I migrated through Montana with a medley of eager, inexperienced green broke dogs, a handful of wizened veteran gun dogs, and everything in between.

Camp life, while romantic in theory, is chock full of daily chores of keeping animals happy and healthy on the road.  First light finds us greeting each dog as we unload them from their warm, hay filled crate; some of the dogs, reluctant to rouse themselves from sleep, are insistent on a long yawn and a good stretch before jumping out to see what the day might hold.  In the still dim light, dogs are watered and picked up after. An hour or so after rousing the first groggy eyed dog, we reload and head to spend the day in the field to hunting sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge.

Equipment did you say?  Oh, yes we carry a bit of equipment. Each hunt finds us loaded down with a few pounds of water in our camelpacks, pliers (in case an unsuspecting canine bites a porcupine), first aid equipment, mosquito repellant (yes, there were still quite a few of the little buggers around!), command leads (you never know when they will be needed), and maybe a snack or two, just in case. Ronnie works his SportDog collars and totes his 20 gauge and shells.  I run my TriTronics e-collar and tote my Nikon D300s.  Last, but most definitely not least, we each carry a Garmin Astro handheld to monitor our dogs and track our movements on a topo map.  Checklist of equipment complete, we put our e-collar and DC 40 Astros on the dogs, and away we go.  Dependent on conditions and the dogs, some braces we might walk half of a mile over flat farm land, while others continue for miles at a time, covering many expansive coulees before returning to the truck.

Each dog has their own lesson plan in the field and they let us know what that lesson plan is as we go. One shorthair told us with his behavior “I’m self hunting and I think I’ll jump in on the next bird I find.” Easy enough for the teachers. That dog we handle to get him going with us and stop him every time he made his first move to flush a bird.  In short order his mindset is more compliant and his bird work much more honest.

Some of the old hands that have come back to us for multiple yearly tune ups just need a bit of polish and to get physically fit and ready for this season.  The young dogs that had just graduated from our formal training classes might encounter a sharptail grouse for the first time and you can see it written all over their young faces as they throw a confused glance our way as if to say, “Guys, did you see that? Thaaaat huge thing got up right at my feet! I wasn’t supposed to point it, was I? Seriously???”

After a full day in the field, we retire to camp.  Feeding and caring for the dogs often until even the westernmost sky has lost all color and submitted in to darkness. Turn the generator on in the horse trailer to fix a quick meal and get ready for the next day.  Listen to the coyotes howl a chorus a mile away…and then hear the dogs respond 15 feet away, snug in their crates but always primal and non-human.  All of the work is worth it for the privilege of working with such an animal.

As the month progresses along we see each bird dog improve as they hone and diversify their hunting ability, getting better prepared for the season ahead with their owners. The miles on the ground and birds under their belts help to develop the crew into earnest hunters.  The new experiences of “life on the road” broadens horizons and readies everyone for the 2010-11 hunting season.  Our September wild bird training excursion is a real success.

Thank you to all of the owners that sent their dogs along with us.  We enjoyed working with each dog.  Have a great hunting season, we know your dogs will give you all they’ve got!

More pictures from our venture to Montana are available on our web gallery!

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