About us
Matt, Jodi and Hannah
Matt grew up hunting ducks on the Bitterroot River and has trained retrievers for thirty years — his own, and for about a decade, other people's. He judges AKC hunt tests up to Master level. He does the field work, the hunt tests and most of the worrying.
Jodi taught fourth grade in Hamilton for twenty-two years and retired in 2022. She whelps every litter, keeps the records — every weight, every OFA number on this site — and decides who gets a puppy more often than Matt admits.
Hannah grew up with the dogs, became a certified veterinary technician in 2023 and came home to work at a clinic in Hamilton and run the puppy side with her mother. The evaluations, the socialization schedule and most of the photographs are hers.
Since 2009
We bought Kate, a black female from Wind River lines in Wyoming, as a hunting dog in 2007. She was good enough that people asked for her puppies, and in June 2009 we bred our first litter. Seventeen years later we've raised 21 litters and 155 puppies, never more than two litters a year, and most of our breeding dogs still trace back to her.
What we breed for, in order: sound hips, elbows, eyes and hearts; a dog that is quiet and easy to live with in the house; and a retriever with the nose, marking and desire to do real work for a hunter or go as far in hunt tests as its owner wants. Field trial titles are welcome; they are not the goal.
Memberships and registrations
American Kennel Club
Every dog and litter AKC-registered. Registered kennel name 'Ridgeline'. AKC Breeder of Merit since 2016.
Labrador Retriever Club
Members since 2010 — the AKC parent club. We follow its CHIC requirements and code of ethics.
Hunting Retriever Club (UKC)
Members since 2012; Tucker and Boone earned their HRCH titles at HRC tests.
Our local AKC retriever club
Members since 2009; Matt serves as a hunt test judge and on the field committee.
OFA and CHIC
Every breeding dog's results are registered with OFA and public, with a CHIC number.
Montana
Montana has no state license for hobby breeders. We keep six adult dogs at home and breed one or two litters a year.
Where we are
Outside Corvallis, in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana, on twenty acres with a pond, irrigation ditches and a lot of cottonwoods. We give our exact address once you're approved to visit.
From Missoula airport (MSO) it's 50 minutes south on US-93. Families have driven from Billings (5 hours), Spokane (4), Boise (7) and Bismarck (10), and flown in from as far as Georgia.
