“I want to provide my review and opinion of Copperwood Kennels as we have utilized their hunt training and boarding services.
In 2013, we purchased a pedigreed yellow labrador from another vendor with the intent for her to be a waterfowl retriever and family dog. We were recommended to Copperwood Kennels through mutual friends.
In meeting Matt Tuttle, the owner and dog trainer of Copperwood Kennels, we were immediately aware of his down to earth personality and dog friendly demeanor. We were impressed right away with the basic training skills we saw he had already implemented into his own dogs.
Matt took our lab, Auburn, at 6 months and trained her for the remainder of the year. It was very hard to give up our puppy to someone else for so long, but Matt and his wife were very understanding. We routinely received videos and pictures of Auburn as well as updates on her progress. My husband was even allowed during specific training exercises to participate and learn as well. When visiting Auburn at the kennels which is adjacent to their home, I especially liked seeing that Auburn was treated with the same love and attention as Matt’s own hunting and family dogs.
His patience and dedication in training Auburn is evident in her great hunt seasons. Watching Auburn retrieve is truly amazing as it shows amazing skill and disciplined training. She is now two years old and we continue to utilize Matt’s services for boarding whenever we are headed on vacation because it is evident she is excited to reach the Copperwood Kennels farm.
My husband also has Matt run her through hunt training sessions prior to waterfowl hunting season as sort of a refresher course and opportunity to get her back in shape.
I would highly recommend Copperwood Kennels to anyone interested in looking to get a well-trained hunting dog. The quality of service provided to your four-legged friend is top-notch and Matt is an amazing and attentive dog trainer.”

“Matt did a fantastic job training our black lab puppy. My wife and I dropped off our 6 month old pup with Matt early in the summer and picked him up a little more than three months later. Our dog was fully trained and ready to hit the field that day! Matt’s training is everything as advertised and more. I especially liked how Matt made himself (and our dog) available for visits and training sessions. Matt did a great job not only explaining all the commands being used and how he was training the dogs but also explaining some of the nuances of the training and teaching me not just what to look for in my dog but also what to expect from my dog.

Finally, we were worried that our puppy was going to come home a hunting machine (not that that would be the worst thing…) and lose some of his personality. Quite to the contrary, Matt takes time to learn each dog’s personality and adjust his training accordingly. He was able to talk to me about my dog’s personality (a little hard headed) and was able to tell me how that changed the way he worked with my dog and how that affects how I should work with my dog in the future.

All in all, I could not have been more pleased with Matt and all the work he did with my pup. Matt checked in with us regularly and was great about sending email updates complete with pictures. He also fielded numerous emails/calls from me explaining how training was progressing and how my dog was doing. I couldn’t recommend Copperwood Kennels enough.”

“Koda is doing great back at home! We are really happy with the level of training that he received in just 3 short months. You did a great job working Koda through force fetch and obedience training and also building on his drive to mark birds. The transition from training with you at Copperwood to coming back home and working was seamless, I can’t wait to get him in the blind and start hunting. I think he’ll out-shine dogs with more training from competing kennels! This is by far the best experience we’ve had with dog trainers/breeders and appreciate your open communication immensely. It’s great to be able to call or email you for an update or question and hear back immediately. I will recommend Copperwood Kennels to all of my friend and hunting partners and plan on sending Koda back again soon!”

“So I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I thought I had the most difficult puppy ever while trying to be a do it yourself dog trainer. She was stubborn, yet sensitive to the point where raising your voice or correcting her would pretty much end the training session. She seemed to enjoy fetching at least once or twice until she realized school was in session, then it was game on and she won every time. I was getting very frustrated, but thankfully had enough sense to not push too hard or risk ruining the dog.

It was at this point that I decided I needed a professional trainer. I started asking around looking for bird dog trainers and was pointed to Matt Tuttle at Copperwood kennels. After talking with Matt on the phone my wife and I decided we needed to meet Matt and see his training operation and how he handles his dogs. Matt is a great guy, very easy to talk with and it didn’t take long to realize he knows his craft very well, but the deciding factor for us was that he actually cares for the dogs. I’ve trained 3 labs myself, and have been around plenty of trainers at their facility or at hunt tests who don’t seem to care too much for the dog just what the dog can do for them. We were sold on Matt.

Matt took our pup and was able to bring out the best in her. Her enthusiasm and confidence grew each day through Matt’s training, and pretty soon he had her running hard and doing all I needed her to do for hunting ducks and geese. Matt is a very inclusive trainer and is always willing to have you as the owner, participate in the training session whether it’s to shoot birds, run your dog, help set up or just watch he’s willing to bring you along.

My pup is now almost 2 years old and can’t get enough water and land action she always runs hard and fetches whatever you shoot or throw. She handles very well, continues to learn and absorb everything I can teach her and I owe that all to Matt. Without his training skills, patience, and love for dogs I would have certainly ruined my water loving, bird fetching machine. Thank you Matt! ”

“Copperwood Kennels is a world class retriever training operation. From the time of inquiry, I was impressed with Matt’s conscientiousness. Matt did a fantastic job laying out the differences between each training option and was willing to work around my timeline to optimize my dog’s performance. Furthermore, Matt provided constant updates and tailored the program to meet my dogs strengths. Matt recognizes that each dog is different and is willing to adapt to get results. It is clearly discernible that he cares about the quality of his program, your dog is his number one priority. I would highly recommend this training program for anyone looking to get the most of out their dog.”

“If you’re looking to get your bird dog trained look no further. Matt is an excellent trainer and very honest and knowledgeable. I left my dog with Matt for quite a few months and Matt went above and beyond all expectations. Matt made sure my dog got the training he needed and was very accommodating. I would not hesitate to send another dog to Copperwood Kennels. Looking forward to my first hunting season with my boy Boone.”

“This Owner Matt is a professional in his craft. We have a real active Corgi. Not a bird dog per say. The owner has done a great job training her and we will continue to use him through the training phases. Our dog has improved her behaviors and listening. This is an on going process and on our shoulders to reinforce the simple commands. I’m very pleased with Matt and his honesty of the entire process. There is continued work to do with our dog and we will be reaching back out to Matt for further training for our Corgi.”

“All I can say is wow. I did a lot of research before picking Matt at Copperwood Kennels. Having experience with police K9’s, I knew right away that I wanted my hunting dog to be just as squared away. I remember dropping my dog off, who was a rough canvas (putting it nicely lol), and then picking her up a few months later as a squared away dog and much more. Matt’s ability to figure out each dog that comes to him and able to mold them into a versatile dog is amazing upon its self. My dog will be going back to Matt for some clean up work and I already got another pup for him to mold. I will continue to do business with Copperwood Kennels as long as they are in business.”

“We got reunited with our pup after her being gone for about 2 months and we must say that this was money well spent. Quincy is a totally different dog and has come home with a whole lot more confidence and her responsiveness to us is amazing. Matt communicated with us every step of the way and have already recommended Copperwood to a number of people.”