2025 Winter Trip

 In 1990 Rick Stawski started as an assistant to Wayne Curtis of Fox Hollow Kennels. In 1992 Rick and Barb began their own kennel when they established Fine Line Retrievers at Kelly Farms property near Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. After four very successful years at their first location they began looking for their own property. In 1997 they purchased property near Milaca, Minnesota, and began developing the land for the exclusive use of training retrievers. Today the Fine Line Retrievers property is a state of the art retriever training facility.              Years of working as a professional trainer has allowed Rick to determine what truly works and as a result he has developed an extremely efficient and effective training program. The secret is, as Rick says, “ I don’t use gimmicks, just basic training fundamentals, honest evaluation, and plenty of hard work.The program is obviously successful. These proven training techniques have helped Fine Line Retrievers train over 40 FC, AFC Dogs, 150+ Qualified All Age Dogs plus numerous Master National Qualifiers. Along with the success of the Field Trial training program Rick also specializes in producing the finest hunting dogs available. (Not coincidentally Rick is a fanatic waterfowl hunter as well as a competition duck caller.)  Dogs trained at Fine Line Retrievers can be found in the blinds, pits, and flooded timber of many of the finest hunting properties in North America. Whether you are looking for a competitive field trial dog, hunt test dog or a “top flite” hunting dog Fine Line Retrievers can formulate a personalized program to help your dog reach its full potential.