As with many aspects of our lives not everything is black and white. The day to day can sometimes be complicated, unfocused and spread across a million tasks and thoughts. At Cascade Retrievers, balance, focus and perspective are maintained in this busy world by focusing on our two passions in life.
From a lifetime of loving dogs...
combined with a passion for duck hunting, an addiction to dog training was born.
Colin was mentored and trained by Andy Fontenot of Waterdog Kennels over the course of 4 years. In the first few years, he was trained to train his own retriever. In 2018, he was given the opportunity to apprentice under Andy for the course of that summer, honing his training skills and developing the knowledge needed to properly operate a dog training facility and business as a professional.
"From the first day I met Andy it was, "fish or cut bait". Any day could have been the last. He built my foundation and trusted me to be a part of his retriever family and to learn from his many years of experience. I owe my successful start to Andy Fontenot and his wife Beth!"
Colin and Christine Ching were married in 2014. Christine is a full time mother and 3rd grade elementary teacher.
"I continually find myself admiring her patience and kindness in teaching our daughter and her students and I in turn make an attempt to transfer that to my own dogs and handlers."
Together they have a sweet, self proclaimed princess, Jordan, and 4 dogs: Cade, Friday (terrier), Trouble and Danger. The family moved to Monroe, WA in July of 2018, specifically to have access to great nearby training grounds, and they are all enjoying their new home.
~Family & Retrievers~
We all struggle to maintain a balance between our passion and responsibilities. At Cascade Retrievers we seek to train balanced retrievers. We look for a combination of stylish drive offset by a desire to please. If one leg of a table is short we make it longer so that we have a strong foundation to build on. Every tool we use to build our foundation has its own use and like any tool, can be misused if not properly applied. Use a small hammer on a big job and you turn a quick easy job into a long and tedious one. Use a big hammer on a delicate job and you have to be incredibly careful. Picking the right trainer to use the tools that are available to modern retriever trainers is just as important as how they are used.
Like people, our retrievers are unique and varied. The road to a trained retriever is not traveled in a straight line. There are twists and turns which require attention to the needs of each individual dog. With that in mind, our training program focuses on whatever specialized approach or unique care is needed for each dog as it applies to how we teach, train and test the dogs at every stage of progression.
"It is our sincerest hope that you will join our family of retriever enthusiasts!"
www.CascadeRetrievers.com
www.instagram.com/cascade_retrievers
