With nearly 50 years of experience and more than 100 field trial champions trained, Pat Burns has learned that the best results never come from just commanding your retriever. They come from understanding the dog in front of you.

​

It's a philosophy he's earned the hard way. Pat started training in his teens and turned professional in his early twenties, and he's trained through every era of this sport since. His first mentor was Rex Carr, widely considered the father of modern retriever training, who taught Pat to read a dog and taught him that the bond between dog and handler is the foundation everything else is built on. Later he refined his approach under Mike Lardy, the most decorated field trial trainer in the sport, who brought balance and structure to what Rex had opened up. What Pat built from those two influences became his own: a method grounded in observation, patience, and respect for the dog in front of him.

​

Over those decades he's watched the modern retriever evolve into a thoughtful, more sensitive athlete. The dogs have changed, and the best training has changed with them. What works today isn't based on punishment. It's trust, built patiently from both sides of the partnership.

That's the heart of how Pat teaches. He helps handlers read what their dog is telling them, correct with clear instruction instead of frustration, and build the kind of confidence that holds when it matters most. Alongside Pat, his wife Robin keeps the whole operation running and looks after the handlers who come through it, sharing the same commitment to doing this well. Whether you're chasing a national title, your first hunt test ribbon, or simply a dog you can rely on in the field, the goal is the same: a sturdy partnership rooted in trust, respect, and understanding.

​

Because nothing you train for matters more than a dog that chooses you every time.