Two Gun Kennels is owned and operated by Brian & Jenna O'Connor. We have been dedicated with trying to make the world a better place for Drents and their owners since 2006 when their first Drent, Paxson, was imported with the intent to help grow the North American population. As time went on, Jenna & Brian earned their place as the pacesetters for the Drentsche Patrijshond in North America and have been fully dedicated to this purpose.
Our Story
We believe in breeding Drentsche Patrijshonden (Drents) & more recently, Spinoni Italiani, as beautiful companions for both Hunt and Home, who are capable and willing to do more when asked. While hunting performance is critical in our breeding program, we believe that it must be underpinned by breeding healthy, behaviorally sound, intelligent, dogs true to type, and in-line with the breed standard who can work in the field day after day, with the temperament of a well-behaved household companion and much more.
We are active in multiple breed clubs, AKC showing and performance events, as well as the NAVHDA testing system. While those activities are a lot of fun and can be helpful with seeing dogs in different contexts, it will never take the place of exploring and hunting wild places ranging from the high desert chaparral, to the thickly wooded creek bottoms, steep and crumbling coulees, the vast oceans of prairie grass, on occasion steep chukar slopes – wherever upland birds maybe found.
All combined, it serves us well to be able to evaluate our dogs objectively, and aids in our state of continued learning. Our dogs hunt wild birds for up to 100 days of the year and we harvest multiple species of upland birds.
We have been honored to receive the 1st AKC Breeder of Merit and 1st NAVHDA NA Breeder’s Award for the Drentsche Patrijshond, as well as, earning many titles for all of our dogs on many different stages.
A little
more about
us…
We have participated in many Drent activities in the Netherlands to include exhibitions, hunt tests and training, interviewing breeders, as well as several Fokkerdag’s, while living in the Netherlands and Spain as well as traveling back from the U.S. At a Breeder's Day in 2010 Brian received Conformation Judging training from Mr. Wim Wellens. Currently we have an ownership stake in eight Drents, so It is safe to say we are fully committed or need to be committed. When we are not serving the Club, or doing general dog stuff we enjoy being students, hiking, training and hunting our dogs at least 75+ days each hunting season.
We have invested our efforts, not just in our own breeding program, but in the breeding programs of others, and with our domestic breed organizations since our earliest days. For many years our efforts were what made the earliest of these organizations’ solvent. In 2022, we were an instrumental part of the group which brought the American Drentsche Patrijshond Association into being; an organization founded on respect for one another, and naturally, the dogs that bring us all together. The ADPA has quickly become the premier breed association for the Drent. If you are considering a Drent, then becoming a member of the APDA should most assuredly be high on your "todo" list.
Additionally, we are current members of the Spinone Club of America and the German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America. As well as the following NAVHDA Chapters: PNW, Scablands, and MT Sharptail. As well as the Spokane Bird Dog Association and Spokane Dog Training Club.
Brian has kept and trained dogs for over forty years and has served a foster home for American Brittany Rescue (ABR). He has trained dogs for; agility, hunting, obedience, AKC canine good citizen certification, therapy & Service Dog use, and even stage work. Additionally, he has worked with and studied under numerous Certified Professional Pet Dog Trainers, as well as notable professional hunting dog trainers. As a point of interest, Brian is the author of “The Drentsche Patrijshond for the North American Fancier”, ISBN 978-0-9813523-2-9, which has received acclaim as the 'new face of the single-breed book'. The book sold out in the summer of 2018.
Jenna has been involved in dogs for nearly 23 years and purebred dogs for nearly 20 years. She has been a puppy raiser for a guide-dog organization and has served as a board member for Puget Sound Dock dogs, volunteered with many breed clubs to include the former DPCNA, current ADPA, and the Spinone Club of America.
She has also been instrumental in introducing the Drent to the hunt test fancy in North America, having trained and handled the first NAVHDA NA titled and UT titled Drent in North America and earning the first JH title ever in the AKC system.
There are a couple of different things which came together to make the name of our kennel. The first being one of my favorite authors, Robert E. Howard (REH), who helped to provide inspiration for the name due in part to his nicknames: Two-Gun Bob, or as the Two-Gun Raconteur, this last one is what got our minds to working. Also, we have become huge fans of living “Out West” but having to cope with multiple moves due to military life, taking the name of a local landmark was made a tough proposition for us. After all I have lived in New Mexico on two separate occasions, Alaska, Idaho and Washington State as well as having lived in seven different countries.
Why Two Gun…
Along the way, we have learned people across the world have many ways of telling you they have or produce something which is top quality or the best, without saying so directly.
For example, in Spain, Pata Negra is considered to be “top shelf”, but directly translated it simply means black hoof, which doesn't mean much to most Americans I know. The black hoof is in reference to the black trotter of the Iberico pig used to produce what is the best jamon in Spain. As you might expect, the white trotters are said to be an indicator of inferior quality.
Okay, so back to the old west, and REH’s nick name the Two-Gun Raconteur. This goes back to the late 1800's when only the best gunfighters were said to have used two guns, (and REH was a storyteller without peer).
Also, in the interest of full disclosure, there is a bit of a tongue in cheek meaning behind the name as well, after all who starts a kennel with two male dogs? Aside from that, we really do hope you agree that we have something special and are doing plenty to live up to our name.