Visalia to Rio Vista: a spaniel, setter or retriever trained up north

Visalia, the Tulare County seat, has about 144,000 residents and a median age of 33.9 (Census Bureau). It sits in the southern San Joaquin Valley, in a county where two spaniel clubs list field trials on the 2026 calendar.

Nearly four hours each way

The route covers about 197 miles. OpenStreetMap routing, with no traffic, estimates about 3.9 hours, which is the top of the long-drive tier. It is a long day each way, and a same-day round trip would leave little time for anything but driving.

That is why the dog stays. Under board-and-train, the work happens at Hastings Island while you stay home, and your trips are for drop-off, pick-up and a lesson.

Spaniel trials in Tulare County

Two clubs, the English Springer Spaniel Club of Southern California and the Arrowhead English Springer Spaniel Club, list 2026 spaniel field trials at Kincaid Wildlife Management Area on Lake Success near Porterville (California 2026 trial and hunt test calendar, read October 27, 2026). Porterville is in the same county as Visalia, so an owner of a flushing breed can see trained dogs work close to home.

Read the English Springer Spaniel page for how Richard approaches the breed.

Kern National Wildlife Refuge for waterfowl

Farther south, Kern National Wildlife Refuge sits 19 miles west of Delano, offers waterfowl hunting and is closed to non-hunters on Wednesdays and Saturdays from October to January (USFWS). The refuge page does not list its acreage, so none is given here.

A dog headed for a refuge like that needs to hold still through shots and wait for the send. Those skills are what the Basic Waterfowl Program covers.

What to ask Richard on the first call

• How old the dog is and whether it has been around birds or gunfire.
• Whether you hunt upland, waterfowl or both, since the work differs.
• How drop-off and pick-up would work from the southern valley.
• Whether a handler lesson can be fitted on the day you collect the dog.

Google lists Richard's hours as 8 AM to 2 PM Monday and Wednesday through Sunday, closed Tuesday. Call first and plan your arrival with him; four hours is too far to drive on a guess. The how to book training answer covers the first call.

After the stay

Pick-up is the other half of the program. A dog that works for Richard still has to work for you, so the handler lesson matters. Bring the questions you wrote down, and practice the commands in the order Richard shows you. Back in the valley, you can see spaniel and pointing-dog work at the events described above.