John Walker of Cedar Grove Kennels was introduced to the retriever breed by
his mentor, James C. Pickett, in 1961. John became a member of the Middle Tennessee Retriever Club at the young
age of 13. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1988 from the U.S. Central Command where he served as the Chief of
the Navy Personnel Section. This command had operational control in Desert Storm and is now in control of military
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
John stayed active with the retriever breed throughout his Naval career. He joined Dave Ward, a hunt test pro
from Wisconsin, as Dave's assistant trainer. While working with Dave, John qualified a yellow lab by the name of
"Jeb" for the Master National. In 1999, he went out on his own, establishing Cedar Grove Retriever Kennels. Since
being on his own, he has titled several dogs of the retriever breed.
Cedar Grove Kennels takes each pup and trains him or her as an individual based on his or her intelligence,
personality, and temperament to gain its full potential. One of our goals is to train the pup to match whatever
the requirements are of the dog's owner. We are also true believers that if you are a duck hunter or upland hunter,
the use of a trained retriever in the field aids in game preservation, as game is not lost in the field.
We stand behind our reputation and invite you to make an appointment with us to see for yourself how our
retrievers perform. We also invite you to be a part of your pup's training and learn how to properly handle your
loyal friend and companion.
We appreciate you visiting our website and considering Cedar Grove Kennels in training your loyal friend.
