I’m Matt Neal, owner and head trainer here at ECR. 

I was born and raised in a small town in Eastern NC where I developed a passion for dogs and the outdoors at a very early age. I grew up spending time at the horse barn, taking care of farm animals, hunting, fishing, and a love for playing baseball.

I attended Pitt Community and Mount Olive College where I was fortunate enough to extend my baseball career. After graduating I purchased a black lab named Jet to begin waterfowl hunting with and quickly people began asking me if I would help them with their dogs after seeing the results I was having with him.

At first, my goal was to build a better hunting dog, little did I know, my competitiveness and ambitious nature would lead to running hunt tests and later field trials.

We have been very fortunate to have some great dogs and wonderful clients that have supported us and we certainly wouldn’t be where we are without their support!

My wife, Morgan and my daughter Molly are my biggest supporters and the reason I get up and work hard every single day. I am extremely blessed to wake up and do what I love every day and could not do it without their support system.

My passion for what I do combined with hard work, a pursuit for perfection and the knowledge to know what it takes to make your dog successful in their career is what separates us from the competition.