Update

July 5 DD Kennels update

Hey there, DD Kennels family. One big happy hello from the Elser family. It has been a while since I last updated a blog post, and I apologize for that. Life out here on the top of the hill had been a blur over the last twelve months or so. To say that it has been low-key would be a lie, but as always, our family is living our adventure.

We have had some significant changes recently. Firstly, we have regained full ownership of our Outfitting business, and things are going extremely well. We have built the best guide crew in the country. We have added two of the most talented individuals I have met to the overall crew this year: Matt Wolff, whom I'm excited for you all to meet when he arrives, and Trey Oswald to the dog training and upland crew. Other exciting news is that we have added a new German Wirehair to the family, named Axel. He is showing some of the most natural talent I have seen in a pup in quite a while. He is going to be a monster in the field, and he is as sweet as can be in the house. This season, we will all be following him in the field, whether on social media or with a shotgun. He is going to be amazing to watch grow up, and we all are super excited. 
Over the last two training seasons (2024 and this 2025), we have taken a strategic step back in the volume of dogs we have been working with. This has been both a blessing and a curse. We have really dialed in on bringing dogs to the next highest level of training, and it has been a blast and a challenge. On the other hand, we are missing seeing more people and other dogs. To combat this, we have been volunteering a significant amount of time on the board of the new Yellowstone Gun Dog Club. The decision was made to merge the Yellowstone Pointing Dog Club and the Yellowstone NAVHDA clubs to reach and help more outdoorsmen and their dogs. This year has been a huge success! So far, we have successfully hosted one NASTRA trial, one NAVHDA rules and aims clinic, one porcupine and snake break clinic, and one NAVHDA test. We still have one more porcupine and snake break that will be hosted here at DD Kennels on Saturday, July 19, starting at 9:00 AM. Additionally, there will be another NAVHDA test on August 29. 
I hope all of you are enjoying your summer and loving being together with your dogs. Reach out and say hello anytime. As an admin note, we still have a few slots open this summer for refresher and pup development, as well as three September starts for the year.