BLOOMING PRAIRIE — Someone once told Rick McConico his dog didn’t have the drive to hunt ducks. Had that man known McConico better, he wouldn’t have put money on that.

McConico has trained dogs for 26 years. He and his wife, Andrea, own Old Oak Kennels near Blooming Prairie, and they focus on what their dogs can do.

McConico grew up on a farm near Buffalo, Minn., and his family always had dogs. When he started hunting with locals, he wanted to put his dogs to work. After reading a few books and learning about dog training, he found his niche.

Ironically, his previous passion for fishing further led him to his current profession. He met a man who happened to be a professional dog trainer. Today, McConico plays that role.

The opportunity to learn from this trainer helped McConico hone his own dog training skills. It’s how he also met his wife. Through the years McConico has grown tired of some of his hobbies. He was a professional fisherman, competitive archer and avid hunter. However, dog training has never escaped his interest.

Now, the McConicos have owned their own facility for the past five and a half years, where they board, train and breed dogs. The facility has room for 40 dogs, and it has state of the art flooring, gutters, walls and is disinfected on a regular basis. The McConicos tend to all dogs five times a day and leave the radio on for them, too.

Even though a lot of work goes into dog training, he has found one phrase that remains the same: “willingness to please.” That phrase defines the breeds the McConicos mainly work with — retrievers.

And their training starts with obedience. Once a dog is obedient and willing to please, its training can be taken much further.

The McConicos are impartial to different breeds, but they have worked extensively with English bred labradors and golden retrievers. These dogs’ willingness to please is a built-in trait, which is why the McConicos enjoy their training so much.

“If dogs are bred for their willingness to please, that’s the dog you want,” McConico said.

But dogs in the US are overbred, causing defective genes and diseases, McConico added. Many buyers look for certain colors, looks and odd quirks that aren’t necessarily healthy. So protecting the gene pool in labs and retrievers is important to him.

“I’m passionate about dogs, about the way they’re bred, about the way they’re kept,” he said.

McConico said anybody looking for a dog should not focus on color or defects that make the dog unique. Focusing on health and disposition is the key.

To inquire about boarding, dog training or puppies, visit www.oldoakretrievers.com.a