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On this episode, I discuss the brutal truths. Everyone loves the pictures of barking beagles, treed hounds, and bird dogs locked on point — but that’s not the full story. Behind every great hunt are hard lessons that most people don’t talk about. In this episode, I pull back the curtain and give you the brutal truths about hunting with dogs:

• Why most dogs will never make it, no matter their bloodline
• How handlers ruin more dogs than genetics ever will
• The true cost — in money, time, and relationships — that this lifestyle demands
• The heartbreak of lost dogs, tough culls, and failure in the field
• And why, after all of that, we still wouldn’t trade it for anything

This isn’t the sugarcoated version of hunting with dogs. It’s raw, unfiltered, and straight from experience. If you’ve ever felt the highs and lows of life with hunting dogs, you’ll relate. And if you’re just starting out, this episode might just save you years of frustration.

Because the truth is brutal — but it’s also what makes this life worth living.

In this episode, I discuss some of the mistakes I made as a new tree dog trainer. These are mistakes, I believe, that a new and beginning handler can avoid, which will help you speed up the process in your training. I know not everyone has a mentor to turn to to ask questions. At Bawlin Out Kennels, we aim to help new and beginning handlers with options on training and mindset that can help them on their hunting dog journey. I share seven mistakes I made in hopes that you do not make the same mistakes I did and get to the results faster!

Thinking about buying a new hunting dog before the season starts—or maybe picking up a pup that someone else has already started? Before you make that decision, there are some key things every handler should consider.

In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, I break down my personal checklist for evaluating a new dog. We’ll cover:

Understanding why you’re buying—whether it’s for hunting, future breeding stock, or resale. The importance of honestly matching your goals with the dog’s background. Key signs of a healthy dog that will save you time, money, and heartache later. The mindset you need when giving a dog that hasn’t been hunted in a while a fair shot.

If you’re serious about setting yourself up for success this season, this episode will give you the clarity to make the right move when evaluating your next dog.

Here is a short episode where I share some thoughts on the mistakes I made when I first started rabbit hunting! With a focus on new and beginning handlers, I want to share these mistakes to help you avoid them and get started on the right track. The benefit of having someone share mistakes they have made with you is that it saves you time, energy, and a headache. I hope these resources help you as you get started on your rabbit hunting and dog training journey.

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Johnson, a member of the Iowa Blood Tracker Association, and we talk about tracking wounded deer with dogs. At Bawlin Out Kennels, we strive to share information with new and beginning handlers on the topic of tracking with dogs. This was fascinating to me, which allowed me to learn something new. Chris has been around dogs for a long time and has been working with deer-tracking dogs for a few years, in addition to running rabbits with beagles. Give it a listen as Chris talks more about how tracking wounded deer with dogs works, ways you can get involved, and how to go about getting help if you need a deer tracked!

In this episode, we discuss having a young dog that might not stay on the tree when it gets treed. I have a question sent to me on Facebook about how a dog sometimes can mill around the tree and not quite be belly up or even leave the tree when the owner is walking in. I have dealt with this before and share something I did that seemed to help my dog when he would tree for a bit and start to leave the tree. WE discuss being slow to correct in these situations to make sure the dog is actually leaving trees with game in them and not just double-checking to make sure they are right. With most things involving training hunting dogs, there are many ways to accomplish the same goal, and the hope is to give a new handler options they can fall back on when encountering different scenarios!

On this episode, we discuss how most hunting dog people relate their love for hunting dogs to an incurable disease of the healthiest kind. The love we share for hunting dogs goes so much further than just harvesting game, but becomes about the dogs, the love of being in the woods or timber, and creating memories with others who love hunting with dogs. We keep this episode light-hearted and fun as I share some comparisons in my mind between the love for dogs and the incurable disease of being thankful for the dogs and friends I have made over the years.

In this episode, we discuss culling dogs as a new and beginning handler. We define culling and outline some key considerations before deciding whether to cull. Culling a dog is something you, as the owner and handler, have to determine is right or not for you. We discuss key considerations when deciding whether to cull a dog. Making sure you, as a new handler, have some sort of standard or metric in your mind to make sure you are giving the dog the best chance possible to become the best dog they can be. Not everyone agrees on culling and whether or not to do it, but coming up with an idea in your mind on what meeting the culling standard will help you along your hunting dog journey, and make a sound decision when the time comes.