Brett Arnold
Brett Arnold has always had a connection with dogs. At the age of four he received his first dog, a collie he named Princess, for Christmas. To his parents’ surprise, Princess was sitting on command by dinner time. His passion for dogs continued throughout his childhood until he started professionally training in the early 80’s. He bought a German-bred German Shepard and took it to basic obedience where the trainer recognized his natural talent and hired him before the program was over.
Since beginning his professional dog training career, Brett has worked in a variety of settings, gaining experience and knowledge in a range of areas. He began by training personal protection dogs in Southern California. He ran hounds with Leo Fisher, a top hound’s man in California. At the age of 19 he bought his first Labrador and golden retriever, training the golden retriever to be a finished gun dog.
Along with bringing Brett vast dog-handling experience, the 80’s also brought him a growing family, a beautiful wife and three rowdy boys. From the time the boys were little, he began passing on his knowledge and passion for dogs and dog training. He moved this growing family to Colorado in 1990 and decided to start his own business, High Country Sporting Dogs, in the hopes of becoming a top gun-dog kennel.
Since Brett began High Country Sporting Dogs, he has played an intricate role in developing many dog and wing-shooting programs throughout the west, including at multiple Orvis-endorsed ranches. He has been pro-staff with top electric dog-training equipment manufacturers for the last 12 years, traveling throughout the western United States, to locations like Cabella’s and Bass Pro, leading educational training days. He has competed dogs in the AKC hunt test, UKC hunt test, and the APLA; he now averages 30,000 miles a year worth of travel just for dog competitions. He has also trained master level retrievers, the highest designation for competition retrievers.
These accomplishments don’t make Brett an exceptional trainer in and of themselves. These accomplishments simply reflect the love and dedication that Brett pours into his dogs, his business and his family every day.
Since beginning his professional dog training career, Brett has worked in a variety of settings, gaining experience and knowledge in a range of areas. He began by training personal protection dogs in Southern California. He ran hounds with Leo Fisher, a top hound’s man in California. At the age of 19 he bought his first Labrador and golden retriever, training the golden retriever to be a finished gun dog.
Along with bringing Brett vast dog-handling experience, the 80’s also brought him a growing family, a beautiful wife and three rowdy boys. From the time the boys were little, he began passing on his knowledge and passion for dogs and dog training. He moved this growing family to Colorado in 1990 and decided to start his own business, High Country Sporting Dogs, in the hopes of becoming a top gun-dog kennel.
Since Brett began High Country Sporting Dogs, he has played an intricate role in developing many dog and wing-shooting programs throughout the west, including at multiple Orvis-endorsed ranches. He has been pro-staff with top electric dog-training equipment manufacturers for the last 12 years, traveling throughout the western United States, to locations like Cabella’s and Bass Pro, leading educational training days. He has competed dogs in the AKC hunt test, UKC hunt test, and the APLA; he now averages 30,000 miles a year worth of travel just for dog competitions. He has also trained master level retrievers, the highest designation for competition retrievers.
These accomplishments don’t make Brett an exceptional trainer in and of themselves. These accomplishments simply reflect the love and dedication that Brett pours into his dogs, his business and his family every day.
Robbie Arnold
Robbie Arnold is Brett’s oldest son and an integral part of High Country Sporting Dogs. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in this family, especially when it comes to a natural talent for dog training: Robbie began his dog training career at the age of 8, entering a Rottweiler puppy in a local basic obedience competition. He began his professional career alongside his dad with High Country Sporting Dogs at the age of 17, working through a 3-year apprenticeship before becoming assistant trainer.
He has studied techniques and programs utilized by other professional trainers, helping his dad to develop and evolve the training techniques used. The two work together every day, challenging and complementing each other’s techniques, ready to take criticism and advice. It has been by using this system that they have developed a unique dog-training style that reflects their methods and beliefs.
Along with training dogs, Robbie also has extensive experience guiding upland bird hunts as well as water fowl, having guided for over 14 years—impressive considering he’s only in his early 30's!. He has guided at multiple Orvis-endorsed ranches. Along with his ability to guide, he is a National Sporting Clay Association level 1 shooting instructor and has logged over 300 instruction hours. He is certified to instruct novice to mid-level shooters on things like proper gun etiquette, safety, skills of sporting clays, and wing shooting. Robbie has instructed a wide variety of people, from your everyday hunter to top CEO’s from various Fortune-500 companies.
Robbie has also traveled outside Colorado and throughout the western United States as a guide and personal dog-handler. He has been involved in teaching youth-hunter education programs. He is also pro-staff with Pella Products.
He has studied techniques and programs utilized by other professional trainers, helping his dad to develop and evolve the training techniques used. The two work together every day, challenging and complementing each other’s techniques, ready to take criticism and advice. It has been by using this system that they have developed a unique dog-training style that reflects their methods and beliefs.
Along with training dogs, Robbie also has extensive experience guiding upland bird hunts as well as water fowl, having guided for over 14 years—impressive considering he’s only in his early 30's!. He has guided at multiple Orvis-endorsed ranches. Along with his ability to guide, he is a National Sporting Clay Association level 1 shooting instructor and has logged over 300 instruction hours. He is certified to instruct novice to mid-level shooters on things like proper gun etiquette, safety, skills of sporting clays, and wing shooting. Robbie has instructed a wide variety of people, from your everyday hunter to top CEO’s from various Fortune-500 companies.
Robbie has also traveled outside Colorado and throughout the western United States as a guide and personal dog-handler. He has been involved in teaching youth-hunter education programs. He is also pro-staff with Pella Products.
