The Upland Disciple Podcast

Welcome back for another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast. On this episode we welcome in Sonny & Jordan from "The Method" dog training based out of both Connecticut and Wisconsin. Sonny and Jordan have found a unique niche in bird dog training, combing strong elements of obedience through the use of an obstacle course to develop cooperation, understanding and the ability to problem solve for the dog. It is a fun listen to hear how they envision bird dog development from this perpsective and how it translates to the field time and time again. Hope you enjoy another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast!

In this episode we switch it up a bit, still talking bird dogs and bird dog training/development but from a tools provider perspective. Mike Neiduski owns Ugly Dog Hunting, and as an avid uplander builds his business based on training tools, devices, and apparel that make sense and work for him and his customers. His product lines aim at longevity, usefulness, and not overselling the unneccessary stuff we all seem to get early on in our training lives!!  You can find all things Ugly Dog Hunting at www.uglydoghunting.com or on Facebook or Instagram @uglydoghunting. 

We pick up where we left off in reverse pod episode 1, talking about training dogs to use their natural drive to extend or shape their range/pattern. We talk primarily about avoiding yo-yo-ing and getting your dog to stay to front from a young age using birds and the dogs natural drive to shape an up front dog. While we talk edges, this could be done in a patterning format as well if that is your desired hunting style with your dog!!

We pick up where we left off with field trials, training, and all things bird dogs!

In this episode we jump into all things bird doggin' with Kelli Aitken of Quantonas Irish Setters. It's a 2 parter so come back for part 2 in a couple weeks! Kelli gets into her story, her love of the Irish Setter, training, learning, field trialing, and even a a bit of judging! Kelli is a very accomplish trainier/handler in the field trial world, with some of the nicest Irish Setters around!!

This week we welcome to the pod, legend in the making and national champion and dog of the year handler, Jamie Daniels. Jamie has trained and handled multiple champions, including recent AA dog of the year Miller's Blindsider. Jamie has been in the bird dog world since his youth, and we dive into his origin story in bird dogs as a helping hand, all the way up to his decorated career (so far) as a handler, as well as his dog development program, and what he looks for in developing the next great bird dog. It is a wealth of knowledge from Jamie, and well worth the listen. I apologize up front for some of the recording issues as we recorded this on the phone while working a bit, so it is heavily edited to try to help your listening experience!! Enjoy!

In this episode we turn things upside down just a bit. Rather than me, Josh, interview a guest, long time friend and bird dog guy Jake Faas w/ True Loyalty Dog Training out of MN, asked if he could interview me about the history and my experience and thoughts of the breed I work the most with, the Epagneul Breton. With over 35 years of life spent around and with the breed, we discussed everything from breed standard, to personality, to breeding philosophy, to understanding the breed for what it is and can be. There are some controversial topics within the breed, as there are in any, from the common misunderstanding of what "foot-hunters" dog ought to be, to what the "range" of these dogs should be, to outcrossing versus line-breeding or inbreeding in a successful breeding program. We tread the waters lightly and try to address the truths behind some of these myths, the reason these small but mighty pointing dogs have the following and fanfare that they do, and reframe the converastion over some of these topics all while weaving in stories and examples of EBs who have been trained in different styles, to different nurture environments in their development, all in a pursuit of a fully formed bird dog that can be that demon in the field and angel in home.

Welcome back to another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast! In this episode we welcome back former guest of the pod and good friend Jake Faas of True Loyalty dog training.  In this episode I let Jake take the reigns and walk us through the process of a positive reinforced trained retrieve. Using his wealth of knowledge from shaping dogs in the bite dog sports, Jake has brought with him a knowledge and style of training the retrieve that is unique, well thought out, and effective! If you, like me, have a dog here and there that needs some work on their retrieve, or if you are in a competitive arena where the retrieve needs to on command and clean every time, listen twice to this episode with Jake. It was truly an eye-opening and ear popping conversation for me to hear how Jake has developed this method of trained retrieve through years of shaping behaviors and training dogs! You can find Jake on Facebook or Instagram at True Loyalty, and I would encourage you to reach out and ask questions or maybe for a short video of what this conversation looks like when applied to your personal bird dog! Sit back and enjoy this packed episode on the trained retrieve!

Welcome back to another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast! We continue the conversation from last time with Hannah Peterson of Mud Lake Kennels. In this episode we pick up right where we left off, continuing on with the value of the crate, finishing a dog, and the value of wild birds in the development of a bird dog!!! Sit back and enjoy the second half of the conversation with Hannah and go find her on Facebook or Instagram at Mud Lake Kennels!

