Episode #050 When my impatience led me to embark on a 52-week dog training program, little did I know how much my life would change. Join us for an engaging discussion with fellow CGA member Luke Wolfert as we share our journey into hunting, dog training, and the unexpected rewards that come along the way.
Luke's passion for hunting began at the age of 20. Starting with bow hunting, progressing to turkey hunting, and eventually diving into the world of retriever training, Luke's dedication to his dog Boone has paid off in incredible ways. We also explore how the game of training is addictive, as it combines frustration and reward, making it a truly fulfilling pursuit.
From learning to stay calm during training to trusting the process, we discuss the importance of having a solid foundation and how taking a break can make a significant difference in a dog's performance. Listen in as we chat about the challenges and triumphs of training hunting dogs, and the incredible journey it takes us on. Don't miss out on hearing about Luke's exciting experiences with retriever training and hunt tests—and how they've shaped both his and Boone's growth in this captivating episode.
Episode #050 When my impatience led me to embark on a 52-week dog training program, little did I know how much my life would change. Join us for an engaging discussion with fellow CGA member Luke Wolfert as we share our journey into hunting, dog training, and the unexpected rewards that come along the way.
Luke's passion for hunting began at the age of 20. Starting with bow hunting, progressing to turkey hunting, and eventually diving into the world of retriever training, Luke's dedication to his dog Boone has paid off in incredible ways. We also explore how the game of training is addictive, as it combines frustration and reward, making it a truly fulfilling pursuit.
From learning to stay calm during training to trusting the process, we discuss the importance of having a solid foundation and how taking a break can make a significant difference in a dog's performance. Listen in as we chat about the challenges and triumphs of training hunting dogs, and the incredible journey it takes us on. Don't miss out on hearing about Luke's exciting experiences with retriever training and hunt tests—and how they've shaped both his and Boone's growth in this captivating episode.
Cornerstone Gun Dog Academy online resources to help you train your retriever.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Build From Here podcast. On this episode, I'm super excited to have a CGA member, Luke Wolferton, And just guys. We've kind of been following his journey for some time now. I always follow in the shadows. I look at everybody, every post they make. We just try to see what everybody's doing and see where people are making progress, see where challenges have been faced and see how they ever come those challenges. And that's what really makes us proud about CGA members They take their time, they put in the work and they make things happen. And so we try to get people at different stages of the journey. And Luke is well into this journey now. Hasn't completed the whole core ship, but well in, And we had a great conversation the other day when we were just chatting about his dog and everything And I thought it would be great to have him on. But without further ado, Luke, let me bring you on and introduce you to the CGA community. How's it going?
Speaker 3:Good, good brother, How you doing.
Speaker 2:I'm doing good man, so glad to have you on And looks like you're just wrapping up a training session. We kind of talked about it a minute ago. I was like you know, you got to. You kind of got to be into uh, into dogs for training at eight, eight, 39, nine o'clock at night. It's got to be your passion, i would say.
Speaker 3:Yeah, 100% Yeah. My daughter's had softball there in playoffs right now, so they got done about quarter after seven and I asked the wife. I said, hey, i'm going to run booing if you don't care. She's like I want to expect anything less. I'll see you home for a late dinner. I said, all right, sounds good. So yeah, just got done.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Well, luke, just before we kind of dive into your story with your dog, how you got into it, what, um, you know kind of what's your background? I want to. What's your background on a honey Let's, i want to go there. Like, have you always been a hunter? Is it something that you did a little bit later in life? Kind of you know what got you into hunting and how did you get rolling on that?
Speaker 3:Um, yeah, i didn't um, be 35 years soon. I started hunting when I was 20 and then, uh, never really hunted much before that. I mean, we shot stuff around the farm, you know, but never really hunted much before that. A few of my buddies were into bow hunting and uh, yeah, i bought my first bow the year I got married And then, uh, i didn't, i didn't really know, i didn't really know what hunting was going to turn into And my dad's got a pretty obsessive personality and I I'm pretty much a spitting image of my dad And that, uh, that steam rolled over the course of 15 years into traveling out of state hunting and a lot of public. We don't do any private land stuff really much. Uh, me and my buddies, and that's got me, that's got me hooked about, as hooked as you can get. And then, yeah, it was always started in the whitetail world. And then duck hunting a few times in the last few years, not much. I mean, uh, good, good year, be like four duck hunts, not much.
