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About  Tom Hamilton  and   Brackenfen Gundogs Dear Friends, I would like to take a moment to introduce myself and tell you about my dogs and training style. My name is Tom Hamilton. I was born and raised in eastern Iowa. Upon graduating from high school, I left Iowa to serve in the United States Air Force. I served 21 years and retired in August 1999. While stationed at Alconbury, England in 1986, I started training my first Labrador retriever. One day afield, I met a man by the name of Robin Laud. He is a well-known professional gundog trainer, a member of the English National Gundog Team, and a "Class A" field trial judge. Through him I was able to meet, train, and compete with many other top professionals in England for four years. I also belonged to numerous organizations that held hunt tests and field trials, in which I competed. To name a few: Coventry & District Gundog Society Leicestershire Gundog Society Midland Counties Labrador Retriever Club East Midlands Gundog Training Club East Anglia Labrador Retriever Club United Retriever Club of Great Britain Because of my friendships with top breeders and handlers, I learned a lot about English style training. This made me a serious competitor in English field competitions. As a result of my success in competition and friendships I had made, the best kennels wanted me to bring their dogs back to America. So now Bracken Fen Gundogs offers you not only great English style training, but also some of the very best English bred Labrador retrievers in North America. The dogs I own have been selected for trainability, intelligence, looks, stamina, style, steadiness, and of course, hips/eye scores. All dogs are registered with the American Kennel Club. English methods of training are far more positive. No force training, no force fetch, no electric collars, etc. English methods employ tasks the dog can easily achieve, then the tasks are gradually made more difficult. By training with this method, you'll end up with a dog that's very happy to work as well as more consistent. Once you've been exposed to English Labradors, you will see they are not only great Gundogs, they are outstanding companion dogs as well. This is very important, as we have to live with our dogs most of the year when there is no hunting season. I hope this gives you some idea of my experience and devotion to training and breeding the very best English Labradors in North America. Sincerely, Tom Hamilton

thamilton@brackenfen.com Tom Hamilton and "Barney" Robin Laud with his Champion Cocker and Springers Robin Laud, "Tweed", and Field Trial Champion "Black Beaut"

thamilton@brackenfen.com © 2006 Brakenfen Gundogs - All Rights Reserved