Welcome back to another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast! In this episode we sit down for part 1 of a 2 part conversation with Hannah Peterson of Mud Lake Kennels. Hannah has a wealth of experience from bite dogs to pet dogs and more, but she has found her love most recently in the bird dog world. Hannah and her husband Kyle run primarily Setters but she will train any bird dog out there! Hannah dives deep to cover a variety of topics from bird introduction, to obedience training, to the importance of a crate and crate training for the dogs benefit and mindset. We run the whole spectrum from puppy, to starting an older dog, to finishing dogs, to the value of wild birds in the development of a bird dog, and everything Hannah offers as bird dog trainer and what her philosophy and mindset is, as she works to get the most out of each dog that comes to Mud Lake Kennels. Sit back and enjoy this fun chat with Hannah on bird dog development! You can find Hannah and Kyle on Facebook at Mud Lake Kennels!

Welcome back to another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast. In this episode we catch up with Dane Murphy and James Bouler. Dane and his father in law Henry just launched Covey Creek Farms near Five Points, TN as a new quail ranch just north of the Alabama line. Operating on nearly 500 acres, Covey Creek is set up to provide a hunter with a real southern Tennessee quail hunt, offering wild coveys, pre-released coveys that have become wild, and additional released birds the day of the hunt to guarantee you opportunities on birds, but also the covey rises we all yearn for. James operates Bouler Game Birds and is the supplier of quail for Covey Creek as well as numerous other bird farms, dog trainers, and field trials in the south.  In this episode we focus on what a hunt looks like at Covey Creek, talking everything from cover and topography, to birds and dog work. You can find and book a membership to train and hunt or just take a day or weekend hunt with Covey Creek at www.huntcoveycreek.com.  I had the opportunity to go down to Covey Creek and shoot their promo videos and pics with my dogs, and I can say from first hand experience, this place is going to be awesome for a TN style quail hunt!! Sit back and enjoy the episode and reach out to Dane to book a hunt at Covey Creek!

Welcome back to another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast. I apologize for the month away as there was a lot of life and dogs going on in September. With that being said this episode is one of my favorites as we welcome future Hall of Famer, and multiple time Handler of the Year, Mike Tracy of Summerhill Kennels to the podcast. I apologize in advance for a couple of overlaps in conversation as I was battling my internet during this conversation but didn't want to cut out any of the wisdom Mike shares in this episode! Mike grew up in dogs following his father George into the field trial game and lifestyle running high end Pointers across the country. Aside from his success Mike is a dog man at heart, and this episode is a deep dive into training, handling, and evaluating dogs and horses. We touch on collar work, patterning, the breaking (steadiness) process, teaching a dog from a young age to go with you, and ultimately finishing a dog the right way, set up for success as a team. Sit back and enjoy this awesome conversation with Mike Tracy, and hopefully you come away with a few nuggets of knowledge on training your own bird dog for success in the hunting fields and forests, or in the field trial or test game that you enjoy!

This an incredibly fun episode with a twist on our normal content. Nic is the founder of Land Trust, which at its essence is AirBnB for outdoors people. If you are looking for a hunt in a place you are not familiar with, Land Trust is a must!!! They offer the background work of places, ground, and opportunity, offer you hunts on private, massive, land spaces in the areas you are looking to go. Can you imagine 5,000 private acres to go chase that bucket list bird? Often it's less than a couple hundred dollars a day, and the land owners often help and give you bird spots, so you are resigned to topographically scouting from afar!!! This might be the coolest thing since sliced bread for the uplander!!! Check em out and give the episode a listen!!!

This episode is a low key, fun dive into a few of the key factors of how to prep and plan a trip so you don't find yourself lacking when you get to that remote spot on your next bucket list trip!! Wayne is a friend from the Breton world who has found a love and passion for the bird dogs and wild birds as he explores terrain and areas he has never ventured to before. Sit back and relax and enjoy listenting to Wayne help you build your checklist for your fall hunts!!!

This might be one of my favorite inverviews diving into the world unknown of bird dogs and falconers. Tyler is a premier hawk guy running pointing dogs and hawks on upland game in a completely unique and fun way. I would encourage anyone to take a listen to what this world is like and have fun listening to Tyler talk about how the hawk and gun dog world overlap in a crazy fun way!!!! And as always, thank you to our sponsors American Natural Premium, Trinity Gun Dog Company, and Paradigm Sporting Dog for making this podcast possible!!!

Kaj is just an every uplander's dude. He wants to work dogs, read dogs, develop dogs, and have fund with his dogs!!! If that is you, then check out this episode with a not so amateur amateur working dogs with the best of em! And thank you to the sponsors! American Natural Premium dog food, Trinity Gun Dog Company, and Paradigm Sporting Dog for making this podcast possible!!