Speaker 3:Turkey hunting Uh, turkey hunting is kind of what I think struck up duck hunting a little bit, because we had a bunch of turkeys. We always do buy our house and people would ask to hunt and I always say no, i like watching them, even though I was a deer hunter. Um, they're like you got the best turkey on spot in the world. You don't turkey on, You got to try it. It's a riot, i'm sorry. And then, uh, yeah. So I started turkey hunting. That grabbed a hold of me something fierce, just because it's fun working a bird and that changes the game a lot. And I started bullhunting turkeys and then I started shotgunning turkeys and it's been a. it's been a snowball of an avalanche that's possible to stop now, i think at this point yeah, I mean, it gets in your blood pretty easy.
Speaker 2:What was, uh, so clearly the first experience? was it? the first experience must have been a good one, or something about it must have drew you back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, i uh, the first time I ever had. So I we I just hunted by my dad's farm and I had no money. I was young, young man at the time and I had a steel, you know big game tree stand I think it was as heavier and lead with steel sticks. And I remember I was going to hunt mobile because that's what it seemed like guys were kind of starting to do and that were successful. And I used to take that heavy clanging thing and I'd move it almost every other night to a different tree 20 yards from the other tree. I had no clue what I was doing. I had no clue. Nobody in my family hunted. I was learning everything from the internet and YouTube and videos.
Speaker 3:And the first time I ever had I had a small six point command and I was fixing to shoot it And I had a, i think, a 60 pound bow at the time And, uh, you know I'm not a small guy, i'm, i'm, you know, six, one, two hundred and 15 pounds And I could not get that bow back to save my life. My cage was so rattled, i was so shaken up And I I remember telling my wife I said, you know, i've raced dirt bikes. I've gone fast on motorcycles, i've done a whole lot of stupid stuff over the years, but I never had nothing rattle me like that. And she's like you know, and it gets. It gets worse and worse. I'll tell you that. And uh, yeah, i've just been pretty pretty well, pretty well hooked ever since. I mean, i'll tell you, even if, even shooting a big white tail, nowadays I don't get too rattled when they come in, but afterwards I've been known to call my friends and sound like I'm keeping over the side of a boat. I can tell you it gets me pretty rough.
Speaker 3:Ain't ain't too much. Ain't too much. Give me worked up like that.
Speaker 2:Man, yeah, the bow hunting is something else. It's oh gosh, i mean any, any hunting for white tail. I've always loved that. It can really oh gosh, it gets you going. It's especially, you know, but if it happens so quick, you know you pull the trigger and then it hits you after, which is which is awesome. So okay, going from white tail, how did you get to where you're obviously in deep financially and a time investment already, when you, based on what you're already saying, how did you end up with a dog and how did you end up getting even deeper into this, this whole of of hunting?
Speaker 3:I've always been a dog lover and our last dog well, we had mass of growing up and my mom actually bred them. We had English mass this and I remember that when I was a young man or teenager and I had one of the pups from that dog That was. That dog was a beast, biggest baby ever met, but I remember he was 230 pounds.
Speaker 3:And then you know me, when I've got married, we had a couple of dogs and then I had a boxer. That was my most recent dog prior to Boone And I just always always been a dog lover. And then, unfortunately, old age and we had to put Mac down and that was in August, it was right around my birthday, and that that was really hard. I remember that that hurt me. That hurt me pretty good.
Speaker 3:And then You know I always want a hunt dog. You always see these. You know I like nostalgia with hunting, especially like you see them, old pictures of old guys hunting and everything else. And you always see these iconic pictures of hunting dogs hunting And I'm like you know, that's hunting fish And that's what I. That's all I do. I mean, that's all I think about most of the time.
Speaker 3:And I said, you know, i told my wife, i said I want to get a hunt dog And she did not want a lab. She wanted nothing to do with it. She said they shed. I don't want to deal with the shedding. So we had talked about getting actually a GSP for a while And then I finally talked her into getting a lab. So one of my best friends actually found this litter and he got the brother to Boone and they were British labs And I'm you know I don't know what a British lab is. A lab is a lab to me, but I'm researching as fast as I can because there's only two dogs of this litter left. And I said, yeah, let's do it. And my wife actually picked Boone out of the litter I was out of town and Jake, my best friend, his wife picked his dog out too, because we were out of town together And so we knew we were getting one out of the litter.
Speaker 3:But we didn't know which one we were getting. And yeah, i had a friend of mine who did cornerstone and he said we're great for his dog. I'm like I don't even know where to turn and signed up and it's, it's been.
