LADIES IN THE FIELD
A BREED APART FROM THE PACK
Amy Sterner Finds Her Niche in Dog Training By Meredith Kay Photography by Jennifer Lugo
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rowing up in Corpus Christi, Amy Sterner always knew that her path would lead her to a career working with four-legged co-workers. She began working as a volunteer at the Coastal Bend Small Breed Rescue facility when she was seven. She spent her summer days helping out in the kennels while her parents worked. When she turned 13, Amy knew that she wanted to find a job with a veterinary clinic to learn how to treat and care for canines at a deeper level. So, she began a letter-writing campaign to area veterinarians outlining her experience and asking for the opportunity to learn more. She found a veterinarian willing to take her on, and at 15, she was hired by a clinic, cementing her desire to pursue a career working with dogs. Amy attended Texas A&M at Kingsville, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management. It was here that she also became interested in hunting and training hunting dogs. She became experienced at duck hunting in the Coastal Bend region and spent a couple of summers in Alaska working with outfitters who specialized in training sled dogs. After graduation, she continued to work for the veterinary clinic until she landed a job training Labradors for hunting. As she continued to learn more about the sport of quail hunting in South Texas, she decided to adopt her first poodle, Birdie. Amy noticed that her dog seemed to pick up the commands and the hunting techniques just by being around the other dogs that were active in training. This sparked her interest in starting her own business specializing in training poodles as hunting dogs. Her business is called Simply Southern Retrievers. Although she trains all dog breeds to be experienced and effective hunting companions, she is unique in that she also promotes training poodles as sporting dogs. During one of her hunting expeditions, she met her husband, Greg Sterner, who also happened to be the brother of her best friend. Amy spent weekends at his ranch in Castroville learning to train hunting dogs for quail hunts. She was immediately smitten and recalls that she didn’t think Greg was very interested in her. Still, she was determined to win his affection.
24 | SPRING 2022
