Highfire Kennels

Absolutely the best breeding program short of Europe. I spent many months researching the DK lines and was beyond thrilled to find Highfire Kennels Lola & Jett, a Hege Haus line breeding. John is a superb breeder- knowledgeable, accessible and a continuous resource. Every review is completely accurate, John is helpful and communicative throughout the process and has been happy to answer questions as my pup has been developing. Now for the pup- she is absolutely perfect in every way! We wanted a high drive, confident female who would be an excellent hunting companion, easy to train and comfortable with the family. She checks EVERY box! We recently completed her NAVHDA Natural Ability test and scored a perfect 112 Prize 1! At just 7months!! She is highly trainable and food motivated, which is such a pleasure given how many bird dogs are not food motivated. She has the confidence to handle new and intimidating situations (such as city streets/downtown settings) without prep and can easily settle herself down without prompting. With the high drive, we didn’t get quite as much of the snuggly puppy phase that companion dog owners expect, but I knew what we were getting and she is perfect! Because she is so highly trainable, my kids (8 & 5) have been able to be a primary part of her training and she is very appropriate with them. Once she hit six months she started getting better with her snuggles too- which they appreciated. Her bird work scores speak for themselves, but she is biddable, has a great nose (she has had multiple occasions going on point while retrieving another bird!), and genuinely enjoys working the field with me, not just for herself. It’s a lengthy review, but I know how much these reviews helped my decision and I would make my choice ten times over. Our girl is THE BEST!!!

We got a puppy from Jett x Lola and could not be happier! We had an amazing experience with Highfire Kennels! John was great throughout the whole process all the way up until pick up day. He gave us tons of updates and photos, which we absolutely loved! Our girl is about 3.5 months old, and is my easiest dog to train by far. She is SO smart and such a quick learner. She’s our third GSP, first Highfire dog, and we would choose Highfire again without a doubt. Highly recommend!!!

We couldn’t be happier with our experience from the first time we connected with John at Highfire! Our pup is a little past 6 months old, and he’s doing great. He understands many commands, does great off leash on walks, enjoys swimming and plays hard! We intend to hunt behind him. He’s shown great instincts holding his points in training, his retrieving is improving each day, and he has done well with introduction to guns. Our pup has a ton of energy and is extremely intelligent, just like we thought he would be! Update: our Highfire pup is now 2 years old. He’s very sweet, loving, and smart. He’s now a passionate hunter with a couple seasons under his belt. We’re more in love now than ever with him!

My husband and I got our male GSP from John back in September and we are so happy with our decision. Gunner will be 11 months in May and he is such an amazing dog. We made the decision to put him in a 6 week board and train facility where he learned the foundations of hunting as well as full obedience. He was fully e-collar trained as well. When we got him back, we were blown away by his progress. While obviously a lot had to do with his trainer, even more had to do with his bloodline. Gunner was a pup from a Jett x Lola litter and at just shy of 11 months old, his trainer is amazed with his progress. After his 6 week training, we continued to do 3 private lessons with his trainer and in just those 3 lessons he went from just chasing launched pigeons and fetching frozen chuckers, to a live hunt with quail. His trainer said Gunner has an incredible natural drive to retrieve which can be tough to train a GSP to do and even said he was one of the easiest dogs to fetch train that he’s ever had (he’s been training dogs since 2012). We drove 16 hours from CT to pickup Gunner and we would do it 100 times over. We are SO thankful we found Highfire. Not only is Gunner an incredible natural hunter, he is an incredible family dog. He is naturally gentle with kids, LOVES to play with all dogs and cats, absolutely no aggressive behaviors present at all, and is the goofiest boy but knows when it’s time for birds and his entire attitude changes to solid focus. He is incredible in the home, in the field, on hiking trails, and that is a big thanks to his lines (and I mean come on, he’s gorgeous). John was also SO informative, as neither me nor my husband have ever had a GSP. He answered all my questions and wasn’t afraid to talk on the phone as well as text, communication was immaculate. We received frequent pictures of the pups after they were born and the pick process was easy but exciting and pickup day was thrilling. Thank you to the Highfire family for our amazing boy.

John and Carole are absolutely amazing and passionate at what they do and it shows in their dogs. John’s enthusiasm for bloodlines has produced quality GSPs. My wife and I purchased a pup from them (for an energetic adventure dog to keep up with the long skis and high mountains Alaska has to offer) and the compliments are never ending with how beautiful and smart our Little Lola is from friends and strangers alike. She picked up training day one; just so smart. John has continued to be responsive answering any questions we have and enthusiastic about the pictures and videos we send. If you are looking for a GSP, I highly recommend Highfire Kennels.