Apex Retrievers

12/24/2024

Its Christmas eve already(eventhough the weather feels more like Halloween)!

We know all our owners miss these pups even more over the Holidays so we decided a few pictures in front of the kennel Christmas tree was a must do!

Thank you everyone for a great year and always remember what we are celebrating! The birth of our lord and savior Jesus Christ! ✝️🎄❤️

11/28/2024

The first retrieve; one you wont forget.

You can hear the praise and excitement in the handlers voice, the laughter from friends and family in the background all as this pup is getting his first real hunting experience. No matter how many reps your pup has had in training, the first wild bird shot over decoys is a memory for a lifetime.

Chief; a 10 month old Duckdawg puppy went home yesterday afternoon after completing our gundog program. Just over 12 hours later he is hunting the Platte River on a cold, 14 degree Thanksgiving morning.

The first of many sunrises for this pup! I am not there; but I am smiling like I am.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

11/14/2024

Alot of folks know we proudly feed all our dogs Purina Pro Plan. We have fed this food for over a decade and have nothing but great things to say about it. While all of our gundogs and competition dogs feed the traditional Pro Plan Sport 30/20; we do have some older geriatric dogs that have had their work load lessened, and their metabolism’s slow down causing weight gain while on this food. When this happens we still feed Purina Pro Plan but we switch to Purina’s Weight Management formula. This particular formula is 29% protein but is just 9% fat. This food helps those older dogs lose a little weight while maintaining good volume intake.

If you know anyone with an older dog, or even a spayed female or neutered male that still campaigns and hunts but has weight issues, tell them to give the Pro Plan Weight Management formula a try! We have had great luck with it just like all the Purina product we use!

11/07/2024

Young dog spotlight! Here are our fall and winter students!! These pups range from brand new to our program; up to transition level dogs. The weather is still nice but we know it wont be long and we will be thankful for heated facility that allows us to train no matter the weather outside!

10/29/2024

Since we are home from the Master National and Grand its time to settle in and focus on the reason we do all this!! Hunting season is upon us and we have some young students that are hitting the ground running this season! Its gonna be a great year!!

10/24/2024

The 2024 Fall Grand in St Louis came to an end yesterday. We had a strong group of dogs and they really had a great week. We ran some tough tests and our dogs fought hard.

We would like to send out some thank you’s for all the hard work to the Grand Committee, sight coordinators, judges, bird techs, PR folks, and the local club for putting on a great event.

We passed 8 dogs this fall. Titling two new GRHRCH dogs, 3 dogs passing for the first time and 3 hammers doing what they do.

So to announce our new GRAND HUNTING RETRIEVER CHAMPIONS:

GRHRCH Mea MNH4
Owned by Aric and Holly Hanson

GRHRCH Zook MNR
Owned and handled by our very own Joshua Hughes

Picking up their first Grand pass:

HRCH Spoon MH
Owned by Tim and Milinda Laeger

HRCH Bug MNR
Owned by Tim Fehringer

HRCH Poppy MH
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

And adding another pass to their total, the BIG boys.

7xGRHRCH Al MH
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

6xGRHRCH Cash MNH
Owned my Cory and Makenna Kienow

3xGRHRCH Blu MNR
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

This is our last test of 2024, we will now be focused the most important things to these dogs and owners… hunting!!!

A special thank you to our wonderful staff. Nate Stahl, Josh Hughes and Mike Meyer. Yall work day in and day out to build great dogs. We ran 6 SUPER inexperienced fresh 100 point HRCH dogs running this grand and the moment was NOT too big for them. You can see it coming. Next year they will be even better! Their time will come for sure!!

As always thank you to my beautiful wife Kara for holding down the fort, caring for those two boys and always being there as our cheerleader. We love yall and will be home soon!!

10/03/2024

Master National 2024 in Paducah KY has come and gone. We are grateful to be home and back to work preparing for the Grand.

We had a challenging National, losing Jack, Faith and Rye before the event even started. These were all great dogs and we are proud of them for their strong year even though they were not able to run the National all 3 were 6/6 in qualifying and were solid stable competitors all year.

I want to thank the Master National Club and board for hosting us. I also want to thank our judges Shawn Piotter and Roger Moltzan; I appreciate yall taking the time to judge our dogs and even though there was plenty of weather issues and even some other issues we didn’t quite understand or agree with; yall stuck with us and did a great job.

