Clint Mann has been a dog man all his life.    Born in Philadelphia, Missouri, into a family that raised champion coonhounds and pointing dogs, Clint grew up hunting ducks, geese, turkey, quail and pheasant in Northeast Missouri.  He competed with bird dogs from a very young age, then switched to retrievers after he got his first Lab.  At age 7, he was the youngest person ever to win a National Shoot to Retrieve field trial. 

After years of training his own dogs for hunting and competition, Clint became a professional handler in 2005.  He apprenticed with professional handlers, Chris Akin and Lyle Steinman at Castile Creek Kennel in Northwest Missouri, before launching Hometown Retrievers in Philadelphia.  Clint’s passion is training young retrievers six months to one year in the basics of handling and retrieving for hunting, hunt tests and field trials.  In 2009 he joined Lyle once again as assistant trainer specializing in young dogs.