About Wildrose Midwest

Allan (Al) has been training Labrador retrievers for over 30 years.  In 2014, Al purchased his first Wildrose Dog, WR Lambeau, a puppy out of the Ducks Unlimited Dog, Deke.  Al is very particular in what he looks for in breeding and confirmation of dogs and has embraced the Wildrose bloodlines –both domestically and overseas.  Seeing the benefits of 100% balanced training, Al became more actively engaged with the Wildrose team and Training The Wildrose Way.  Considering the existing Wildrose client base in the Midwest and the strong potential that existed in this market, Al approached Mike Stewart to start a Wildrose location in the Midwest.  One of the things Al enjoys the most about Wildrose is building lifelong relationships among clients and trainers through the creation of training workshops and hunting trips.  Al is an avid outdoorsman enjoying waterfowl, upland hunting and fly fishing.

Originally from Sheboygan Falls Wisconsin, Chris continued his education at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he played football and majored in education.  Ultimately, Chris earned his masters degree in curriculum and instruction and taught high school and middle school students for 16 years.  Chris decided to leave education and focus more time on his passion, training dogs.  Chris realized his love of dogs, especially Labrador retrievers, while working for a kennel in high school and watching his Dad train his own labs.  After Chris bought his first Wildrose Dog in 2005, he quickly realized that there was no better way to train a dog, he has been hooked on the Wildrose Way ever since.  Training and learning alongside his father (Craig Korff) for many years, Chris joined the Wildrose Team in 2020.

Chris’s passions revolve around hunting, fishing, training dogs and pretty much anything related to sports.

Chris currently lives in Sheboygan Wisconsin with his wife, Theresa, and their two boys.

Craig began training retrievers in 1974 and has shown German Wirehaired Pointers and trained them in the field as well.  Craig gained a great deal of knowledge from years of training with experienced amateur and some professionals who trained together at the local kennel club in WI.  Out of this club came one of the best trainers in America, Jim Van Engen, who has a record of starting many FC’s and NFC’s that will never be broken and for over 40 years is still one of Craig’s closest friends and training confidants.  In 2000, Craig decided to make a change in the type of Labrador and methodology he used in training.  It was then that he met Mike Stewart, the other most influential trainer in his career.  Craig started with Mike Stewart in 2000 and has been training the Wildrose Way ever since.  Craig bought his first WR dog, Molly, in 2001.  Molly went on to become an AKC Senior Hunter, came in first place in the Wildrose Retriever Championship in 2005, the Gun’s Choice Award in 2006, and the Gun’s Choice Award at the Double Gun and Retriever Classic in 2007.  In 2004, Craig became the first Associate Trainer for the WR started dog program.  Craig and his wife Carol reside in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin.

Mike Stewart is the President of Wildrose International which hosts full-service kennels in Oxford, Mississippi, Dallas Texas and Hillsborough, North Carolina with additional training facilities in Colorado and Arkansas.  Wildrose is an Orvis-endorsed facility specializing in producing their trademark retrievers, “The Gentleman’s Gundog” and “Adventure Dog,” Labradors that complement a families’ sporting dogs, but is best known for his appearance on Ducks Unlimited TV’s “World of Ducks along with DU’s retriever training online features with Drake and Deke, the DU Mascots.

Mike and his dogs have appeared in over 75 national television programs on hunting and training gundogs.  He conducts retriever training workshops throughout the United States instructing in his unique dog training methodology, “The Wildrose Way,” a balanced way to develop versatile, sporting companions.  He has produced two comprehensive training DVDs entitled, “Training the Wildrose Way,” The Gentlemen’s Gundog series and published a book in 2012, Sporting Dog and Retriever Training, the Wildrose Way. In conjunction with Purina ProPlan, Mike produced a video series on “Starting Your Pup the Wildrose Way” along with three Emmy-award winning lifestyle testimonials.

Wildrose was featured on the cover article of Forbes Magazine, April, 2009 edition, as one of six luxury, recession-proof businesses and again in Forbes Life, 2013.  Wildrose has been recognized twice in articles by Garden & Gun magazine as “Best in the Sporting South,” December 2009 and December 2011. Mike is publisher of the Wildrose Journal which is the largest disseminated online magazine dedicated to the Sporting Dog Lifestyle and founder of the Wildrose Service Companion Foundation, a Mississippi-based non-profit whose mission is to provide assistance dogs for therapy and service to individuals with special needs. His induction into the Mississippi Wildlife Hall of Fame occurred in 2018.

A law enforcement officer for 25 years, Mike retired as Chief of Police for the University of Mississippi. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi and the FBI National Academy, Quantico, Virginia. Mike retired from the US Navy Reserves in 2005 as a Commander after over 20 years of service.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Jill’s passion for family gundogs started in her own backyard with labs. She continues to live her dreams and follow her passion within the bird dog community. She has guided upland hunts in Alabama during the fall/winter months since 2017. During the spring and summer months she travels with her pack of bird dogs to different destinations across the United States to educate herself and her dogs. She lives in a 5th wheel camper full time with her string of 13 birddogs (Vizslas, English pointers, and field bred English Cockers. With the tight living quarters and nomadic lifestyle, Jill can attest that Wildrose training foundations are key to creating a well mannered, traveled, and exposed gundog or adventure dog!

Jill enjoys working with dogs of all breeds, but has a soft spot for the breed who sparked her interest in the working dog and upland world, the lab. Her favorite stage of training is the puppy stage, where she gets to re-explore the world through each individual puppy’s eyes. With years of experience training, managing hunting kennels and breeding programs, Jill is eager to help get Wildrose Midwest up and running. She believes in strengthening the bond between handler and dog through fun training experiences, seminars, and classes and including the dog in everyday activities.