Wing & Shot is a family-run business owned by Fred and Kelley Saber and operated with their son, Austin, and a team of staff members. What started as a passion for watching hunting dogs work a field fueled a thriving bird dog, obedience, and service dog training operation. We are proud of the reputation we've earned for high quality services, and we are fortunate to be doing what we love and sharing our expertise with our clients and their dogs.
Whether it's professional bird dog training, simple puppy training, or even the most extreme adult dog obedience issues, we uphold the highest training standards. The key to training at Wing & Shot is our ability to read a dog and understand them as an individual. We pride ourselves on the personal attention provided in our training programs. When your dog stays with us, whether it's for a week or several months, they become part of our family.
Wing & Shot is operated out of two state-of-the-art pet care facilities in Michigan that allow us to board up to 65 dogs. Our Goodrich location is surrounded by 2,000 acres of state land including fields, woods, and a lake. The lake is crucial for waterfowl dog training. In 2016, the Sabers acquired Maple Lane Kennels in Ortonville, giving us a second property for training and a larger facility for boarding.
Fred Saber offers over two decades of professional dog training experience. Testing hunting dogs at the highest levels of discipline is how Wing & Shot branched into obedience and service dog training. Commonly referred to as the soft-hand trainer, Fred specializes in training for all breeds from the rarest Bracco Italiano to the most common Labrador Retriever. It is this expertise that sets Wing & Shot apart from other upland bird dog trainers.
Wing & Shot is not a big treat trainer. We believe that working dogs should not need to have treats to perform their tasks. With service dogs, training without treats is essential. Because many of our service dogs go to schools or to children with disabilities, we cannot have the dogs nosing in a teacher's or student's pocket.
The American Kennel Club is dedicated to upholding the integrity of its Registry, promoting the sport of purebred dogs and breeding for type and function. Founded in 1884, the AKC and its affiliated organizations advocate for the purebred dog as a family companion, advance canine health and well-being, work to protect the rights of all dog owners, and promote responsible dog ownership.
For over 30 years, Dogtra has worked closely with professional dog trainers to understand what dog owners need in their journey to develop top-notch dogs, whether it's for e-collar training, GPS tracking, or ball training. Trusted by professional dog trainers, K-9 officers, and hunters, Dogtra continues to release class-leading quality and durable training products with patented accurate and intuitive control to enhance your training journey.
The NAVHDA is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to foster, promote, and improve the versatile hunting dog breeds in North America; to conserve game by using well-trained, reliable hunting dogs on both land and water; and to aid in the prevention of cruelty to animals by discouraging nonselective and uncontrolled breeding, which produces unwanted and uncared for dogs.
