Drake: A True Gentleman’s Gundog™

By Regan Michelle White

At home either among the elite well-bred gundog lines, retrieving game without ruffling a single feather or scrounging in the Mississippi mud or finally collapsing on the couch – Drake is a Gentleman’s Gundog™ in the truest most versatile sense. At only four years old, Drake has a resume that a dog of any age would be envious of, including being the official mascot for Ducks Unlimited and a member of the first US winning team in the Irish International Gundog Challenge. However, Drake’s story actually begins well before his birth.

In regards to Drake’s story, trainer and owner of Wildrose Kennels, Mike Stewart laughs, “Well, how far back do you want to go?” Drake’s parentage?, the concept for Drake?, the founding of Wildrose Kennels?, or perhaps the genetics of British Labradors? Any of these would be an appropriate place to start, but we’ll begin with Wildrose Kennels, the oldest and most recognized retriever training facility in North America, specializing in British/Irish Labradors.  

Wildrose was founded in 1972, by the renowned Robert Milner as a breeding facility of English Labs. Presently, Wildrose Kennels is a full-time breeding and training facility located 12 miles east of Oxford, Mississippi, owned and operated by Mike Stewart. Mike’s purchase of Wildrose brought his extensive training background which was instrumental in developing Wildrose Kennels into what it is today: the forerunner in training selectively bred, imported British/Irish Labradors – genetic selections that produce puppies suitable in temperament, intelligence and natural hunting/retriever abilities for Wildrose’s training programs. Mike specializes in training dogs to all levels of finishing, as superior and versatile hunting dogs and companions. His finished dogs, each contracted to the ultimate owners exact specifications of breeding and training, can run anywhere from $6,500 to $10,000. Wildrose Kennels’ primary training facility is situated on the 141 acres of training grounds, including 7 water sources, a seasonal stream and a variety of fields, croplands and woodlands. It is here that Drake calls home.

Drake, the dog, first began as a need put forward by Ducks Unlimited-they desperately needed a mascot. The World of Ducks TV program had been receiving negative press from their viewers regarding the poor quality of the dogs featured on their program. They turned to Mike Stewart for help. He invited them to Wildrose and explained to them his training objective that “all of his dogs bring back ducks that would otherwise be lost.” His Labs gave Ducks Unlimited concrete demonstrations of his methodology in hunting, retrieving and gentle British training methods. They went wild; it was precisely what DU was looking for. Mike then signed a long term contract with Ducks Unlimited to develop and train Drake: a Labrador Retriever, bred and trained to be able to interact with anyone, spread the mission of water fowl conservation to hunters and hunting dog trainers and to give television audiences a step-by-step glimpse into his training and very upbringing.

When it came time to choose the dog that would be Drake there were several choices to choose from, including a litter that was in England. When asked about selecting the right dog, Mike says, “It’s like a roulette wheel. I liked their backgrounds and temperament. I knew that I needed a dog that would be really good with kids and performing. I knew that Drake needed to be a dog that was designed so a 6 year old could work him.” And the Drake that he chose (as well as his sister, Susie came from the litter in England), has turned out to be everything that he was looking for. About Drake, Mike says, “He doesn’t bark, he never bites at anything, in fact I’ve never even caught him trying to bite at something. He’s a lap dog. He’s perfect for any audience in any situation. We’ve taken him to St. Jude’s Hospital and let children run him. He never needs a crate, he’s perfect in hotels – anywhere we take him. He just wants to please and wants everyone to get along. He doesn’t like it when the other dogs get into trouble. He’s just a very quiet and peaceful ‘Kumbaya’ kind of show dog. Truthfully, we lucked out. I mean at 10 weeks old, how do you really know?”

Luck out they did. The World of Ducks show has exploded since Drake’s first appearance on the scene four years ago. It is Duck’s Unlimited’s longest running show and the first show in history to document step-by-step training of a dog. Through the course of the show, Mike has taken Drake from a 10-week-old puppy to a finished dog running in the Irish International. Mike emphasizes that, “Drake’s not just the Ducks Unlimited mascot; he’s taking messages to duck hunters that if you find yourself a nice dog, here are the step-by-step ways to train them right. We do shows and talks across the country to all kinds of audiences. Drake is the draw. His mission is to spread messages of sportsmanship, training, diminishing game habitats and the conservation of waterfowl. Drake’s objective is to retrieve ducks that would otherwise be lost.”

Having trained hunting dogs of every breed from his earliest childhood in Mississippi (his first ‘official’ start marked by when he, as a boy, started teaching people’s bird dogs to point for a fee of $5) people often remark to Mike how wonderful it must be for him to be training such a popular dog as the Labrador Retriever. Popularity in fact has nothing to do with it however, and Mike’s response is always emphatic: “I always reply that it’s just the beginning of the end for the breed. Look at the once-popular Irish Setter or even the Golden Retriever. In my mind, it is always detrimental when a breed becomes so popular.”

