The Happy Retriever

  Hi there and thank you for your interest in our services.  My name is Dorothy Turcotte and I am the owner of The Happy Retriever.  With the help of my husband, Michael, we strive to better the lives of our four-legged friends.  We became interested in dog training, behavior and welfare 18 years ago when we purchased our dog Happy.  Having a high energy lab puppy and both of us working full time jobs, we had to find the perfect mix to keep her stimulated and us happy.  Bird hunting was the answer for her and us.  She did what she was breed instinctually to do and we enjoyed our favorite sport as a family.  Other hunters in the fields and at the local sports clubs could not believe what a field dog we had and asked us to help them train their hunting dogs.  Our part time passion began.  Over time my husband’s business was failing and our passion was growing, so we decided to close the business we had relied on for over 10 years and turn our passion into our career.  We could not be happier!!! 

To make sure that we are always improving ourselves and our training methods we attend every seminar and training course we can.  We also make it a point to take college courses on animal behavior and obedience when they become available to us.  There is no cookie cutter training method that works for every single dog so we must be prepared and knowledgeable about every method available.   

Knowing there are two sides to every story and the dog cannot tell theirs…. We donate our time to dogs in local rescues, shelters and animal control offices.  We look for the hard cases that would otherwise not be place able or are scheduled to be PTS.  After temperament testing, we set up a training plan and help the organization responsible for this being find a proper family.  To date we have helped train, place and save five amazing dogs!

1. Jasper Jones
2. Martin
3. Rondo AKA “MR Bruno”
4. Handsome Howard