August 10, 2010

To Whom It May Concern

I would like to take a minute to thank Jim and his wife for the hard work and personal touch they took with my dog. When I was considering a trainer, I looked all across the country before finding Jim. I was asked to come by and see the accommodations and hear his philosophy of training.

I was surprised he invited my new puppy and myself into his house. As we were talking my new puppy roamed the house and even got up on the couch. He said “don't worry about it, our dogs are our family.” This was the first clue that this was the right trainer. Many trainers and owners look at their dogs as “tools” that come out only for bird season. Jim and his wife treated my dog as if he was their own!

I then looked at the facilities and it was a dog hotel. In the winter, they are brought in and put in insulated crates and in the summer they have free roam of a large gated property and even have a dogs only kids pool. They were fed Eukanuba and had a medical plan in place for emergencies.

Next, I can't say enough about Jim's natural ability with the dogs. He has an uncanny ability to read a dog and cater to what works best for each dog. I have a schedule that allowed me a lot of time to go train with Bones. Jim encourages the owners to take part with your dog. He was patient with me and made sure I understood each part of the training. If you’re looking for experience you can't find better. He has trained for 30 plus years, has judged trials and competed. Jim uses real hunting grounds and scenarios. I would put my dog against any other trainer’s dog.

Lastly, my wife and I lost 2 pregnancies and our dogs are like our family. We had a hard time parting with him for the 4 months. He was very flexible with Bones coming home. This meant a lot to us considering it was more difficult for him. We were lucky to find Jim and his wife. We are grateful to call Jim our dog’s trainer and our friend.

Sincerely,

Jay Nickell
530-510-5796

Jim Rice's dedication to the advancement of professional and competitive dog training has truly made our Spinone Italiano an avid hunter. He truly understood our dog's developmental and behavioral characteristics and gave my husband and me insights into working with this special breed.

Thanks to Jim's technique of "Train the Trainer.” Our dog reached higher goals the we could have ever expected. With Jim's help our dog completed her, Junior and Senior hunt tests titles without flaw, before the age of 18 months.

By 22 months she has completed her AKC Master Hunt title. Besides being incredibly knowledgeable and professional. Jim was a pleasure to work with, consistently took time to explain, the right way to accomplish each goal set.

We would strongly recommend his services to anyone interested in have a well-trained hunting companion.

Ellen and Doug Kincaid

February 19, 2008

Dear Jim,

Thank you so much for working with me and my Pointers, Arnold and Peyton, in preparing for AKC hunting test.

Arnold, Ch Cumbrian Governor, completed his AKC Master Hunter title on February 16, 2008. Peyton, Ch Cumbrian Phantasm, completed her AKC Senior Hunter title on the same day. I could not have qualified with the dogs so quickly and consistently without your kind advice and guidance.

Arnold passed six of the eight master hunter tests that he attempted. Peyton passed four of the six senior hunter tests that she attempted. I attribute that success rate to your training methods in preparing the dogs for the tests, and your help in teaching me effective test handling techniques.

Both of the dogs will begin competitive obedience training later this spring. I plan to hunt them next season. I hope you will allow us to come out occasionally to train in the field with you to keep their hunting skills sharp.

Again, thank you so much for accepting my dogs and me into your training program and for helping us so much to achieve their senior and master hunter titles.

Sincerely,
Nancy D. Rapoport

For months we trained our little rocket dog "Rusty" to hold steady to wing and shot but he was struggling with his retrieves.

Sometimes they were outstanding retrieves direct to "hand" and other times Rusty would pick up the bird and bring it half way back or all the way back and drop it a foot or so away. After evaluating our dog and what we were expecting of our Brittney, Jim recommended we force break the dog to retrieve.

What a difference... Rusty came back to us a changed dog. His retrieves are outstanding and to hand. Direct to the bird and direct back to us... no hesitation. Jim used his many years of experience, firmness and compassion in converting Rusty to a retrieving machine.

Thanks Jim for preparing out dog for his Masters title!

Ed and Linda Wagher
Lancaster, CA