On this episode with Chris Alberini, owner and trainer at Teuful Hunden Kennels, a kennel built on and for the Small Munsterlander, Chris dives deep on all things small time bird dogs. He trains his own and trains for others. He is a NAVHDA geek in the best way and runs his dogs at a high level in that system. Chris goes through every step of dog development in his program and what has made him so incredibly successful in a short time. Check it out to hear more about his training method and style as well as his breed and the NAVHDA game!! And thank you to our our sponsors!!! American Natural Premium for powering our dogs, and Trinity Gun Dog Company and Paradigm Sporting Dog for protecting and helping our dogs in all scenarios at home and in the field!!

We welcome Carolyn Kennedy to the podcast to discuss all things bird dog nutrition. We have a fund conversation over what to look for in an ingredient deck in your dog food, proper proportions of protein to fat ratios, which proteins are ideal or optimal, as well as many more dog food centric topics. We also dive into many of the myths or stories surround dog nutrition from grain free to corn and other issues such as meat sources or types. If you have ever wondered what to key on in searching for the best nutrition for your pet, Carolyn, from American Natural Premium lays it all out there in a very fun and easy to understand way!!! And as always thank you to our sponsors!! American Natural Premium, Trinity Gun Dog Company, and Paradigm Sporting Dog for your ongoing support and commitment to helping me bring the best of the bird dog world to each listener who enjoys the podcast!!!

We continue with Grayson, looking at the ongoing work of developing a gun dog and then a finished dog, hitting on the drills, benchmarks and tools used in his program to finish a bird dog for each client. We also spend some time on trained retrieve or force fetch, discussing what it looks like and how Grayson goes about shaping a retrieve for a bird dog. Thank you to our sponsors American Natural Premium dog foods, Trinity Gun Dog Company, and The Paradigm Sporting Dog for your continued support of the podcast and all things uplands!!! 

Join us for part 1 of a 2 part interview with Grayson Guyer of Lost Highway Gundogs. Grayson has been in dog training and development for many years, doing everything from military and police k9 training, to the bite dog world, to retrievers and pointing dogs in the upland. In part one we focus heavily on early dog development including the fundamental and crucial stages that include bird introduction, developing prey drive, collar and gun conditioning and more. Grayson pairs the benchmarks of his program with stories of his years of training both at home and abroad for clients that range from private clients to the military overseas. Thank you to our sponsors American Natural Premium dog foods, Trinity Gun Dog Company, and Paradigm Sporting Dog for your ongoing support and incredible investment in the bird dog world!

In this episode we take a look at most things outdoors, but focus heavily on Kami's experience in the uplands with her two dogs Sig and Benelli, as well her time in the field hunting with her dogs and learning to train w/ her mentor George Hickox. Fun fact about Kami, she was on Naked and Afraid, proof that she is one of the coolest, most fearless, and adventerous uplanders I know. She is an adult onset Uplander who has jumped in with both feet, learning and leading where she can in the outdoor space, upland world, and as an advocate for the underrepresented in the hunting and upland space! Also a big thank you to our sponsors American Natural Premium Dog Food, Paradigm Sporting Dog, and Trinity Gun Dog Company! To find Kami on social media look her up @kamkam520 on Instagram or @KamiliaElsisie on Facebook! Hope you enjoy this fun podcast exploring the uplands and outdoors with Kami!

We conclude the three part interview with Mr. George Hickox with hitting on some key issues, questions that pop up, opportunities to learn and train with him, as well as just revisiting some of the big ticket items he mentioned throughout the previous two episodes for clarity and help!

We continue an in-depth conversation with Mr. George Hickox looking at the middle benchmarks and stages of pointing dog development from steadiness to prairies work, all the way to having a gun dog any of us could be proud of taking out with our buddies are playing the field trial game with!

In part one of this three part interview we dive deep with Mr. George Hickox on his philosophy of dog training, the psychology of dogs, and the starting process of young dog development in his proven, effective, and championship winning method of dog training.

Buckle up for a great episode with Lane Hodges of One Day Farms down in Georgia. Lane is an amateur trainer and handler in the American Field big dog game. He runs his dogs in both open and amateur shooting dog at the highest levels and one of his pointers took runner up for amateur shooting dog of the year last year. Lane starts up the conversation in part one by talking about his introduction to bird dogs, his "One Day" farm, and his methodology of training a bird dog. Lane is as knowledgable as an amateur gets and even shares the different pro trainers he has gleaned tools, tips, and tricks from. If you want to hear what it's like to hang with the big boys as a regular dude, and still have success, you will want to give this a listen!!

