Knoxville, Tennessee (September 15, 2014) – SportDOG, the industry-leading manufacturer of electronic dog training products and accessories, has announced an exciting new Conservation Fund initiative for 2014. The inaugural SportDOG Brand® Companions for Conservation contest will result in three lucky youths taking ownership of a new hunting dog trained by SportDOG™ Senior ProStaffers.

Three of the country’s top trainers – Tom Dokken, Charlie Jurney and Jim Morehouse – will be providing training through the started stage for the three prize dogs. Two Labrador Retrievers and a pointing dog valued at $5,000 each will then find new homes with the contest winners.

• Tom Dokken brings more than 30 years of retriever-training experience to the SportDOG team. He is well known as the inventor of Dokken’s Deadfowl Trainer, which has become standard equipment for retriever trainers everywhere.
• Charlie Jurney has been training performance and hunting dogs for over 25. During that time he has produced hundreds of titled dogs. His writings have been featured in various respected industry publications and he has a number of his own training books and videos.
• LTC Jim Morehouse has over 25 years of experience working with pointing dogs which includes field trialing, hunting, and working as a professional quail hunting guide.

Youths 17 and younger with an interest in hunting and conservation can easily apply to win a new hunting companion. All that is required is for a parent or guardian to submit a photo of their child enjoying time in the outdoors – training a dog, working on a conservation project or taking part in a related activity. The only other eligibility requirement is that applicants are members of a conservation group.

This is an exciting opportunity to involve more youth in our sport and highlight the importance of dogs in responsible hunting practices. SportDOG is excited to bring this opportunity to its fans and bring more awareness to conservation.

To enter, photos should be submitted between September 15, 2014 and October 15, 2014 via the SportDOG Brand Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/SportDOGBrand, or the SportDOG Brand Twitter account, http://www.twitter.com/SportDOGBrand. The photo should include the hashtag of the dog the entrant is competing for (ex. #companionsforconservation1). Complete details and official rules can be found in the Conservation Fund tab of the SportDOG Brand web site: http://www.sportdog.com/about-us/conservation/companions-for-conservation.

A panel of SportDOG Brand employees will vote for the three (3) finalists for each dog and then turn it over to the public to vote on who will ultimately take home the grand prizes.