I recently had my lab at Tim Slattery's North Texas Hunting Retriever in Gunter, TX. My dog was there for a little over three months and it was a nightmare the whole time for dog and me. When we first might him, I thought this guy is a good trainer, he showed me some demonstration with one of his dog and I was impressed, but boy do I get conned. I went over there to visit my dog once a week for three months and not once did I see my dog get trained. I thought maybe I am going over there at the wrong times. I asked what time do I need to be there and Tim said.” 7:00 a.m. I went over there at 7:OO A.M. and nobody showed up until 8:15 a.m. Tim didn’t show up until 8:30a.m. Once he got there I was standing there waiting to talk to him and he just got in his truck and drove off. I went over there three times and the gate was shut and so I called him and he said they were closed, but when I ask his schedule he said they would be open. Things like this went on for a while. I went over there one morning to talk to him and he was seating at his computer, with headphones on. I stood there for ten minutes waiting on him. Finally, I asked are you busy, he replied I can hear you and never took those head phones off. I found this to be quite rude to do this to your own customer.
Let me tell you what it was like for my dog. Every time there was something wrong with the dog. First thing was his nose had a huge gash in it, from a jagged metal water bucket. They said they replaced it and when I went to put him back in his kennel, the bucket was still there. Once again I went there and he had two huge sores on his lip. The said they have not seen them. I saw them from 15 yards away. One time, when I was there his back foot was swollen to the size of a baseball. Guess what nobody noticed. That’s when I noticed that his pads on his feet were so pink and tender he would walk on them. I knew that this dog has been sitting in kennel for long periods of time and not getting worked like I was told he was.
My dog had loose stool, which I knew and Tim dewormed him. The deworming pill did not help, because he didn’t have worms. Ever time I would go there I asked about his stool and Tim said,” he was going to take him to the vet because his stool never firmed up, well he never did. I went over there on Friday and was playing with him and he went to the bathroom and had mucus and blood all in his stool. It was a lot of blood. This was the last straw. Tim was not there so I vented to his assistant and told her I was very unhappy with the way my dog and I have been treated. I told her I told her I wanted to talk to him. She was supposed to call me with a time to come the next day. She never called. I went over the next morning to talk to him. When I arrived his assistant said, “ it will be a few minutes because he was busy.” He was cleaning the kennel. I would think that if one of my customers were upset, that I would make time to talk to them. Well I waited for an hour and half. Then a new customer showed up and he stopped what he was doing and went and talked to them. He never talked to me, so I loaded up my dog and left.
He is the most unprofessional person I have ever had dealings with. He is like a used car salesman. He will con you with his gift of gab and his nice facilities.

I took my dog to Zion Kennels and had him evaluated to see how much he learned for Tim. Well as I suspected my dog has not seen any marks and has not been forced fetched, even though I was told he was almost done with this. My dog has not even been in the water. I wasted 1500 on my dog sitting in Tim’s kennel.

I now have him at Zion Kennel’s in Bonham, TX. This is a great kennel. I have already learned so much from them. My dog couldn’t be happier.

Sorry to hear that. Sounds awful.

man.... wow.... that sucks. hope it works out for ur dog and u.

Sorry to hear that and thanks for the heads up. Hope all works out for the best

That sounds awful. I would really hate for it to be true that dog went through something like that.

What made you decide on him? Did you think about training the dog yourself? How old is the dog? And, what made you decide on this new trainer?

You might want to try training him yourself. I cant tell you the satisfaction of watching a dog you trained yourself. And on the upside, the bond between you and a dog that you trained yourself is priceless. Not to mention a lot cheaper.

I found him on the internet and he was the closet to were I lived and I didnt really see any negative comments about him.
After I pick my dog up from there and started talking to a few other professional trainers and they filled me in on him and his methods. They say he preys on people like me. When I say me, I mean new to gun dog training and hunt test.
My dog is only 9 months old. I started training him myself when I got him as a puppy. I taught him to sit, stay, here, and come and few other tricks. I really loved working with him, but working full time and going to school full time ,I just didn't have the time.
After all that happened I met with a few pro trainers.I decided on Zion Kennels beacause of his honesty, reputation, and great refrences and I get to learn right along side my dog. I go over there and work with them as much as I can. I have really enjoy my experience so far With Eddie Noga at Zion Kennels. He is not just training my dog , but me as well. I went to a hunt test with them this last weekend and they were just great with everything. I learned so much down there. My family and I had a great time. He ran 11 or 12 dogs there and all I can say is WOW.

You were a lot more patient than I would've been. Sorry to hear you and your dog had to endure that.

Sounds like you are in good hands now. I have never heard a bad thing about Zion and spoke to him once before I bought my dog and was very impressed with how much information he shared with me.

Buyer beware. Sorry you had to learn the hard way. I'm happy you got him out of there and to a better place.

