More than 40 years of raising, training, trialing and judging bird dogs gives Ed Tillson a wealth of experience from which your dog can benefit.

Field trial dogs are accepted July-April for training & handling on the trial circuit, with the bulk of training done in the off-season. Ed conducts summer camp in Montana from mid-July through mid-September. Here wild pheasants, sharptail grouse and Hungarian partridge give the dogs countless opportunities to perfect their skills and training, and for dogs heading to the field trial circuit, thousands of acres are available for training from horseback. A few amateur handlers' dogs are also accepted for tuneup & conditioning for the trial season.

Since training and trialing his first Brittany in 1974, Ed has enjoyed a strong involvement in AKC and American Field trials across the country. He has handled, scouted and judged in many of the most prestigious All Age and Gun Dog stakes held for Brittanys. As an amateur he won the 2004 US Open Championship with FC/AFC Make My Day Dude and the 2005 National Amateur Championship with Tequila Jack II. Since joining the professional ranks in 2007, Ed has trained & handled many dogs to major wins, most notable among these being:

Ed raised, trained and handled five Victoire Nationale (1-hour) Derby Championship Runners-Up: Nitro Express in 2006, Shadow Attack in 2007, Tequila's Barbed Wire in 2008, RJ's Shadow Runner in 2013 and Tequila's Hot Tamale in 2018. He also won the Championship in 2009 with Ugh Stumblin' From The Shadows, and in 2012 with Roux-Bee.

Ed's Puppy and Derby contenders are given a great start with training on foot, from ATV and horseback; they are introduced to birds, and focused on run and handling. From there, Gun Dog and All Age prospects are developed according to their individual talents. Ed has a remarkable ability to read dogs and his training program is focused on bringing out the best in each individual dog, whether they are already well started, have had no prior training, or have had problems develop in previous training.

"Team Tequila" competes in many of the most competitive 30-minute and 1-hour stakes and Championships in the country. This has allowed several of our dogs to achieve nationwide recogition as well as top rankings in the Purina All Age Dog of the Year and Magnum's Masked Man Gun Dog Award standings. Click to view this year's field trial results

In 2017, Ed married fellow Brittany enthusiast Jessica Carlson. Jessica enjoys scouting and caring for the dogs, and also attends dog shows when not busy in the field. She has finished more than 35 Brittanys as Dual Champions.

Dogs in Ed's program are given tireless attention to their conditioning, daily care and training. Each dog is treated as one of our own, and the owners kept in touch regularly on their dogs' progress and performance in trials. Promising field trial contenders and their owners are always welcome. Ed's clients are invited to join the Tequila Kennels e-mail group, and all interested parties can now follow Team Tequila on Facebook.