ABOUT US
Your dogs are family. Let us treat them that way.
HURRICANE RIDGE RETRIEVERS
Hurricane Ridge Retrievers is nestled in the hills of the Ohio River valley 10 minutes east of Portsmouth, Ohio and 45 minutes southwest of Huntington, West Virginia.
The kennel is named after the first dog Ian trained, Cane. Cane’s registered Name is “Kelley’s Yellow Hurricane”. Cane is the reason the kennel exists so it only made sense for the kennel to be a tribute to such a great dog.
Hurricane Ridge was created out of a bond between “a boy and a dog” and that is our mission to be able to pass along that bond to you and your dog.
Our goal in training as a kennel is to stay small, the fewer dogs we have in training the more attention to detail we can give to each individual dog.
With Hurricane Ridge you will know who is training your dog. We do not have multiple trainers and you will have a constant direct line of contact with Ian to ensure you are informed of progress and any road blocks we may run into with training.
ABOUT IAN
Ian is the Owner and Operator of Hurricane Ridge Retrievers. Ian has been training retrievers for nearly a decade. The majority of that time was spent as an amateur training and handling his personal dogs or dogs of his close friends.
In Ian’s professional career, he has trained and handled dogs for two of the most successful kennels in the Hunt Test world. Ian has built, trained, and handled dogs successfully at every level of the Hunt Test game.
Ian’s love of retrievers was ignited by his uncle. On a hunt when Ian was around 10, he was inspired by watching his uncle and his two Labradors, Kenzie and Jack, pick up a limit of geese.
Ian wasn’t sure if it was the shooting, the decoys, or the birds that piqued his interest, but what was clear was that the communication between dog and handler was mesmerizing. It was on that hunt that he knew he wanted to have a dog that could work with him at that level.
About Personal Dogs
CANE
Cane was the scratch that fixed the itch for Ian’s obsession for dogs and waterfowl hunting. With the close guidance and advice from close friend and mentor Tierra Sloan, Ian and Cane became a solid team in the field and Hunt Test arena.
In spite of Ian’s lack of experience in the beginnings of Cane’s training, and a plethora of mistakes, he became a Master Hunter and veteran duck dog passing tests and picking up waterfowl in a dozen states.
At the end of the day, all roads to Hurricane Ridge Retrievers lead back to a big yellow dog named Cane.
ANNIE
“Alligator Annie” is Ian’s second personal dog that he purchased and trained for competitive retriever training. She is currently campaigning for the Master National and HRC International Grand.
Annie’s nickname stems from the intensity she brings to the table in retrieving and everyday life. She is not the type of dog that is ever going to turn down the opportunity to go to work. She is the same dog every day in and day out, and is the absolute definition of one track mind. Annie is an intense running dog and performs tasks at turbo speed.