The Upland Disciple Podcast

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 li...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 introduc...

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...

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...

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 fi...

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...

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 Per...

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 dee...

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 o...

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...

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...