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Gundog Nation

Kenneth Witt

38 episodes

3 days ago

Send us a text #38 Master gundog trainer Mick Walsh takes us on a journey through his remarkable 35-year career developing champion spaniels across Ireland and the United Kingdom. From his humble beginnings hunting with terriers as a seven-year-old boy to becoming one of the most accomplished competitive handlers in Europe, Walsh shares the wisdom that has helped him train an astounding 20 champion dogs, including 12 international champions. Walsh offers rare insights into what truly separat...

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Society & Culture,

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Send us a text #38 Master gundog trainer Mick Walsh takes us on a journey through his remarkable 35-year career developing champion spaniels across Ireland and the United Kingdom. From his humble beginnings hunting with terriers as a seven-year-old boy to becoming one of the most accomplished competitive handlers in Europe, Walsh shares the wisdom that has helped him train an astounding 20 champion dogs, including 12 international champions. Walsh offers rare insights into what truly separat...

Show more...

Society & Culture,

Episodes (20/38)

Gundog Nation

Mick Walsh - Training Champions Across the Pond, Cockers vs. Springers

Send us a text #38 Master gundog trainer Mick Walsh takes us on a journey through his remarkable 35-year career developing champion spaniels across Ireland and the United Kingdom. From his humble beginnings hunting with terriers as a seven-year-old boy to becoming one of the most accomplished competitive handlers in Europe, Walsh shares the wisdom that has helped him train an astounding 20 champion dogs, including 12 international champions. Walsh offers rare insights into what truly separat...

3 days ago

1 hour 1 minute

Gundog Nation

Greg Blair - Purina, Pointing Dogs, Field Trials

Send us a text #37 The journey from novice to expert in the world of upland hunting is paved with lessons often learned the hard way. In this captivating conversation, Kenneth Witt welcomes Greg Blair, a senior specialist with Purina's Sporting Dog Group, who brings three decades of pointing dog wisdom to Gundog Nation. Greg's passion for bird dogs began in the 1990s, evolving from casual hunting over a springer spaniel to campaigning a Hall of Fame English Pointer. With refreshing honesty, ...

1 week ago

1 hour 20 minutes

Gundog Nation

Wade Skeen - Skeen Gundogs & Outfitters

Send us a text #36 Wade Skeen takes us deep into the changing landscape of American waterfowl hunting, revealing how agricultural practices have dramatically shifted migration patterns away from traditional southern flyways. The owner of Skeen Gundogs and Outfitters in south central Kansas explains why the Midwest has become a duck hunting paradise: drought-resistant seed varieties pushing corn production northward, no-till farming leaving billions of bushels of waste grain in fields, and sig...

2 weeks ago

1 hour 19 minutes

Gundog Nation

Ben Skinner - Skinner's Dog Food: From Post Mill to Performance Dog Food

Send us a text #35 What does a 300-year-old family business have to teach us about passion, quality, and preserving our gundog heritage? Ben Skinner, the seventh-generation leader of Skinner's Dog Food, takes us on a fascinating journey from his family's 1688 windmill to their current position as a beloved dog food manufacturer in the UK. The remarkable story unfolds as Ben shares how his grandfather Stanley operated a traditional grain milling business that was facing bankruptcy when his fa...

3 weeks ago

1 hour 2 minutes

Gundog Nation

Barton Ramsey - British vs American Training Methods, Group Steadiness, SOK

Send us a text #34 The journey to developing an extraordinary hunting retriever demands more than just basic obedience—it requires a training philosophy built on understanding, patience, and fair expectations. In this captivating conversation with Barton Ramsey of Southern Oak Kennels, we explore the nuanced approach that has established him as one of America's premier British Labrador breeders and trainers. Barton takes us deep into his training methodology, emphasizing the critical differe...

