THE STORY OF REDI RIDGE RETRIEVERS

A family of four with two dogs standing in a wooded park, two adults with a woman holding a baby and a man holding a young girl, all smiling at the camera.

Redi Ridge Retrievers didn't begin as a breeding program. It began years earlier with a boy, a Labrador, and a love for working dogs.

John began to raise and train Labradors when he was 16 in Southern Illinois. His first hunting dog, Izzy, introduced him to the Hunting Retriever Club world. Izzy earned a Started Hunting Retriever title. When John joined the Army in 2012, deployments and military life eventually pulled him away from competing, but never from working his dogs. Instead of hunt tests, the proving ground became the places they hunted together across the country.

John met Amanda while they were both stationed in Texas. She heard plenty of stories about Izzy before John was finally able to bring her down from his hometown. Amanda, a lifelong animal lover, quickly fell in love with her too.

Years later, while stationed in Maryland, John took then 10-year-old Izzy hunting on the Eastern Shore. During that hunt, it became clear that age was finally catching up with her. John came home and told Amanda it was time to officially retire Izzy and he began looking for the dog that would take her place in the blind.

Those were big shoes to fill.

John's Grandpa Danny called Izzy a “true meat dog.” She understood what was being asked of her. Take her into the woods in August and she'd tree squirrels, track deer in the fall, and would run with the hounds chasing raccoons during the night. But when the bitter cold of January arrived, there was nothing she loved more than chasing honkers.

John wanted that kind of versatility again.

He set strict criteria for the next puppy: proven bloodlines, a breeder producing accomplished dogs, and, most importantly, a breeder who hunted with the dogs they were producing.

That search led to Barren Creek Landing Labradors in Maryland. After meeting breeder Dave and spending time with him at a local AKC event, John knew he found the right breeder for his next Labrador.

THEN CAME REDI

Redi came home with John and Amanda at eight weeks old, and from then on, she went just about everywhere with John. Her formal training began that fall, and fittingly, her first true hunting retrieve was a drake mallard during a trip to John’s hometown, just like Izzy before her.

As Army life moved John and Amanda around the country, it created hunting opportunities for Redi that would be difficult to replicate any other way. In southern Arizona, mornings could begin on a cattle pond retrieving teal, wigeon, shovelers, and Mexican ducks. Back at the truck, the shotgun and gear would be changed before heading out after scaled and Gambel's quail.

Out West, Redi hunted the rice fields of Northern California and pursued ducks and pheasants around Idaho's famous Snake River. Other assignments and trips continued to add new places, birds, and experiences. Redi wasn't trained to specialize in one type of hunt or one kind of terrain. She was expected to adapt, work, and hunt wherever the family went. And she did.

REDI RIDGE TODAY

Eventually, Amanda and John’s careers brought them to the “Center of the Universe” . . . Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Since arriving in North Carolina, their family has grown. They welcomed Haze, a daughter Dani, and most recently a son named Jack.

The puppies are raised in a family home and a part of their everyday life. Redi Ridge Retrievers grew from decades of hunting, training, traveling, and living with Labradors. The dogs are versatile and adapt to every situation. In other words, dogs that earn their place in the blind, the ride home in the truck, and grow up alongside the family.

From our family to yours.

A woman with long blonde hair and a young girl with red hair in a bow are sitting outdoors in a wooded area. The woman is holding a brown puppy, and the girl is touching the puppy's face. The ground is covered with fallen leaves, and trees surround them.
A dog with a dark coat and floppy ears holding a large branch in its mouth, sitting in a forest setting with sunlight filtering through trees and fallen leaves on the ground.
A family of four with two dogs outdoors in a wooded area. The woman has long blonde hair and is holding a small child. The man, with short dark hair, sits on the ground smiling, with a young girl with red hair and a white bow in her hair sitting on his lap. One dog is a brown Labrador with a white shirt, and the other is a black Labrador with a white shirt, sitting on the ground.