In this episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast, we take a short detour from training to have an in depth discussion with Dr. Clair Maples of Paradigm Sporting Dog. We talk through numerous scenarios and case studies looking at barbed-wire fences, lacerations, traps, animal encounters, overheating, when to staple and when NOT to staple, and more. If you have ever wondered what you should do in a first aid scenario for your dog in the field, tune in and learn from Dr. Clair!

We continue the conversation with Jon and Jessica Hann from Perfection Kennels with the continued develop of a bird dog following the puppy stages. Discussing things like retrieve, steadiness, and other key components to a fully finished bird dog, we look at the tools, the drills, and the tips they share as to how best get a dog to where you want it to be as a finished bird dog for you! They also invite you to join them at an upcoming seminar or to reach out with any questions or thoughts on any of the conversation had on these two episodes!

In part one Jon and Jessica Hann from Perfection Kennels introduce us to their training philosophy and overall methods, as they overlay for a dog time and time again. We also dive into a deeper discussion of young dog development and puppy work, from socialization to birds and gun introduction and conditioning. It is a really fun discussion from some of the best trainers in the country at Team Perfection Kennels!

Clint comes back to continue the story of the building of the breton in the US in his kennel, his training, and his group. He is the most well known breton training in the US and has led many newcomers into the game and into the breedQ

We dive deep with Clint LaFary, long team leader in the training and handling world of French Brittanies in the US! This interview is so rich we had to take two episodes to unwrap it for you!

Jeremy joins us from upstate Connecticut where he owns and operates V3 Gun Dogs. Jeremy spent his early career in law enforcement, working heavily in the k9 units before retiring and launching his own full time training kennel. Jeremy has immense experience in the bird dog world as well, and has run dogs in hunt tests and field trials across the northeast. Join us for this fun conversation and deep dive on what gun dog development looks like with Jeremy and V3 Gun Dogs!

In this episode we talk with Jake Faas from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Jake has had a lot of experience with dogs in his life, but is relatively new to bird dogs. Jake currently owns and operates a pet dog training company in the Twin Cities and utilizies many of the same obedience drills and philosophical methods across the board. Jake has had a frisbee or agility dog, he has spent lots of time in the bite dog world working with others as a training helper or the man in the suit, but also has trained and competed his own beligan malinois. Recently Jake has gotten into bird dogs, and much of this podcast is really about how dogs learn, and how important it is to read a dog, and do what is right for them, not being to strict in our regiment but adapting to each dog we have. He shares about his use of the clicker in shaping behaviors, and his mentor George Hickox as he trains his first bird dog in the land of 10,000 lakes! Check out more of Jake's work at https://www.trueloyaltymn.com/

In this part two of the interview with Ronnie and Susanna Smith we will dive deeper into finishing a dog, things that come up and how to avoid them or work on them, tools, tips, tricks to have in your tool bag, as well as a bit more conversation on the larger work of bird dog development, clinics and seminars that they offer, and other final things like retrieve work and more.  

On this episode of the Upland Disciple Podcast, we are joined by Ronnie and Susanna Smith of Ronnie Smith Kennels. Coming from the Smith family tree, Ronnie and Susanna are generational experts in the Smith Method, also known as the HuntSmith Silent Command System, and were kind enough to share their wealth of knowledge on bird dogs, bird dog training, bird dog psychology, and the tools and styles that they have adopted, adapted, and used throughout their careers as top end dog trainers. If you have used a Wonder Lead or a Whoa Post, you can largely thank the Smith's and the Smith Method for these tools and concepts in developing your bird dog! If you are looking for a training method that suits you and your dog, or you are looking for a clinic or seminar that you can attend with your bird dog to learn and grow together, then give this episode (and part 2, coming soon) a listen and see if the Smith Method just might be the one for you!! This is part 1 of a two part episode, just so we can soak in all the knowledge, experience and wisdom that Ronnie and Susanna have to offer! #americannaturalpremium #bprokennels #redemptionbirddogs #ronniesmithkennels

This is just a short intro to the podcast, what is it come, a bit about me, Josh Ruiter, and why I am aspiring to bring this content to each and every one of you, as we together seek to grow as dog trainers, handlers, hunters, and uplanders. Every episode will be full of either professional dog trainers sharing with us their methods, tools, tips, and tricks OR amateur or those who have come after the "big dogs" and have put their methods to use sharing with us their stories and their call to the uplands. I hope you enjoy the Upland Disciple Podcast, and feel free to drop us a message, and hit like if this podcast is beneficial to you! Happy hunting and trialing friends!