Dawson Lake Bretons’

Dawson Lake Bretons’ Dawson Lake Bretons is a small kennel in Le Roy, Illinois dedicated to breeding exceptional Epagneul Bretons. Drive. Intelligence. Instinct. That’s a Dawson Dog.

Dawson Lake Bretons Aspen “Mesa”Mesa had a strong showing at the Big Sky EB trial, and while she didn’t come home with a...
09/01/2026

Dawson Lake Bretons Aspen “Mesa”

Mesa had a strong showing at the Big Sky EB trial, and while she didn’t come home with a TAN or a GUN placement, there was still a lot to be proud of.

She ran in the GUN w/ TAN Equivalent in a wild trial on sharptails, which is difficult in its own right. In this style of run, she was being judged for a GUN placement while also having the opportunity to earn her TAN during the same run.

She showed the drive, intelligence, search, and overall natural ability the judges were looking for. One judge thought very highly of her and specifically complimented her drive and intelligence, even saying she was the kind of dog that could live at his house.

The one thing she was missing was a qualifying point.

On the first day, a sharptail got up right in her face in heavy wind before she could establish the point. On the second day, there simply weren’t birds available for her to make it happen.

Because she completed the rest of the evaluation successfully but circumstances prevented her from satisfying that required bird-pointing portion, she was awarded HNQ — High Natural Qualities.

To me, that’s an important distinction. It says the quality was there, the dog did her job, but the conditions and bird contact didn’t allow her to complete the one qualifying piece she needed.

Sometimes wild-bird trialing is just that—wild.

Mesa represented herself very well, and I’m proud to see another Dawson dog showing the qualities we breed for in a completely different part of the country.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/30/2026

Dawson Lake Bretons Ulysses “Tank” has always loved the water.

Retrieving in it, swimming through it, staying in it longer than he probably needs to 😂—if there’s water around, Tank is usually ready to get in.

That love for the water has been there from the beginning. During his NAVHDA Natural Ability Test, where he earned a Prize I with a 112, one of the judges even coined him “The Otter.”

It was fitting then, and it’s still fitting now.

Some things you train. Some things are just part of the dog.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/29/2026

Tank and I have officially moved outside to continue working on his presentation drill, and today’s session was really good overall.

There were still a few little things that bothered me—him not coming directly to my side every time, trying to sit down or lay down to turn off pressure, and a few other small things. None of it is major, and it will 100% get cleaned up. Those are just Tank’s little ways of trying me without being blatant about it 😂

I did throw in a few hand signals to help him mentally and avoid creating any unnecessary hiccups while we make this transition outside.

At a base level, though, he did what I asked of him.

You can hear plenty of distractions from the neighbors in the background, and his heel work to and from the training area was great. That’s another piece I’ve been putting time into because it will also carry over into the couler work we’re doing during our field training.

The little issues annoy me because I know exactly what he’s doing 😂, but like everything else we work through, he eventually realizes the expectation isn’t changing and gives me what I’m asking for.

Today I wasn’t interested in correcting him too harshly. Moving outside already added a lot more stimulus compared to working in the kennel building, and I don’t want to pile too much on him in one session and end up having to take a step backward.

Once we’re reliably getting clean reps outside, I’ll start tightening up those smaller details and asking for more as he proves he can handle it.

Good first step outside, and plenty to build on from here. 💪🏽

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/29/2026

5 SOLID REPS TO FINISH HER TRAINING SESSION TODAY! 💪🏽

Tea and I are continuing to build on her table work through the force fetch process.

Earlier this week I was simply placing the bumper a few feet away from her, but I wasn’t getting quite the motivation or attitude I was looking for. I thought about it for a bit and decided to try activating a little more drive.

Tea is a high-drive dog, so instead of just placing the bumper down, I started actively rolling it away from her—giving her something moving that she is now being trained and conditioned to go get. The idea was to encourage that response a little more instinctually while still reinforcing the command and expectations we’ve already established.

So far, it has worked extremely well.

I haven’t had to apply any pressure to the ear for the last two days. Now that she understands what I’m asking, we’re getting the work done with food, praise, repetition, and encouragement. She’s also slowly starting to look like she’s enjoying the process a little more.

We’ve been working through force fetch for roughly 5–6 weeks now, and this process can sometimes take 3–4 months. There’s no reason to rush it. Either way, we’re building a stronger bond, better communication, and a better connection through the process.

On the 4th rep, you’ll see the bumper roll mighty close to the camera 😂 and it slowed her down for a second. What could have turned into a small hiccup was worked through because of repetition, thoughtfulness, and encouragement.