Speaker 2:I don't know, i don't know what else I do at this point.
Speaker 3:Honestly, yeah, that's just, that's just what I figured on doing. I don't know, i don't know I don't know how else to explain that.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Yeah, so that's, it's always good when you have a good friend. I'm glad. I'm glad they recommended you, so, which is so cool. I love hearing those type of stories too, cause it's like you know, we we've been around a little while now. I mean, we're not that old, but we've we've been out for quite a few years now And it uh, when I hear stories I like that It's that makes me excited just to hear so hey, someone recommended, they were happy, and then they recommended somebody else. Now they're friends. You know, for us it's a big thing is we want to see the community flourish, we want to see people connect and and which we've seen a ton of, and it's incredible. But, um, so that's, uh, that gets me excited. What, uh, so what was it like? So it sounds like you were coming into this pretty much blind as far as training, hunting dogs, going no experience there had had dogs in the past. What, uh, what was your experience like?
Speaker 3:Um, it was good. I mean I'm pretty impatient person. I mean you see, you know you got this cute little puppy and you're like you know you want to be smashing ducks tomorrow. It was pretty much how, how you want to do it. I mean that's you know. and then all of a sudden they get older and you're like, well, i I kind of missed the puppy stage a little bit, but at first I didn't know what to expect And I told myself right out of the gate. I said I got to being so impatient as a person I'm like I have to take my time.
Speaker 3:I cannot look ahead in the program. I need to do week by week. And I remember we did the Skype call with me and my wife, with you guys for the I think it was the five year anniversary, if I believe and I said what do you think? And she's like what? she's like you're going to do the 52 plus? And I said yeah, i said why do you say that? And she goes cause I know you, you're going to just that's what one you're going to do, you're not going to do the other ones, you're just going to do that one. And I said okay, so do you think we should do it? And she's like I don't even know why you're asking me cause you're going to do it anyway.
Speaker 3:So we did that And that. first it was, you know, it was just you kind of feeling it out and you don't really know, you don't. I mean, i don't know nothing, i mean, and once you start seeing the dog put the pieces together, it's a. you know, the whole time it felt building up to starting to train, and maybe like four or five weeks in, maybe six weeks, something around there, You just feel like every day somebody is dumping a little more gas in your cup, i guess, so to speak. And then all of a sudden you watch your dog put simple stuff together and it's bam match, and I'm I'm like yep, this ain't good, this ain't this.
Speaker 3:there goes any free time in my head is pretty much, you know, and it's, it's been a, it's been a ton of fun. I mean, just over a year ago, if you would ask me if I'd been doing what I'm doing now I don't I think the answer probably would have been no. I didn't expect it to turn into what it's turned into, but I don't think I'd have it any other way. to be honest, i got, like I said, i got a pretty addictive personality. It's a very fortunate that I got addicted to hunting, cause I'll never have much money to do anything else. So but it's kind of just steamrolled and now I mean four days a week and like that's, that's just what I'm doing, that's I don't, i don't, i don't schedule, i don't schedule training in, i schedule, i guess, everything around training. That's awesome. I mean, that makes any sense at all. I just um, what?
Speaker 2:uh, that's interesting. You said that cause I think a lot of people that I've talked to kind of have like a similar perspective. I say a lot, not everybody, everybody, but I've heard quite a few say like, like, when they're getting into it, they don't expect it to become what it becomes, like, they don't realize how like a meaningful it will become to them. Um, you know how, what, why do you think that is Like what you know? do you think, like, when you're coming into this, do you think it's like your jet, you don't realize, like, how much goes into it and how much, how rewarding it is. You know what, what do you think it was? at least, or maybe not for everybody else, but for you, what, what was it like? going your perspective, going into this, like, what do you think it was? You know, obviously, from the outside, looking in, you're like, okay, this is what I'm getting myself into versus what you're actually now in. What, what was that perspective?
Speaker 3:Um, i thought it would have. I think, honestly, i guess perspective, i thought it would have a lot more influence on the dog than it did myself. I guess, to be honest, i mean it did have a. I mean obviously it's had a huge impact on boon, but I didn't. I definitely uh, you know, you see the videos, like you guys, you know posts and stuff, and it's like these dogs taking these crazy hand signals and all this stuff, and it's like it's.
