Training
Retriever training classes
Eight Sunday sessions, starting indoors while there is still snow on the ground and finishing with a picnic test out at Chena Lakes.
What it costs
$130
Per dog. Covers all class sessions, club membership, and the entry fee for the picnic test and trial at the end.
Who can come
- Retrievers 3 months or older at the first class
- Current vaccinations required
- One dog per handler
- Class size is limited
From the classes
What a class looks like
From the club archive. Indoor work in March, outdoors as break-up allows.
How the classes run
One class each Sunday, starting at 2:00 pm. Classes are divided into two groups covering the same material. We instruct owners and handlers on the basics of starting and developing a dog for hunting and field work — basic obedience, teaching the retrieve, and preparing the dog for more advanced training.
The outdoor sessions include land and water work, if the water is warm enough, and the classes end with a picnic test and trial where you and your retriever get to experience hunt test and field trial set-ups for yourselves.
The schedule
Stay tuned for Spring 2027 training information, or reach out to a board member for more details on local training meetups.
Below is the typical schedule our spring classes run by.
- Week 1 — Introduction and class outline, equipment review and demonstrations, at Paradise Alaska Stables off Ballaine Road, Fairbanks. No dogs at this class.
- Weeks 2–5 — Indoor sessions. Retriever obedience, the basic retrieve and other concepts, at Paradise Alaska Stables. If the weather allows, we may move outside earlier.
- Weeks 6–8 — Outdoor sessions, usually in the vicinity of the Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project in North Pole. Unless you are told otherwise, meet at the second red gate to the project.
- Week 9 — Picnic test and trial, 9:00 am until we are done with all the dogs. Please bring a side dish for the tailgate afterwards.
Preference and eligibility
Preference is given to purebred dogs approved by the AKC to run licensed retriever hunt tests. If space allows, other gun and bird dog breeds are accepted.
All dogs six months of age or older from the following breeds are eligible to participate in AKC retriever hunting tests:
- American Water Spaniels
- Barbet
- Boykin Spaniels
- Chesapeake Bay Retrievers
- Curly-Coated Retrievers
- Drentsche Patrijshond (Drent)
- Flat-Coated Retrievers
- German Shorthaired Pointers
- German Wirehaired Pointers (also Drahthaar)
- Golden Retrievers
- Irish Water Spaniels
- Labrador Retrievers
- Miniature Poodles
- Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers
- Spinone Italiano
- Standard Poodles
- Vizsla
- Weimaraner
- Wirehaired Pointing Griffon
Directions to the Silt Blanket Parking Area
Gate 2 for entering the Flood Control Project.
- From North Pole, stay on the Richardson Highway, take the Dawson/Buzby Road exit at milepost 348. Follow the brown signs to the Chena Lakes State Recreation Area & you'll get to the Silt Blanket Parking Area & gate.
- Turn left at the stoplight, go under the overpass.
- Turn right onto Mistletoe Drive & it becomes Laurance Road.
- You'll come to US Army Corps of Engineers Chena River Lakes Flood Control Project sign on your right, go through S-curves, and the Moose Creek Dam will be on your right.
- Take the next right -- a hairpin turn, at the Silt Blanket Parking Area sign, drive over the Dam to the paved parking lot & yellow gate.
Download a PDF map of the grounds (PDF) for sessions held in the Chena River Lakes area.
How to register
If you would rather enroll and pay by mail, use the PDF form and send it in with your payment rather than registering online.