Bonasa Flats Kennels - Training Philosophy

We believe that top quality gun dogs are the result of three essential elements:

Sound breeding practices designed to produce quality dogs that demonstrate all the desirable
characteristics of the breed. Quality dogs come from quality parents.
Knowledgeable dog owners who are committed to developing a dog to its fullest potential through
proven and humane training techniques. Your dog can only be as good as you’re willing to work to
develop it.
Taking the time required to understand your dog and then patiently train it according to its natural
abilities, temperament, and disposition. If you’ve acquired the necessary knowledge to do it, training
a bird dog is not terribly difficult but it does take lots of time and lots of patient repetition.

We believe that by doing the bulk of the training by ourselves, we enrich the quality of our relationships with
our dogs. We strengthen the bond of trust that must exist between a dog and its owner / handler. We also get
to enjoy the incremental progress that a dog makes as it goes through training and matures.

It’s very satisfying to know that you were instrumental in developing a gun dog that hunts cooperatively,
points staunchly, stands steady, and makes enthusiastic retrieves. We believe that we are smart and
competent enough to produce, train, and develop GSPs that anyone would be proud to call their own.

We also believe that professional trainers are a tremendous asset for the gun dog owner. We’re humble
enough to realize that we will never have all the knowledge and experience that it takes to get through every
possible training situation and problem we encounter. Although we take the majority of the responsibility for
training on ourselves, we’re never afraid to tap a trusted pro for coaching, advice, or direct hands-on help.
Without pro trainers and their knowledge, learning how to train a dog would be far more difficult and
onerous for the average dog owner than what it currently is. We believe that caring and competent
professional dog trainers are absolutely necessary for the betterment of the sporting breeds and their owners.

Although we are not dog trainers by trade, we are always glad to help out a fellow dog owner with an answer
to a question, practical advice, heartfelt encouragement, and even a helping hand in training your dog.

Bottom Line:
The more dedicated you are to properly training and developing your dog, the more rewarding the
responsibility of dog ownership will be for you.