Speaker 3:You're like, yeah, i mean there's no way. There's no way I am going to get to that point. There's no way that's. And you're watching the videos. You're like, no, i, you know to me. I'm like I have no clue what I'm doing. There's no way my dog's going to be able to do any of this stuff. I'm just hoping that you can grab a couple of ducks here and there.
Speaker 3:And all of a sudden, you watch the dog put the pieces together and it's like, yeah, i got a lot. I got a lot more doubt in this than he does, because he's picking up on this quite well. And then all of a sudden, you're like you get to the, you know it's. It's kind of like if you go to the gym your goals like, hey, i want a six pack. And all of a sudden you go from a flabby stomach to a flat stomach. You're like, well, this ain't so far out of reach anymore. This isn't this. You know, this is possible, this is 100% possible. And all of a sudden you start going farther and farther in and you know you dip your toes in the water. Next thing, you know you're, you're swimming, it's, you're, it's on And it's awesome, like I don't know It's. You know you're like you're buying these things or buying that things for training and that stuff.
Speaker 3:I don't even you know I wouldn't. I'd question a mountain duel at the gas station a lot faster. And I questioned something for training for my dog. I'll tell you that It don't take much. You know it's, and it changed. It changed me a lot as a person And I noticed that that helped that. I don't know who's had more influence on who me or the dog but I think the biggest. I think that's the biggest thing. I mean I thought you know it's going to be training a dog, it's going to be sweet and it's going to be fun. We can do some duck hunt. And now I'm to the point where it's like I don't.
Speaker 3:I was obsessed with deer hunting I mean probably almost to an unhealthy level And now I'm. I'm still excited for fall and for bow hunting, but I'm way more excited to get my dog out than than anything, than anything I don't. I live a pretty busy life And so when I get to cut loose and train with my dog, it's that's a big break for me And that that means the world that does a lot, a lot, a lot for me. That's awesome. I'll answer your question.
Speaker 2:No, it does, I think. I think that's that's a great perspective on it. It really opens up up my eyes to it. But it's hilarious about the Mountain Dew In fact any Mountain Dewers are listening to this. We got to get this man of Mountain Dew here. You got to get the field for the training, but that's you know, that's awesome, i think for so many it's. It just does become so surreal. But I thought that was interesting too that you said that it impacted you kind of as an individual too, and because it does require you to learn and change as an individual.
Speaker 2:Like the way we train is different than a lot of you know the mainstream ways of training. Obviously we base it a lot on the foundation starts with positive reinforcement for teaching and then correcting as needed. But we kind of we kind of use all components of training. So correction, discipline, reinforcement, reward We use every component that you can possibly use because we think it develops the best, most well-rounded dog. But as a trainer, to apply all that requires patience, requires commitment to the process, to learning it, and failure is okay. Right, it's a game of I don't know to me. I think that's why this game is so addictive The game of training or a treater, the you know the passion of it is.
Speaker 2:You go out, you fail, but you see promise, you see potential. And then you have to come back out the next day because I mean, i don't know, i mean, just for me, i can't just quit and be defeated because it didn't go well. I got to go back out the next day and see if we can get it right. And then, when you get it right, it's like man, this is what we, this is what I'm after. And then you're on to the next, the next skill you're teaching until you finally get your dog to where you want him to be.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, 150%. I had one of my best friends, i talked to you and he said he asked me kind of what it was like And I said some days it's like it's as frustrating as watching paint dry, and then other days it's like trying to lasso a tornado. But then there's those days where that tornado just painted you a Picasso, and that is those are the days that it's like all right, all right, old son, we we got something going on here We're cooking with gas now, and that's what makes it fun.
Speaker 3:you know there's and it's just taught. It's taught me a ton of patience, a ton, and that was something that I needed And I think it's helped me a lot with my kids and stuff And just in general, because you know, like you guys always say, the dog, the dog wants to please you. It's not like the dog goes out there and goes how can I make this come off the rails today? That's not, that's not. I don't think you know that's not what they're thinking. It's just it's different and it's challenging.
