09/30/2026
This is a post we have long since dreaded making. Today we said goodbye to the dog that started it all for us.
We had a day full of ice cream, cheeseburgers, steak, and chocolate. Spent the afternoon at the park watching the ducks, getting some snuggles, and saying our goodbyes.
Reaper is the reason we fell in love with retriever training, and the reason we do this for a living. Reaper and Parker travelled thousands of miles together across the United States and Canada. By the end of his career Reaper had retrieved over 20,000 birds before we finally just stopped keeping track. Through freezing water, tall grass, flooded timber, grain fields, the ocean, and mud; Reaper did it all with a tail wagging the entire way and always looking to the horizon for his next mark.
Reaper is the reason we got together, the reason we started our business, and the dog that gave us both the drive to compete and train other retrievers. Reaper was the first dog Parker ever titled, and the reason he went into a career of training retrievers. He retrieved Ashlee’s first duck, was the first dog she learned the basics of retrieving, and the first dog we have ever retired.
He truly was the dog that started it all for us. He was with us on our first date, when we got engaged, when we got married, the first dog in when we bought our house, and the first to meet our son when we brought home our first baby.
Truthfully it’s hard to find the words to describe how deeply the loss of our best friend truly goes.
Thank you for every mile, every hunt, every retrieve, every snuggle, and every moment that we had.
We’ll see you at the gate with a sh***un, ready for the next hunt. Rest easy to the best boy, you have earned it.
We love you and will miss you dearly Reap.