 In regards to Mike’s training of Labradors he says, “Everything, all of my training experience seemed to come together. From bird dogs to beagles, I have been able to use a hybrid of other methodologies to create the best of all worlds. The Lab really is just so versatile; it really is a multi-purpose dog. It is in fact the versatility of the Lab that has allowed me to develop the Gentleman’s Gundog™ approach. Gentlemen with shooting dogs want to be able to pick ducks in the morning, quails in the afternoon and have their dog sit down in their lap and be a couch potato at night. Our dogs are bred to be hunting dogs as well as companions. They have versatility in their hunting that gives the hunter the ability to focus on conservation through being able to hunt a wide variety of game. Our dogs hunt on duck, dove, quail and pheasants; and they are trained to recover game that would otherwise be lost. I could take Drake today to an extremely elegant and proper shoot and then tomorrow use him as a “wagon dog” (Wagon dogs typically ride on the mule-driven guest wagons used on quail hunting plantations.) and he’d be equally comfortable in either arena. There’s more you can do with a Lab.”

And Drake and Mike certainly do a lot. As if his calendar isn’t already brimming between television appearances and national spokesdog events, Drake competed as part of the first winning US Gundog Team in the Irish International Gundog Challenge in May of this past year. Drake and Mike were invited by Bill Beckett who was already well acquainted with Mike and Wildrose Kennels through their website and newsletter. (Interestingly, once over in Ireland and making introductions, many already knew of Mike & Wildrose through his website and had already been receiving his newsletter for years!) Mike is quick to point out what a huge undertaking it was to put together the US team: “It took 14 months to put it together and absolutely none of it would have been possible without our four sponsors: Eukanuba, Barbour, Mossy Oak & Ducks Unlimited.”

The US team competed in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. British Trials vary substantially from US trials, primarily in that they take place during a live, active, unstaged hunt. (See sidebar to right for greater detail.) Due to the nature of the British/Irish trials, Mike’s Labs such as Drake are naturally best suited for these trials because of their British genetics and British-rooted gentle training. They shine in these competitions that demand complete silence from the gundogs, concentration only on the retrieve at hand and not on surrounding live game and most of all, the British favoritism for just getting dogs out there in the field and leaving them alone to retrieve.

Drake excels at these trials. Mike says, “Drake is a superior hunter with a great nose. He finds birds that would otherwise be lost. He has a great nature, is very easy to handle, is super steady and won’t move or make a sound until he hears his name.” These skills helped win first place for the US team in the P&O Irish Sea International Gundog Challenge and in the Atlantic Cup International Team Competition – which on all accounts was no easy feat. Mike explains that, “A British Trial is a hunt. It’s all live birds with live shot. It’s amazing no one has been killed. And the adrenaline is crazy. Your dogs aren’t allowed to so much as make a sigh or they’re eliminated. Meanwhile, guns are going off, birds are flying and falling everywhere – flapping in your face, flapping in your dog’s face – it’s all distractions. In one drive I saw them take down 150-200 birds and our dogs had to remain completely still and silent. All you can think is, “If my dog even moves out of place I’ve just come a long way for nothing.” Mike notes that the main drawback to British Trials is their subjectivity, “It takes a lot of luck and some sort of difficulty to have a chance to score ahead. If you just happen to get straight forward retrieves all day long then you’re not going to make it.”

In the end, both Drake and Mike play many roles. Drake as gundog, hunter, mascot, spokesdog, conservation inspiration and companion and Mike as trainer, handler, World of Ducks script writer and scene planner, breeder, spokesman, writer, gundog supplier, webmaster, soon-to-be-moviemaker and friend. Mike is working on a movie that will humorously and informatively illustrate the differences between British and US Trials. They also have a new show coming out in 2005 called “Sportsdog Classics” that will further reiterate messages of conservation and a return to the natural in hunting. The aim of the show will be to reinforce that it’s not how many ducks you kill but the quality of the hunt. It will remind hunters about the loss of coastlines and habitats to encroachment and pollution. It will also encourage Mike’s personal mission of using more natural training methods: no electronic ducks, electric collars or force fetch and a usage of all natural materials even in hunting clothing. The idea, which is Mike and Drake’s continued mission, is to reorient the focus onto the quality of the shot and the dog work. As Mike puts it, “For me, it’s all about the retrieve and bringing great quality to the hunt. If I can have 3 or 4 amazing retrieves in a day, then that’s a great day.”

Drake and Mike have many more great days ahead of them. To read more on this dynamic duo and all that’s going on at Wildrose Kennels (the Annual Wildrose British Retriever Championship -the only one of its kind in North America, workshops, gundog supply, breeding schedules, articles, newsletters and everything else that Mike has his hand in) www.uklabs.com. For more information about Ducks Unlimited-www.ducks.org