How to Get a Caldwell Puppy

Fill out the contact form and tell us about yourself — your home, your family, whether you hunt, what you're hoping for in a dog. Tom or Maggie reads every word that comes in. Personally. No form-letter replies, no auto-funnel.

• Tell us about your home and family
• Hunting plans, or just a couch buddy — both are fine
• Other dogs, kids, fences, acreage — all useful for us to know
• Tom or Maggie reads every inquiry by hand

A short call to talk things through. We're vetting you, you're vetting us — both directions, no pressure. We've turned down placements that weren't a fit, and we've talked folks into waiting another season when the timing was off. We'd rather be honest now than have a dog come back later.

• What your day-to-day looks like
• Where the dog will sleep, ride, work, and rest
• Hunting plans — or none, that's fine too
• Honest yes/no on whether we're the right kennel for you

If we both feel good after the call, we'll send a written application and ask for a $500 deposit to hold your spot on the waitlist. The deposit's refundable — if we don't end up matching you with a pup, or if life changes between now and pickup, you get it back. No fine print.

• Short written application — references included
• $500 deposit holds your place on the waitlist
• Refundable if we can't match you, or if life changes
• We'll let you know roughly which litter you're slated for

Once the litter is on the ground and the pups are six or seven weeks old, Maggie temperament-tests every one of them — drive, bidability, off-switch, recovery, noise tolerance. Then we match pups to families. You don't pick a pup blind from a photo on the internet. We pick the right pup for your home. Quiet household with a toddler? That's not the same pup as a duck-blind regular at Cheyenne Bottoms.

• Maggie temperament-tests each pup individually
• Drive, off-switch, birdiness, recovery — all scored
• We match by household profile, not by who called first
• Photos and a video of your pup before pickup

Pickup at the farm, or we hand-deliver. Tom's done a few cross-country drives over the years — Maine to Montana — when it made sense for the family. Either way, before that pup leaves with you, we sit down for a half-day briefing on what to do for the first month: feeding, crate, housebreaking, early retrieving games, and what not to do.

• Pickup at the farm, or hand-delivery when we can
• Half-day briefing — feeding, crate, first-month plan
• Starter food, blanket with mom's scent, paperwork in hand
• Lifetime breeder support — call us anytime, for the life of the dog