Wow. That's awful. Sorry to hear it. I think this is one big reason we send videos to dog owners... they love to know what their dog is doing while with us. It's comforting and encouraging. I sure hope your pup doesn't have any ongoing issues from that experience and good luck going forward!

i am so sorry to hear about your dog... you were way more patient with taht guy than i ever would have been if he was treating my lil boy like that! glad to hear he is getting taken care of now and doing better though... good luck in the future

Holy cow man! I can't believe what all you put up with. I might even go so far as contact animal control and have them check this guy out. If your dog had all those health issues, what is happening with the other dogs that are there?

I'm glad you got your dog to a good place now. I've heard nothing but good things about Zion and a friend of mine has his dog there right now.

Just me but I would not have put up with my dogs health being like that the first time I saw something. I am sorry that happened to your dog as no dog deserves to be treated like that. Hope the dog recovers and you get him to a good trainer.

That's a bad deal.
Just glad you got him out of there.
I never realized how lucky I was to have a nephew that's a trainer.

That sucks hopefully your pup is young enough to put it all past him. It sounds like yall are with the right trainer for yall now though. I don't know how far you want to take it, but have you thought about contacting the BBB? I think you just submit them a notarized letter or something (info on their website). They won't do anything to him, but at least it's on their BBB record and maybe others will see it before going through what you went though. Good luck in the future.

that sucks - I know how you feel - when I first got my dog she was back at the trainer within a month b/c of misrepresentation - then she sat out there for another 4 months during which I presume she had zero work. The trainer wouldn't call me to give me any updates, I had to call him multiple times, it was like pulling teeth. Finally when quail season was right around the corner and I guess he figured he couldn't put it off anymore, he told me she had "regressed" and offered to a) keep her and "eventually" get my money back, b) trade for an english pointer (if I had wanted an english pointer I would have bought one to begin with), or c) (which was my idea) was to pick her up and get X amount of dollars in refund. Needless to say, I only received about half of the discussed refund. Got to love dealing with "professionals"....

Aww man, that's awful. I feel for you and your pup.

I'm glad you've got him with Eddie, I don't know him but have heard good stuff about him.

Sad that people actually take advantage these paying customers. I would have done the next guy a favor by making a scene in front of the potential new client.

He would have to answer before I had my fill.

You are definitely a better man than me. If it had been my dog got treated like that I would have shot the SOB, the so called trainer not the dog.

Well Jase, have no fear. YOUR dog is doing great and I send you the videos and encourage y'all to visit to prove it!

just checked out his website. His slogan is

"where sit happens"


sounds like a great guy

LOL. How douchey is that? ^^^^

Jake I am sorry to hear about your experience and while it makes me sad, it really makes me more PISSED OFF that this CLOWN-CON is still running his same SCAM!!!!!!! I know how true your story is because I too was a victim of Tim Slattery!!!

My story starts about 9 years ago when I was looking for my first Labrador Retriever to be not only my hunting partner but be my best friend, so I start on the internet looking for trainers and found "North Texas Hunting Retrievers" right at the top of the page, So I call and make an appointment To meet the self proclaimed "Dog Man" (hahaha) and see the kennels in Celina (no longer there) When I get there and met Tim he seemed to have a Big Ego (which didn't really impress me)but the facilities appeared to look Top Notch, new truck, new 22 hole trailer,nice house, technical training ponds,the works, so he Must know what he is doing Right........NOT REALLY!

So I buy a puppy out of a breeding done in his kennels at his recommendation. Bring her home and fall head over heals i Love with her " Jackie". I did all of her obedience and got her retrieving but now she 6 months old and time go to school for some real training so off she goes to Tim.

Well I go almost every Saturday for over 3 months to she "Jackie",throw birds,try and learn but every weekend my dog stays in the kennel and doesn't get marks because Tim Says "she is still in force fetch so No marks" being new to the game I knew no better and after all I am paying for his expertise.

After almost 4 months I get a call from Tim saying "come get your dog' I ask why? he says " she is a piece of Sh#* and wont retrieve anything. Get rid of her and I'll find you another dog and give you 1 free month training" (NO THANKS!!!!)

I go to get her and Tim gets her out a the kennel and She is soooo afraid of him she just shakes,cows down and want nothing to do with him.
I pick her up take her home felling like I just got kicked in the balls and why Did I let my best friend just sit there day after day.

Jackie came home and learned how to play again love again and eventually retrieve again.
As Jackie got a little older my desire to play was still there so I decided to try another trainer, the late and great Steve Stidham (who was Eddie Nogas mentor) took a look at her and was honest with me about her training level bot didn't think she was the caliber of dog to fit his training progam, so back home we go.

Still having that desire to play and with the help of another professional Trainer and friend Angie Becker Jackie finally got her "Master Hunter Title" at around 4yrs old.

Most important is to get your dog Healthy again, make things fun for him again and just like me tell him every single day just how sorry you are for ever sending to that
"SORRY SON A BI*#H" named Tim Slattery!!!!
And let everyone you come in contact with know what TRASH he is!!!!!!

Your dog still loves you!

Chad Gable
cwagble@verizon.net (Not Hiding Behind a Computer Screen)!

Someone should email him a link to this thread. I don't know how.

Any takers? Its the off-season so it's getting a little slow on here.