Riden High Gun Dogs

I had to wait a few years before I could get a hunting dog. During that time I decided to take a few vacations and visit breeders in my home state of Utah, Idaho and Oregon. I was not experienced with identifying good breeders when I began the search. However, I learned quickly what makes a great versatile gundog breeder – they test their dogs in NAVHDA and only breed dog’s with certain scores, they breed for coat, height and other elements of breed standard, they perform all the health testing (i.e. Penn Hip/OFA, thyroid, etc.) and THEY HAVE A TRAINING PROGRAM. I visited 9 Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Breeders in the mentioned states over the 3 year wait period and found what I believe to be the top three breeders in that region. I chose RidenHigh Gundogs for the quality of the standards noted above and the prey drive David breeds in his dogs. David’s dogs are hard running, big ranging chukar dogs. I bought my pup to hunt waterfowl, chukar, grouse and guide pheasant for friends learning to hunt. I am absolutely amazed at the versatility of my pup. Enzo is far more than I could have hoped for. He is a great pet as well, he hangs with me everywhere I go. I love my dog! PS – David always has a long waiting list – another great indication of breeding great gundogs – reputation!

Had a great experience with David. I gave David my 1 year old Griff (Sig) for bird dog training. After two months with David there was obvious changes in my dog’s ability to listen and follow instructions. It was very apparent that David spent a significant amount of time with Sig training him on birds, and getting him acclimated to bird country. Sig is a great companion and wonderful with my kids; he’s a natural fit to our family and thanks to the help of David he’s an outstanding hunting partner as well!

David did phenomenal work with my 4 1/2 month old griff pup Duke. He was kind enough to work with me prior to even dropping the dog off. He was available to answer any questions I had before, during and after the training. You could tell David not only was a fantastic trainer, but he also showed huge interest in the future development of the dog and helped lay down a solid base to work with. Duke is a great pup to begin with but when I picked him up after 2 months with David, I can confidently hunt with him even though he’s a 6 month old pup. Duke has successfully pointed on wild quail, pheasant and even chukar. Having Duke home and working with him outdoors really shows all the hard work that David put in with him. Even when he was under David’s care we had consistent updates and watching his YouTube videos was wonderful to be able to see while he was away.
I am looking forward to working with David in the future and 100% recommend him to anyone looking for guidance with their hunting dogs. I am thrilled with David’s work with Duke!

The BEST dog and a GREAT trainer are what we received from Ridenhigh Kennels. We
purchased our first gun dog from David after a great chat about hunting and types of dogs. We
picked up the most wonderful puppy from the Birdy/Riz litter, who returned to David for some
training. The week after she came home, we scored a Prize one 112 in her NAVHDA NA test.
We couldn’t have done it without you David, thank you so much!

Early in the fall of 2019, I submitted an online inquiry to RidenHigh Gun Dogs ended up talking with David in October of that year. After doing quite a bit of research, inclusive of several conversations with both him and other breeders, I asked David to put me on his wait list. Some of his key breeding objectives were exactly what I was looking for. Specifically, he is developing high horse power, big running WPG’s with excellent coarse field coats and good temperament, tight feet and the stamina to hunt day after day. Those objectives along with his geographic proximity to me had me sold! After patiently (lol) waiting for my turn, RidenHigh Felica (aka “Indie”) came home with us in late August 2021. Upon her arrival, David was willing to invest time with me to ensure I did everything I could to set up Indie for success in the field. We spent numerous hours both in person and on the phone talking about a game plan to make her both a great hunting and family companion. David’s willingness to forge relationships with clients to help them develop great hunting dogs is invaluable in my opinion. If any prospective clients want to speak with me as a reference, I would love to do it, but in summary, there are a few things which make RidenHigh Gun Dogs and David Riden stand out:
Relationship: I wanted a relationship (vs. just a transaction) with my breeder to help me develop the best possible dog. If you are willing to put in the work, David is the kind of person that will support you in every possible way
Breeding objectives: I wanted a high energy hunting dog with the “off switch”, coarse field coat and tight feet to be able to hunt every day. David’s knowledge of genetics, working lines and his relationships with other key WPG breeders allow him to achieve these objectives.
Training: David offers a variety of training plans. His knowledge of the breed and his training methods will help you get the most out of your dog
I am thankful and feel fortunate to have received a dog from David!