Clark Kennington is a highly-regarded and accomplished dog trainer who has dedicated his life to understanding and working with man’s best friends. With his deep-seated knowledge, patient demeanor, and unwavering commitment, Clark has become a trusted authority in the field, transforming the lives of both dogs and their owners.

Clark spent his youth chasing waterfowl across the Mississippi delta. Growing up, he would spend countless hours with his father training their own household labradors, Boscoe, Deek, and Dutch. He enjoyed seeing the transformation from a pup to a trained retriever, but at this point, he was only worried about having a dog to go get his ducks.

 Clark’s true passion for retrievers wasn’t ignited until he was a sophomore in college. Clark received a puppy named Max, who would forever change his life and his understanding of what a great dog truly is. He spent countless hours in the field with Max, and he eventually started working for a professional dog trainer with the hopes of furthering his and Max's knowledge. Clark dove head first into the hunt test world, and within 8 months, he had acquired Max’s Started, Seasoned, and Finished titles. Max ran his first Grand the following year and made it all the way to the 4th series. The next go-around, Clark and Max received that coveted green ribbon.

Soon thereafter, things changed. Clark made the decision that he would become a professional himself, and was trusted by several clients to propel their dogs forward. His career quickly took off, and Clark was hooked to the hunt test game. He excelled at both the AKC and UKC tests, and he eventually decided to give the SRS game a try. As many know, the SRS is an entirely different beast, in the best way. Clark’s dogs were challenged, but the dogs – and Clark – quickly rose to the occasion. He learned that he had a lot of room to grow as a trainer if he was going to be competitive with the top trainers in the country. He focused day and night on becoming a better and more well-rounded trainer. Clark has trained with and picked the brains of many of the country’s best retriever trainers. The knowledge he has obtained over the years has helped him be able to recognize each retrievers’ needs and to apply personalized methodologies to every single dog.

Now 17 years into his career, Clark has won 2 SRS Crown Championships, multiple SRS events, and since 2015, he has had over an 80% pass percentage at the Master National. He has personally titled over 40 Grand Hunting Retriever Champions and has over 100 Grand passes. One of Clark’s proudest accomplishments is to have trained four SRS Crown finalists from the ground up – which is to say, from a puppy to adulthood. One of which, a Max grandpup, won the 2021 SRS Crown Championship.

In the summer of 2022, Clark and his wife, Nicole, moved to northwest Missouri to join Castile Creek Kennels. When not training dogs, Clark enjoys hunting, visiting theme parks, and spending time at the lake with his family.