Overall, I’m SUPER pleased with where she’s at! 😀 A few more days of building consistency here, and I may start introducing another bumper drill on the table.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/29/2026

Tilly is learning another important lesson today: how to relax on the chain gang.

Sometimes the lesson isn’t about birds, retrieving, or obedience. It’s simply learning that pulling, tugging, and fighting the stake isn’t going to get you anywhere.

Having young dogs staked out and giving them the opportunity to figure that out is an important part of teaching proper behavior. The goal is for them to learn how to settle, be patient, and remain composed even when they would rather be doing something else.

Right now Tilly still thinks a little persistence might change the situation 😂 Eventually she’ll realize the easiest thing to do is relax.

Small lessons like this carry over into everything else we ask of them later.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/27/2026

Tank has hit another big milestone in his retrieve work.

I now have him reliably circling me and “presenting” the bumper. On the last rep, you’ll see me snapping my fingers while holding them up to try and get his attention so he looks up and locks eyes with me. That cleaner eye contact will make the presentation look much better, and that will be the next small detail we work on.

Other than cleaning that up, it’s about time to take this show outside and start introducing distractions.

I’m sure we’ll run into a hiccup or two once the environment changes, but at this point I believe I’ve reliably rewritten the old habit we started with. Now it’s about proving that the new behavior holds up when there are more interesting things going on around him.

Once the bumper work in the yard is established and solidified, we’ll make the transition to gamebirds.

On a side note, I’ve also been working with Clint—not only for him to help teach Tank to couler, but to teach me how to properly train it as well. That’s a skill I haven’t had in my toolbox yet, so I’m learning right alongside Tank.

A lot of that work has been happening off camera, but we’re making steady, meaningful progress in the field.

One piece at a time.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/27/2026

Tea is now reliably going on the FETCH command, and at this point we’re intentionally slowing things down.

The goal right now isn’t to rush into the next step. It’s to make this part as close to bulletproof as possible before I start introducing bumper drills. I want the command, the response, and the expectation completely understood before adding anything new.

She still hasn’t made the transition into being genuinely excited about the process 😂 Tea is a stubborn dog, and sometimes she makes you earn every bit of progress.

But she’s doing what’s being asked of her, and with continued praise, treats, repetition, and successful sessions, I expect that attitude toward the work to keep improving too. Eventually the goal is for her to not only understand the job, but actually enjoy doing it.

For now, we keep building confidence and consistency one rep at a time.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

08/23/2026

This is what I breed for!

08/23/2026

Excuse the glare at the top of the video 😂 I had no idea it was that bad until afterward 🤷🏽‍♂️ Don’t let it make you miss out on what turned into a very productive session and video.

Tea and I had a big win in the force fetch process today.

We worked through a few little hiccups during our table session this morning, but by the end of it something finally clicked. These are three clean reps showing her starting to send effectively on command and do exactly what I’m asking of her.

For a naturally dominant dog like Tea, this is a huge win. We’ve been stuck on this particular hump for roughly a week, and finally getting past it means we can start having more meaningful sessions and eventually introduce the next steps.

For now, though, we’re staying right here. I’m not in a hurry to move forward until these sessions are solid. My standard for “perfect” is about 8/10 to 9/10 reps completed completely to my satisfaction. Once she’s consistently there, we’ll move on.

Progress doesn’t always happen fast, but when it finally clicks, it makes all those frustrating sessions worth it.

DRIVE. INTELLIGENCE. INSTINCT.
THATS A DAWSON DOG

dawsonlakebretons.com

08/20/2026

Tank is really starting to put it all together when it comes to presentation. 💪🏽

For the last few weeks, and through a couple hurdles along the way, I’ve been re-training him to circle behind me for presentation. By the back end of last week, he was finally starting to do it pretty reliably and giving me what I was asking for.

Once I felt like the new behavior was starting to stick, I introduced some fetching drills back into the mix to see how it would hold up. The first rep was a little frisky 😂, but he quickly pulled it together and gave me a few really nice reps.

I’ll keep working him like this inside the kennel building until I’m confident he’s doing exactly what I’m asking every time before we take it outside. New environments and distractions can always throw a wrench into things—even with an experienced dog—so there’s no reason to rush it.

What I’m most satisfied with is watching him battle old habits and replace them with new ones. That says a lot about his trainability and intelligence. It took a few weeks of repetition and consistency, but he’s figuring it out and showing he can make those adjustments.

Very satisfied with where Tank is at right now. 💪🏽🐾

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Le Roy, IL
61752

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Monday 7am - 7pm
Tuesday 7am - 7pm
Wednesday 7am - 7pm
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Friday 7am - 7pm
Saturday 6am - 6pm
Sunday 6am - 6pm

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