We developed Surefire Kennels because of a passion fueled by hunting over exceptional bird dogs

Many years ago, Jake got his first opportunity to hunt pheasants in Nebraska over a German Shorthaired Pointer. Upon returning from that trip his first words spoken were, “I want one of those dogs!” We set out on a search for our first German Shorthaired Pointer. Ruger was a fantastic introduction to the breed. He was a bird finding machine with legs that carried him speedily through the fields. Jake and Ruger enjoyed many successful hunts in the field and we have Ruger to thank for our high expectations in regards to good dog work.

As we desired to grow as dog handlers, we sought encouragement and support from our local NAVHDA chapter and that opened our eyes to the journey we are on today. For many years, Sara showed and trained Quarter Horses and decided it was time for her own dog to join Jake in the fields. Shortly after we chose to add Elsa to the kennel, it was time to retire Ruger from the hunting fields. With a void in our hunting ranks, we set out to find a young male dog (Cruz) to be the cornerstone of our kennel.

Our passion for hunting behind elite hunting dogs has moved to the next generation. Both Makenzie and Kaytlyn, have trained and tested dogs at the NAVHDA Natural Ability and Utility level. Makenzie ran her first NAVHDA Invitational in 2024 and Kaytlyn has a dog qualified to run in 2025. That passion has bled into their hobbies of art and photography as well. We are so blessed that training, testing, showing and hunting behind exceptional dogs has become a family passion we can enjoy together.

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Frontrunners Loaded Ruger

We owe our start to a very special dog, Frontrunners Loaded Ruger. Ruger taught us about a hunting dog’s intelligence and love of utilizing their natural ability to its fullest. When it was time to retire Ruger from the hunting fields, he took on the status of the “girls’ dog.” Ruger excelled beyond our wildest dreams and developed a passion in two young girls. Because of Ruger, we are eternally grateful for Surefire Kennels truly being a family venture.

We jumped in with all feet soaking up the knowledge of many great dog trainers to develop our skills and understanding of creating versatile hunting dogs. Not only are we devoted to extensively growing our knowledge base, we are heavily involved in Rocky Mountain NAVHDA where Jake served as the Chapter President for several years before taking on the role of Director of Testing. Sara has been the chapter Treasurer, Testing Director, Training Director and now as the Promotions Director. Currently, she is the NAVHDA International Youth Committee Rocky Mountain Regional Representative. Both Jake and Sara are NAVHDA Judges and enjoy traveling the country watching and evaluating great dogs working with their handlers. If we weren’t dedicated to creating versatile hunting dogs enough, we started Black Hollow Gamebirds that supplies our dogs, client dogs and the RMC NAVHDA Chapter with all of our gamebirds for training and testing.

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Meet Our Assistants

Our ultimate gauge in how a dog is progressing with their foundational training is by utilizing our assistants. Not only do Makenzie and Kaytlyn enjoy providing love, treats, distractions and attention to any dog in training at the kennel, but they also play an integral part in our program. Both girls have successfully shown dogs within the NAVHDA, AKC and 4-H systems and continually show composure, competency and professionalism every time they are under judgement. We know we have reached our goals in developing a dog’s understanding of a task when our assistants can successfully and effectively command a dog on the skills they have learned.

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Makenzie Utility Test with Faith taken by Dana Crego

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Along with their eye and patience for dog training, their passion for ‘all things dog’ has taken them down other avenues of expressing their artistic sides. We love watching them pursue their dreams!

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Kaytlyn captures our hunting and training adventures with her incredible photographs. She has been a NAVHDA Invitational Photographer for the past 2 years and it has been an incredible opportunity to have her photos displayed in the NAVHDA magazine for over 10,000 members to view!

Makenzie is a fantastic artist with a passion for animal portraits pastel pencils. She has created pieces for several National competitions and received exceptional accolades for her talent. She has started to broaden her work into commission art pieces specifically of hunting dogs.

August 2019 NAVHDA

Versatile Hunting Dog Journal Article submitted by Makenzie

Makenzie was awarded a Kristin Rieser Youth Handlers Scholarship and was asked to write an article for the Youth Edition of the NAVHDA VHD Magazine. We are so proud of her enthusiasm for training and hunting and there are exciting adventures on the horizon for this young handler!