Slate Rock Kennel

OUR KENNEL is a modern, state of the art facility which is heated and air conditioned and constructed completely of cinder block and chain link fencing. Security dividers are installed between each run assuring that there will be no accidents and providing each dog with a quiet restful area.

Our Grounds
Slate Rock Kennel is located 30 miles south of Dallas in the gently rolling hills of Ellis County. Situated on 140 acres of land that has been developed exclusively for retriever training. Two large training ponds as well as a swim by pond are encompassed on our grounds. We also have access to over 2000 additional acres which we have leased to provide your dogs with a multitude of training scenarios.

The Trainer
Slate Rock Kennel is owned and operated by Andy Ferg, a professional dog trainer since 1988. Andy grew up hunting with gun dogs, turning his hobby into his profession. He trained under various professionals in the south and west until opening Slate Rock Kennel in 1995. Andy's exposure to various training methods has enabled him to develop a style of training that suits the retriever, not the trainer. Andy is also an accomplished field trial and hunt test handler.

Our Program
Our training methods have been developed over many years and are considered the standard by most professionals. No fancy methods here, just hard work.

We believe that a kind and gentle approach with lots of positive reinforcement is preferable to the heavy handed method employed by some trainers. We do collar condition our dogs and use the collar for enforcing commands after they are thoroughly learned.

Andy says "that the longer he trains dogs the less he uses the collar".

We also think that dog training is fun and try to make it fun for your dog. One of our clients named the kennel Camp Andy (and even had a sign made) because his dog had such a great time here. See link to Page Camp Andy.