About

Okoboji Retriever Club (ORC) was founded in 2005 as an affiliate of the North American Hunting Retriever Association, Inc. (NAHRA). It is comprised of members who live within a 100 mile radius of Spirit Lake, Iowa. The principal purpose of the Club is to train and promote the field testing of retrievers in simulated hunting conditions. The concept is to train and reward dogs that can fulfill the hunter’s needs in the field by performing in a manner consistent with the demands of actual hunting conditions. The hunt test is not to confront the dog with trick problems, but rather to test the dog’s natural abilities and acquired training.

Members of the ORC are diverse in their experience level and training abilities, but all are dedicated to the notion of training purebred hunting retrievers so as to reach the dog’s ability potential. That is done through weekly field training sessions in the spring and summer, handler seminars, and hunt tests. Each hunt test is a written standard to which the dog is judged and is not a competition for which there is only one winner.

Membership is welcome to all who love to work and train the natural hunting instincts of their retriever breed.