1 month ago

1 hour 29 minutes

Gundog Nation

Luke Cour - Cour's Retrievers, SRS Crown Champion, Field Trials

#33 What does it take to become one of retriever training's rising stars at just 30 years old? Luke Cour reveals the mindset and methods behind his remarkable success as we explore his journey from rodeo competitor to SRS Crown Champion. Growing up as the son of a successful pointer trainer, Luke developed an appreciation for working dogs from an early age. His natural intensity and competitive spirit found an outlet first in rodeo, then in retriever training after purchasing his first Lab t...

1 month ago

1 hour 6 minutes

Gundog Nation

Dr. Joe Wurster - Veterinary Insights for Gundog Owners. The Bird Dog Vet.

#32 When your beloved gun dog is miles from civilization with a medical emergency, knowing what to do can mean the difference between life and death. In this illuminating conversation with Dr. Joe Wurster, known throughout the bird dog community as "the bird dog vet," we dive into the specialized world of hunting dog medicine that many urban veterinarians rarely encounter. Dr. Wurster reveals why he became a veterinarian after a career change from political science – his passion for bird dog...

1 month ago

1 hour 26 minutes

Gundog Nation

Ben Leger - Georgian Bay Shed Dog Club, Canadian Antler Dogs, UKC Competitions

#31 Unlock a fascinating world of canine adventure with Ben Leger, founder of Georgian Bay Shed Dogs and Canadian Antler Dogs, as he reveals the thriving sport of shed hunting. This growing pastime taps into dogs' natural instincts to find and retrieve shed antlers – a behavior even observed in wild wolves and coyotes. Ben walks us through how this accessible sport has evolved from casual recreation to structured competition through the UKC Elite Shed Dog Series. With championships, titles, ...

1 month ago

1 hour 20 minutes

Gundog Nation

Ray Voigt - From Field Trial Champions to Purina Pro Plan

#030 Ray Voigt brings nearly three decades of retriever training expertise to this enlightening conversation about the evolution of gundog training, handling sensitive dogs, and his journey from Minnesota teenager to professional dog trainer and Purina executive. With 53 field champions, three National Amateur Champions, and one National Open Champion to his credit, Ray offers rare insights into what separates truly exceptional dogs from the rest. "Some of the best dogs I've had were classif...

1 month ago

58 minutes

Gundog Nation

Hannah Hall and Abbie Binzer - Building a Life Around Gundogs and Hunting

#029 Two Kentucky women are redefining what it means to be hunters in today's world, proving that you don't need to grow up in a hunting family to become passionate about the sport and working with gundogs. Hannah Hall and Abbie Binzer share their remarkable journeys into hunting, which both began later in life. Hannah, who started in 2021 with a turkey hunt that left her "100% addicted," has since restructured her entire life around hunting opportunities – leaving her corporate HR career fo...

2 months ago

1 hour 8 minutes

Gundog Nation

Clark Kennington - Champion Gundog Trainer, The Hunt Test Guide, Castile Creek Kennels

#028 What separates truly elite dog trainers from the rest? Clark Kennington pulls back the curtain on 20 years of success in the competitive retriever world, revealing that psychological understanding might matter more than traditional pressure-based methods. As a two-time SRS Crown Champion with over 100 Grand passes to his credit, Kennington explains how the retriever game has evolved dramatically over two decades. Today's better-bred, more intelligent dogs respond to fundamentally differ...

2 months ago

1 hour 21 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #027: Standing Stone Kennels - Breeding and Training GSP's

What happens when a Geek Squad technician with an obsessive personality meets a college-educated bird hunter? For Ethan and Kat of Standing Stone Kennels, this unlikely combination sparked a remarkable journey from amateur dog owners to renowned German Shorthair Pointer breeders and trainers. Their story begins with pure passion. After acquiring their first GSP in 2009, Ethan's meticulous nature took over—watching videos, reading books, working with dogs at every opportunity, even staying un...

2 months ago

1 hour 6 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #026: Brent Cowley - Gunner Kennels, Hunting, Retrievers

In this fascinating conversation with Brent Cowley, Gunner's Event Marketing Specialist, we explore the science and passion behind what many consider the world's safest dog kennels. Brent takes us inside the company's patented double-walled rotomolded design – the only one of its kind – and describes testing that included throwing kennels off cliffs, shooting them with shotguns, and crushing tests where the kennel actually broke a 7,000-pound industrial vice. The real power of this conversat...