Most of all I want to thank my flight. I would be willing to bet we had the best flier ahooters in Paducah. Keith Winch and Troy Tilleraas; yall worked your butts off and kept us rolling!! I believe our flight had one of the highest pass rates and also finished second among all flights. Thats due to an amazing set of Stake Marshalls that kept us moving and a bunch of handlers that helped out!!

Picking up passes this year were:

HRCH Mea MNH4
Owned by Aric and Holly Hanson

5xGRHRCH Cash MNR
Owned by Cory and Makennah Kienow

HRCH Bug MNR
Owned by Tim Fehringer

GRHRCH Blue MNR
Owned by Travis Jolene Bock

HRCH Zook MNR
Owned by Joshua Hughes

HRCH Poppy MH
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

We are home for 10 or so days before we head to Missouri for the Grand.

09/27/2024

Just wanted to let everyone know, the MN is on a weather delay! Forecast says plenty of rain and wind is in the mix for us in the next 24-36 hours.

Attention Handlers! Due to extreme weather and out of safety concerns for judges, workers and Handlers Master National testing will be suspended on Friday. We will send text messages to all during the day to update the situation for Saturday. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Our top priority is for the safety of all.

09/23/2024

The Master National officially starts this morning. Temps look to be better than they have been and we are ready for that! We have had a rough past week losing Faith to HEAT on the trip down, and Rye to HEAT just a couple days ago. Jack has a muscle strain and did not make the trip either. Three great dogs that all worked hard to get qualified(two passed last year) and wont be able to compete.

Starting dog was drawn and it is 144 (1 if the flight doesn’t have 144). We don’t start our dogs until the 50’s so we wont start running until afternoon, and the majority of our dogs wont run at all today. Here is our order for the Master National.

56-Blue
Travis and Jolene Bock

62-Bean
Cory and Makennah Kienow

68-Rye SCRATCH
Matt and Stephanie Stricklin

74-Rex
Theresa Bilava

80-Cash
Cory and Makennah Kienow

86-Fancy
Travis and Jolene Bock

92-Poppy
Mike and Cindy Classen

98-Mea
Aric and Holly Hanson

104-Bug
Tim Fehringer

110-Al
Travis and Jolene Bock

117-Faith-SCRATCH
Darin Dunn

123-Zook
Josh Hughes

129-Jack- SCRATCH
Dane and Kara Johnson

135-Flounder
Dane and Kara Johnson

141-Spoon
Tim and Milinda Laeger

Thank you to all of our clients and supporters!

09/18/2024

Master National 2024 Training setup 9/18/2024

Beautiful weather and great grounds in Illinois. Single, interrupted double with a single water blind.

08/20/2024

The running order is up for the 2024 Master National! These dogs have all had a great year! Thank you to our owners for their passion, support and dedication to these fine dogs! Wishing them all the best of luck!

07/25/2024

Team Update for July!!

This month started off with a bang with our Apex Celebration for America’s Independence day and has been wide open ever since!!

We started the month in Minnesota with our friends at Prairie Lakes HRC. We always enjoy our time with our Minnesota friends. Thank you Kim and crew for a GREAT event!! Thank you to our judges Marion Grace, Shannon Stites, Kim Olson, Leroy Mason, Doug Powell, Shaun Van Vark, Janelle Negen, Heidi Henle, Scott Henle and Deb Eckhardt.

Picking up Finished passes were:

6xGRHRCH Al MH
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

GRHRCH Crash MH
Owned by Steve and Sharon White

GRHRCH Blue MH
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HR Bullet
Owned by Jet and Sheryl Thompson

HR Poppy MH
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

HR Faith MH
Owned by Darrin Dunn

HRCH Piper
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Libby Milroy

HRCH Bizzy
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Joe and Whitney Shadden

HRCH Flounder MH
Owned by Dane and Kara Johnson

HR Reggie
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HR Rex MH
Owned by Theresa Bilava

HR Hex
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HRCH Bean MH
Owned by Cory Kienow

Picking up Seasoned passes were:

SHR Rudy
Owned by Jack Lindstrom

SHR Tilly
Owned by Blane Hrabe

Picking up Started passes were:

SHR Drake
*** NEW SHR***
Owned by Tanner Benash

The next week was spent in Western Nebraska running double Midweek at Flatlander Kennels. We needed to get our last 3 girls qualified for the Master National!! Thank you to the entire FLK crew and judges Larry Kimble, Larry Meagher, Dave Jansma and Linda Alexander.

