About Us

Rangerwood Kennels is located just outside of New Holstein, Wisconsin. The kennel is situated on 14 acres and run by my wife, Stacey, and I, along with our 2 sons, Colten and Gage. We have been in business since 2005, but our love of dogs goes back to our childhoods; and In 1995, we began our search for our first hunting dog.

 

My passion for hunting encompasses almost every game bird species available in our state, so we needed a dog that could do it all from upland to waterfowl and no dog is more versatile than the Labrador Retriever. As things usually go Stacey fell in love with a Chocolate Lab pup from one litter and I with a yellow lab pup from another litter, so we compromised and got both, not knowing what we were in for. 

 

Ranger, the yellow, and Mack, the chocolate, were best buddies right from the start and proved to be pretty good hunters and companions, although at the time I knew little about hoe to properly train a hunting dog. Over the years I learned more about training and we talked of opening a boarding kennel at our home. Then in 2002, we lost Mack suddenly to cancer. Ranger was lost without him and in 2004 we got Ranger a new friend, a yellow male named Drake, who was sired by a Bird Dog Challenge World Champion. Drake was to be my new hunting partner, as Ranger was getting older and slowing down.

 

As I started to work with Drake, I noticed he had more drive than any dog I'd ever seen, not hyper, but a desire to hunt and retrieve like no other dog I had ever hunted with. The first time I took him to train on live birds, he was a natural and the breeder said he may be competition material. Drake went to his first Bird Dog Challenge in January of 2005 at eight months old and qualified for the PHU Nationals to be held in March. At the Nationals, Drake took third place in the puppy division (for dogs under 2 years of age) and we were hooked. I read as much as I could on training and Drake and I trained daily during the off season. We decided now was the time to start our kennel and we purchased two more labs—Jake, a year old yellow male, and Reba, a black female pup.

 

When the 2005/2006 Pheasant Hunters Unlimited season rolled around, we were almost unbeatable in the Puppy Division and Jake did well in open classes. At the 2006, Nationals Drake was the Puppy Division National Champion, Jake was the Singles Division National Champion, and Reba was named High Point Puppy of the Year. After that there was no turning back and now our dogs have won 3 world, 8 national and 14 Dog of the Year titles. Our dogs have also appeared on the Outdoor Channel's Bird Dog Challenge TV show.

 

We now have six Labrador Retrievers living at our home, and our kennel continues to grow and improve. We are committed to producing Labrador Retrievers that are healthy, intelligent, will excel in the field, and will be a pleasure to have in your home. We now have pups living in 8 states and Canada.