3 months ago

1 hour 23 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #025: Think Twice Retrievers - Breeding, Training, Judging in Europe

Ever wondered what separates championship gun dogs from the rest? Kenneth Witt sits down with Pieter Vivijs and Laura Lazzaretto, Belgian retriever experts with decades of experience breeding, training, and judging at the highest levels of European competition, including the prestigious International Gundog League (IGL). This fascinating conversation reveals striking differences between European and American approaches to training and competitions. Laura shares her 25-year journey breeding g...

3 months ago

59 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #024: Wayne Lain - Snake Avoidance Training, Snake Breaker

Wayne Lain, known professionally as "Snake Breaker," brings over two decades of specialized expertise to this compelling episode of Gundog Nation. Having trained thousands of dogs to avoid dangerous encounters with venomous reptiles, Wayne shares the methodology that has potentially saved countless canine lives throughout Texas and beyond. The conversation dives deep into the science and psychology behind effective snake avoidance training. Wayne meticulously explains how he uses live Wester...

3 months ago

1 hour 1 minute

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #023: Ben Randall - UK Champion Gundog Trainer, Gundog App, Training Philosophy

Ben Randall, double British National Field Trial Champion and creator of the revolutionary BG method, challenges traditional training approaches in this eye-opening conversation. Drawing from decades of experience training hundreds of dogs and teaching thousands of handlers worldwide, Randall reveals how psychology-driven training produces exceptional results without harsh corrections. At the heart of Randall's approach is a profound shift in perspective—training the human first, then the do...

3 months ago

1 hour 25 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #022: Rachel Busselman: Chagas Disease and Prevention in Gundogs

A deadly parasite spread by kissing bugs is silently attacking hunting dogs across America, and most owners have no idea their dogs are at risk until it's too late. In this eye-opening conversation, Kenneth Witt welcomes Rachel Busselman, a fourth-year veterinary student who earned her PhD researching Chagas disease at Texas A&M University. Rachel reveals alarming statistics from her years studying hunting kennels across Texas, where she discovered over 25% of previously healthy dogs bec...

4 months ago

48 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #021: J.R. Gray - Champion Coon Dogs, Breeding, Coon Hunting

Step into the fascinating world of champion coon hunting dogs with J.R. Gray, owner of what many consider the most successful stud dog in America today. Gray's Rack Em Willie boasts an unprecedented collection of titles – UKC World Night Hunt Champion, PKC Hunt Champion, AKC Supreme Grand Night Champion – all earned before his fourth birthday when Gray made the strategic decision to retire him for breeding. Willie has since sired approximately 1,800 puppies, with many becoming champions them...

4 months ago

1 hour 14 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #020: Steve Strongman - The Waterfowl Dispatchers, Retriever Training

From carving wooden decoys in Ontario to guiding hunts beneath dancing Northern Lights in Saskatchewan, Steve Strongman's waterfowling journey embodies the rich heritage of Canadian hunting traditions. As co-owner of The Waterfowl Dispatchers outfitting company, Steve offers a rare window into what makes Saskatchewan arguably the world's premier waterfowl destination. What makes this conversation truly compelling is Steve's parallel journey as a first-time dog owner and trainer. Having never...

5 months ago

1 hour 10 minutes

Gundog Nation

Gundog Nation #019: Declan Boyle - Tullyah Gundogs, IKC/KC Judge, Gundog Trainer

In this engaging conversation, Kenneth Witt interviews Declan Boyle, a renowned gundog trainer from Ireland. Declan shares his journey into the world of gundogs, discussing the structure of national gundog teams, the importance of obedience in training, and the various competitions held across Europe. He also delves into the practices of hunting with retrievers, the regulations surrounding firearms in the UK, and his experiences as a judge in gundog competitions. Declan concludes by reflectin...

5 months ago

1 hour 6 minutes