Picking up passes and qualifying for Master National were:

HRCH Bug MH
Owned by Tim Fehringer

HR Faith MH
Owned by Darin Dunn

HR Poppy MH
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

That weekend Nate went to Sioux Falls SD to run HRC at Dakota HRC! Thank you to the club for hosting us and thank you to our judges Heidi Goeman, Rich Lemmer, Mark Stites, Russ Fadling, Jerry Schroeder, Lynn Rabern, Deb Eckhardt and Kirt Meyers.

Picking up finished passes were:

6xGRHRCH Al MH
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HRCH Bullet
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Jet and Sheryl Thompson

HR Reggie
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HRCH Spoon MH
Owner by Tim and Milinda Laeger

HRCH Rex MH
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Theresa Bilava

HR Faith MH
Owned by Darin Dunn

HR Hex
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HRCH Poppy MH
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

Picking up Seasoned passes were:

HR Rudy
***NEW HR***
Owned by Jack Lindstrom

HR Tilly
***NEW HR***
Owned by Blane Hrabe

And just today we wrapped up our own Master at our place. Thank you to our judges Dave and Bessie Jansma for coming to judge for us.

Picking up their very first Master passes were:

HRCH Piper
Owned by Libby Milroy

HRCH Rocky
Owned by Cory and Mark Morton

HRCH Bizzy
Owned by Joe and Whitney Shadden

HRCH Ginger
Owned by Josh and Sara Bathke

And finishing her MH title is

Izzy MH
***NEW MH***
Owned by Doug and Sue Vance

Also Mike and Logan handled Tess and Taz to passes at our Master!!

This is our last test for the month, in under two weeks we ran 4 separate tests in 3 states titling one new MH, two new HR, one SHR and four HRCH.

Thank you to our clients, friends and followers for the love! Our next events are in mid/late August.

06/27/2024

Mid Week Master Update!!!

The crew made the trip to Western Nebraska these past couple days for a Mid Week Master test at Flatlander Kennels. Thank you to Chris and team for hosting us!! Thank you judges Larry Kimble and Larry Meagher for judging!!

Picking up Passes were:

HRCH Bean MH
***Qualified for MN***
Owned by Cory Kienow

HR Rex MH
***Qualified for MN***
Owned by Theresa Bilava

HRCH Zook MH
***Qualified for MN***
Owned by Joshua Hughes

Faith MH
***NEW MH***
Owned by Darin Dunn

HRCH Bug MH
Owned by Tim Fehringer

HRCH Fancy MH
***NEW MH***
***Qualified for MN***
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HRCH Flounder MH
***NEW MH***
***Qualified for MN***
Owned by Dane and Kara Johnson

All the dogs at this test were handled by one of our fantastic assistant trainers Joshua Hughes. Josh has travelled the country with Dane running and passing his own dog in the Grand and Master National. He has also ran client dogs in the past but this was his first weekend on the road by himself. Josh knew he had the potential for a monster test and he really came through; qualifying 5 dogs and titling 3 new Master Hunters!! GREAT work Joshua! Couple weekends off before we run HRC in Minnesota next!!

06/17/2024

Another HRC test is in the books!! Thank you Salt Valley HRC for their hospitality and hard work putting on a great test!! Thank you to all our judges and scouts for their hard work and time as well!!!

Picking up Finished passes this weekend were:

6xGRHRCH Al MH
GRHRCH Blue MH
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

HRCH Piper L
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Chad and Kim LaGrange

GRHRCH Crash MH
Owned by Steve and Sharon White

HRCH Lady
***NEW HRCH***
HR Daisy
Owned by Ryan Ortner and Family

Poppy MH
Owned by Mile and Cindy Classen

HR Piper
Owned by Libby Milroy

HRCH Ginger
***NEW HRCH***
Owned by Josh and Sara Bathke

HR Bizzy
Owned by Joe and Whitney Shadden

Faith
Owned by Darin Dunn

Rex MH
Owned by Thersa Bilava

Picking up Seasoned passes were:

HR Koa
***NEW HR***
Owned by Matt and Colby Larson

Picking up Started passes were:

Drake
Owned by Tanner Benash

Thank you to all of our owners, supporters and followers. Lots of youth running this year and we are proud of them all!!

06/10/2024

Another test weekend for the team. This weekend we headed to the Black Hills to run a double Master at Mount Rushmore Retriever Club. Thank you to the club for their hard work and thank you to Dale and Mary for the use of their beautiful grounds!! Thank you judges Dave Jansma, Linda Alexander, Larry Meagher and Jason Baker for the great tests.

