April Joy All Star: Rebecca Cassidy

Our April Joy All Star Rebecca Cassidy grew up training dogs alongside her parents with their family pets. She trained them with basic commands and behavior modifications. Her uncle and family friends were big hunters and had hunting dogs of their own. This is how she started getting involved with hunting dogs. Rebecca has always loved dogs and animals since she was a young girl. In fact, since she was 4 years old, she wanted to be a veterinarian. Her uncle was the person that got her involved with working with hunting dogs and training them to hunt. She was fascinated by seeing them work and how well they did their jobs. 

When Rebecca graduated from high school, she went off to Murray State University to practice pre-vet med. However, she soon switched her major to animal health technology. Throughout her college career, and even for some time after college, she worked at a vet clinic. She worked here for nearly 8 years until she started working at a kennel nearby. She was under the impression that she was going to be sold the kennel, however when that was not the case, she branched off and started her own kennel business and training facility at her house called River Retriever Kennels LLC. She did this for many years until the end of January 2020 when she finally got the building for her kennel, River Retriever Kennels LLC. 

At River Retriever Kennels LLC, Rebecca and her team train labs and other retrievers to be top-tier hunters, she also trains your everyday house dogs in obedience, they breed labs,  board dogs, bathe dogs, and on very special occasions will train a service dog. Her two dogs that she’s had the most success with as far as hunting goes would be the dogs that Chris Morse of Bottom of the Hill Retrievers handles now. These dogs have their starting titles for UKC but will soon be Senior Champions. Rebecca has trained a service dog for a woman from Las Vegas that had epilepsy. She usually doesn’t train service dogs but depending on the dog and circumstances, she will. Rebecca will also work with K-9 unit dogs and their handlers and work with them wearing a bite sleeve.

Rebecca started feeding Joy about a year and a half ago when the brand she was feeding her dogs started making all her dogs sick. They weren’t keeping weight on and their coats were dull and ragged. She asked the owner of the local feed store, Ballard Tack & Supply in Paducah, KY what they recommended and they said Joy Dog Food. She was immediately impressed with the ingredients on the bag so she decided to give it a shot. Her dogs loved it and performed better than they ever had on it. They were bulking up in size, and their coats were shiny and healthy looking once again. She was so happy with the results for the price.

“Whether it’s my hunting dogs that are always running or my mommas that usually have problems keeping weight on after birth, Joy Dog Food helped solve all my issues with weight loss and coat problems!”

Rebecca Cassidy, Owner of River Retriever Kennels LLC.