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UPLAND KENNEL |
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11463 Hwy 16 |
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Savage, MT 59262 |
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(406) 798-3457 |
Click on pictures for larger view
Links
National Shoot to Retrieve Association
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ABOUT UPLAND KENNEL |
UPLAND KENNEL
Thanks for taking some of your time to find out who we are and what we are about. Below you will be given a few facts about our kennel operation which has been operating since 1986. We take great pride in all aspects of our business.
Enjoy browsing!
A BRIEF HISTORY
Pictured above are Christopher and Joy Eckhoff, owners and operators of Upland Kennel. We each became involved with pointing dogs in 1978. Again we both became active in the training and field trialing of German Shorthaired Pointers at the same time when we moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1980. From 1980 to 1985 I became more and more involved with the dogs while Joy's time became taken up with her studies in genetics at the University of Arizona. In 1985 we moved to our present location in far eastern Montana. Joy was given a job as a research scientist for Montana State University and I opened the kennels. So the story of Upland Kennel began.
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A SPECIALIZED KENNEL
I realized rather quickly our community was in desperate need of a boarding kennel. That would give me a start. The big decision came in figuring out exactly what sort of dog training operation I would offer. The banks tried to convince me to groom dogs and cats, do obedience training and if I had the time, train retrievers since they outnumbered pointing dogs in the area 10 to 1. Well, I wanted to train pointing dogs and only pointing dogs. I always felt, and still do, that to do it right a person had to choose one or the other type of bird dog. So, since 1985 all I have added to our boarding/pointing dog training operation is I write about the bird dog world.
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GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS First the good news. No single photo could possibly do justice to the best training grounds in this country, the grounds used by Upland Kennel. All photos on this website were taken on my training grounds. Training on over 12,000 acres of prairie land gives me the opportunity to expose each and every dog to the exact requirements they need. Hunting Chukar in steep rock outcrops?, we got it. Do you pheasant hunt in cattail creek bottoms, we got it? How about CRP?, we got it. Looking for Hun's in small grain stubble fields?, we got it. Even wooded draws where Ruff's habitate, we got it. Except for desert quail there isn't a type of upland bird habitat we can't address. The bad news is relative to the clients point of view. Located along the Montana/North Dakota border, we are a long way from any metropolitan area. While commuter flights can be taken almost to our door, the nearest large airports are Minot ND and Billings, MT. We can arrange for dog pickups at these locations for a fee. Visitors are always welcome.
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WHO ARE OUR CLIENTS?
Well over 90% of our clients are serious bird hunters. We do run dogs in the National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA) as well as AKC Hunt Test program, but overwhelmingly we work with all point breeds used primarily for upland game hunting. Located in an area with abundant Ringneck pheasant, Sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge, clients dogs are worked on both pen raised quail AND wild birds.