Picking up passes:

6xGRHRCH Al MH
GRHRCH Blue MH
HRCH Fancy
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

5xGRHRCH Cash MNR
HRCH Bean MH
Owned by Cory Kiennow

6xGRHRCH Jack HOF MNR QAA
HRCH Flounder
Owned by Dane and Kara Johnson

Rex MH
Owned by Theresa Bilava

HRCH Zook MH
Owned by Josh Hughes

HRCH Rye MH
Owned by Matt and Steph Stricklin

HRCH Bug
Owned by Tim Fehringer

Poppy MH
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

Faith
Owned by Darin Dunn

These passes qualify Jack, Al, Rye, Blue and Cash for the 2024 Master National.

Next weekend we switch gears and run HRC at Salt Valley HRC!

06/04/2024

The team went different directions for different venues this past weekend.

Dane and Josh stayed close to home and ran Master at Central Nebraska Retriever club. Thank you Jason, Ty, Larry and Helen for their hard work putting the test on. Thank you judges Larry Kimble and Rex Gibson, we had fun running a great test.

Picking up Master passes were:

6xGRHRCH Al MH
GRHRCH Blue MH
HRCH Fancy
Owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

5xGRHRCH Cash MNR
HRCH Bean MH
Owned by Cory Kienow

6xGRHRCH Jack HOF MNR
HRCH Flounder
Owned by Dane and Kara Johnson

Rex MH
Owned by Theresa Bilava

HRCH Spoon MH
Onwed by Tim and Milinda Laeger

HRCH Zook MH
Owned by Josh Hughes

HRCH Bug MH
Owned by Tim Fehringer

Faith
Owned by Darin Dunn

Poppy MH
Owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

HRCH Rye MH
Owned by Matt and Stephanie Stricklin

Nate took a group of young HRC dogs to Oklahoma to run Green Country HRC. Thank you to the club for hosting us! Thank you judges Russ Harris, Riley Sandall, Jim and Karen Davis!!

Picking up Finished passes were:

HR Piper
Owned by Chad and Kim LaGrange

HR Piper
Owned by Libby Milroy

HR Lady
Owned by Ryan Ortner and Family

HR Ginger
Owned by Josh and Sara Bathke

Picking up Seasoned passes were:

NEW HR
Brix owned by Jason and Leann Larson

NEW HR
Cinch owned by Dane and Kara Johnson

NEW HR
Pepper owned by Jet and Sheryl Thompson

NEW HR
Anna owned by Cassidy and Chelsea Johnson

NEW HR
Branch owned by Eric Scott

SHR Koa
Owned by Matt and Colby Larson

Our next event will be a double master test in Custer, South Dakota!! Thank you everyone!!

05/25/2024

The Master dogs spent the past 2 days in Colorado with CO Foothills Retriever club. Thank you to the club, judges Dave and Bessie Jansma and the bird techs.

Picking up passes were:

6xGRHRCH AL MH
GRHRCH BLUE MH
HRCH FANCY
owned by Travis and Jolene Bock

5xGRHRCH CASH MNR
HRCH BEAN MH
owned by Cory Kienow

6xGRHRCH JACK HOF MNR QAA
HRCH FLOUNDER
owned by Dane and Kara Johnson

HRCH SPOON MH
owned by Tim and Milinda Laeger

REX MH
owned by Theresa Bilava

HRCH RYE MH
owned by Matt and Steph Stricklin

POPPY MH
owned by Mike and Cindy Classen

FAITH
owned by Darin Dunn

Next weekend the team will split forces and Nate will take a group of dogs to Miami Oklahoma to run Green Country Hunting Retriever Club, and Dane will run Central Nebraska Retriever Club with the Master dogs. Everyone have a great memorial day weekend and remember the reason we are all fortunate enough to celebrate! Thank you to everyone for their love and support! 

05/23/2024

We will finish the week(we have a Master test tomorrow) with a show case of our advanced dogs. These guys and gals vary from HR titled starting to run Finished/Master all the way up to Grand Champions! The dogs that most folks see at the events, the ones that have worked hard and their owners strive for the best possible opportunity for their dogs in the hunting off season!! These are the dogs we are most proud of, the ones that we feel pain in their retirement, and share the heartbreak in their eventual passing.

Cheers to all the owners of these fine animals. Thank you for sharing them with us!