Wildrose Kennels - Midwest

02/12/2025

Which side of the kennels eats first? It’s all about steadiness and patience. Today it was “Team South” led by Thorn, Crockett, Duke, Oakley and Midge. Wildrose group work comes in all varieties!

01/07/2025

Happy New Year!

Wildrose Midwest escaped the cold weather this weekend to hunt ducks in South Texas. Although an abundance of water across the Laguna Madre dispersed the ducks, our guides successfully located them, and the Yeti is now full on the return trip.

It was enjoyable to have two new "rookie" dogs, WR Duke and WR Jackson, with us this year to learn the ropes. These two did great from a game recovery standpoint. It was fun to watch their learning each day. There is no substitute for the real thing.

Day 1, we quickly reached our limit on pintails and watched as hundreds more poured into the decoys throughout the morning. Among flocks of pintails, it was fun and challenging to identify the occasional bluebill, wigeon and shoveler who dropped in the decoys.

Day 2 the redheads were abundant, and after quickly reaching our limit, we were treated to hundreds more dropping into the decoys. With strong 20 mph winds, they literally hovered motionless over the decoy spread.

Following our morning shoot and obligatory nap, we engaged in an afternoon of fishing, and the speckled trout did not disappoint.

On Day 3, 35 mph winds resulted in a nice variety of ducks, and with 20 minutes left before we had to leave, we were graced with the arrival of three model ducks - all mounters. We successfully dropped all three of them.

Now back to below zero temperatures, training dogs, and a notebook of drills to work on before next year.

Training list:
1. Remote send with other hunters in the line of site between my dog and I.
2. Stop on the whistle at extended distances in the water.

It won’t be long before we are training with live ducks and open water. We invite you to come and train with us as we work on these advanced skills.

12/05/2024

Oh, the weather outside is frightful …..
But inside, the Christmas-themed kennel decorations are delightful. Stay tuned to see who has been naughty and who has been nice!

12/04/2024

As Wildrose Midwest braces ourselves for cold weather, we are also blessed with clear skies and winter sunsets. Although we need to change our outdoor gear, our training routines carry on!

10/20/2024

Great day at Starting Your Dog The Wildorse Way. Minnesota, Illinois and the north woods of Wisconsin were well represented, as well as two local clients. Handlers learned a lot about the importance of being a Pack Leader, how to read your dog, and the basics of retrieving. By the end of the afternoon the dogs were exhausted - more mentally than physically - proving you don’t have to throw endless retrieves to have a dog burn energy. Fun being together with all of you and seeing your progress.

10/18/2024

The Cato boards and handler pegs are all set up for tomorrow’s Starting Your Dog The Wildrose Way workshop. We have a full house joining Wildrose Teagen tomorrow.

Great weather. Great Dogs. Great fun.

10/12/2024

Honored to be part of the Pack that was selected by Garden & Gun as one of the top breeders in the south.

https://t.e2ma.net/click/y95y8gb/azh6tqb/ee8vo1m

They nurture the bond between outdoorsmen and their four-legged partners

10/12/2024

The Northern Lights shone down brightly on Wildrose Kennels Thursday night. Photos compliments of one of our team members.

10/11/2024

When the Earth Roamer pulls in, you better bring your A-game. Many thanks to Mike and Cathy Stewart for spending a week with the Wildrose Midwest team and helping us fine-tune our training skills.

Training the Wildrose Way is a time-proven and very disciplined method of progressive training. Each time I go through this, I learn something new. My team was very appreciative for learning from the man who wrote the book - literally!

09/30/2024

It is with a huge hole in my heart that I share this post. This weekend, I made the decision to put down my personal dog WR Beau. His struggles with laryngeal paralysis were just too much and now he is no longer suffering.

To those who know me, Beau was my go everywhere companion. He and I traveled over 100,000 miles together. Wherever I went, Beau went. Beau was welcomed by all given his calm demeanor and being a true Gentleman's Gun Dog.

For those who have hunted with me, you were able to see first hand Beau's mastery for remote handling and game recovery. I never kept track of how many birds we shot, but I sure kept track of his memorable retrieves and fortunately I have a lot of them to provide some comfort in times of sorrow.

This weekend, we ran our Duck Camp Workshop down at Max McGraw. Beau was already struggling with his breathing and the vet said to keep him very calm and sedate. I couldn't leave him in the truck by himself so he spent the day peacefully walking the course with me. Although he did not do any retrieves his tail was wagging with approval of the drills we set up. The next day at lunch, our photographer, Jake Birrenkot, was taking portraits of all of the handler’s dogs. When he was done he encouraged me to bring Beau over for a picture. While I have tons of pictures of Beau, this one will always be very special for me.

Beau was more than just a personal dog, he was the beginning of Wildrose Midwest. He entertained clients and was an incredible demo dog to show what a true Gentleman’s Gun Dog is. He will be missed up at the kennel and by his home companion, Wildrose Duke.

In these very difficult days, I ask, is the pain of losing a dog really worth it? I know my answer tomorrow will be yes. I hope tomorrow comes soon.

Many have seen the story of the Rainbow Bridge. I took this picture at our kennel of the largest, most complete rainbow I have ever seen. I guess that was a sign of things to come.

09/21/2024

The Wildrose Cup is over and it’s time to switch gears by supporting Howard’s Grove High School cross country team and their homecoming float. Being 1/4 mile away from the high school with a 12 foot door made for a perfect partnership.

Duke and Beau think it looks great and wish you a happy and safe homecoming weekend.

09/21/2024

Our sweet River is heading home to Mississippi for the hunting season. On her way out to the tarmac, she looked at her owner and asked; “why did Al always drive down to Mississippi when this is so much faster “? Wildrose River traveling in style!

09/18/2024

What a fantastic weekend for the attendees of the 2024 Wildrose Cup. The only thing hotter than the weather was the dog competition! Our handlers and dogs competed hard, but in Wildrose fashion were rooting for each other’s success the whole weekend. This one-of-a-kind British field Trial challenged the dogs on land, on water, in deep cattail swamps and flooded timber. Our Wildrose Cup also involves a shooting completion for the Top Gun Award and relaxing evenings with live entertainment.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:
Top Gun - Mike Connor
Gunner’s Choice - Mike Connor and Raven
Wildrose Cup - Bruce Broquet and Prince

We Hope to see you all back in 2025 and some new faces as well.

Watch the upcoming calendar for the specific dates in Mid September.

09/18/2024

Kylar Kuzio treated this year's Wildrose Cup attendees to a great live concert on Saturday night. Great original music and engaging with the group. Can't wait to have her come back again next year. In the meantime, check out her work at kylarkuzio.com.

09/14/2024

The calm before the “storm”. Welcome to the Wildrose Cup!

09/12/2024

At Wildrose Kennels, we try and treat our guests to the finest training environment. This year, our two major training projects were an agility set up in the training yard and a bridge allowing trainers to stay dry while circling the training pond. Both will get a good workout during this weekend’s Wildrose Cup.

09/11/2024

Putting the finishing touches on this year’s Wildrose Cup. Participants are driving and flying in from all over the country. The welcoming committee also arrived today! The Wildrose Cup is a live bird, British style trial with both upland and waterfowl challenges.

Stay tuned for lots of great pictures from the Cup. While everyone brings their “A game” the camaraderie and sportsmanship between participants is even more impressive.

09/11/2024

In New Jersey, there stands a statue commemorating the hard work and loyalty shown by the canines that supported first responders in finding victims of the September 11 attack.

Service animals come in all forms and serve a variety of duties. All which we admire and respect.

Never forget.