Speaker 3:You know, when your kids does something silly, you can tell your kids don't do that, it ain't going to go well. You can't tell your dog that. So it's like, how do I reiterate what I'm thinking without telling them what I'm thinking? So that's you know. And as you get farther in, you really start paying attention to the details And it's like it's it's. It's a really good experience because you just you know, as you get farther in, certain things get better, certain things get laxed, and then you touch up on the certain things that get laxed and you know you're constantly, you know you're constantly adding a block to the wall And then some days you're cementing that block there and some days you're just you only got to set the block there, i guess, or whatever you want to say.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's a great perspective That is. I love that, that perspective on. You know everybody always says, hey, you're building a foundation. But the way you just phrased that, really I think you add some context. A lot of people need to hear right now that that you know it's, you're building a foundation. Sometimes that means it's not all about building it quick. You got to, you got to cement it in and that's a that's. That's great perspective. What? what's been your greatest, one of your greatest challenges thus far on this journey?
Speaker 3:Oh, by far the worst one was when we started to touch work. Yep, oh man, that oh that was a tough one.
Speaker 3:Oh, i could throw a bumper for that dog. Tell the cows came home and he would grab it every time and bring it right back. But to try to get him to take it out of my hand, he, he started. It took us days, it seemed like, because I just, i just get so frustrated and I'm like I got to walk away. I'm just so, so frustrated because he, he, he'd carry that bumper to you, josh, and he, no problem, but you try to hand it to him and he would turn his head away, like you were trying to feed him poison, and it was. It drove me insane. It drove me insane.
Speaker 3:They've, like, you know, i got a point on my wife and I'm like my dog's broken, he's broken, it's just as good as it gets. I'm like I don't know what to do. And finally, we, i think I got to the point. I'm like I tried, i felt like I tried everything And then I gave him a treat one time and he opened his mouth and I just put the bumper in there. I'm just like I got to do something. This is not working, you're not even those. And I just put it in there And then his tail started wagging. I'm like really.
Speaker 3:And then kind of semi back to the same thing. He was pretty unsure And then finally, you know, nose touch, click your treat, then drop the treat in his mouth and drop the bumper in there And finally, after about two, three weeks we got through it And now now it's no big deal, but that was. That was testing me. The worst part is it's like you know, you're, you're, i don't understand it, but it's like you would. You'll pick this thing up a hundred times out of 50. But you will not take it out of my hand. He's just, i am not. Nope, dad, i'm not doing it, i don't do that. And that was tough. That was tough. And you know you want to see progress. And when you're just held up at a, at a way station, so to speak, you're like I'm not making any progress. But now I'm so glad I spent the time to do those things is now that we're farther along. That has solidified a lot of other things where I think I could have had issues. Why had I tried to push it?
Speaker 2:That was one thing I noticed on that video you posted the other day. For those that are not listening or they're they're listening, that are just aren't aware of this video, he posted a video kind of show him where he started and where he ended up And it was an awesome like backhand signal is real cool, but the delivery was awesome. It's beautiful because it comes in, sits down, puts it right in your hand and That seems so simple. But to get to that point requires so much. Sometimes some dogs are naturals, but you know you can't be hoping for the natural out of you because you just never know when it's gonna. If it's your day and you get the natural, that's great, but that can also be a bad thing, for I've seen a lot of people like, oh yeah, my dogs got that and they don't take the Time to do what you did anyways. Yeah, they may be good, but how great can they be? you got to chisel off every little detail, make it as good as you can be. I mean that's if that's what you're shooting for. I mean if you're shooting for just a good duck dog And you're not worried about all that, that much you can breeze through it, but would you say that was one of the? It just cracks me up and I love this part of training too, because You learn so much but would you say that was like where you kind of really was this like a? Was that like a pivotal moment for you on when y'all broke through that? did that Change your perspective at all? did that? has that helped you as you've moved forward?
Speaker 2:What you know, that obviously you were clearly frustrated at that point in time, and that's where a lot of people get in training. You know, i heard somebody say another day, you know, and and yes, we always want to train to avoid problems. Right, we want to. Why, when we want to train to us? Let me rephrase that we don't want to train to avoid problems, we want to train so that our dogs have the foundations they need, which will result in less problems. But, man, we live in a crazy world and the fact is, you're gonna run into a problem, no matter if you're the perfect trainer and you do everything perfect. You're gonna hit a roadblock. It's not a matter of if, it's just a matter of when and it's how you ever come those. But what? uh, anyways back, kind of. That was a long-winded question for you, but let's get back to that. Was this like a pivotal, pivotal moment And how you've learned to work with your dog better?
Speaker 3:Oh, Yeah, 150 percent. 150 percent Because I was.
Speaker 3:I was pretty frustrated. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. I was frustrated because it Boone's been really good. He lets me get away with sometimes more than he should, because sometimes, you know, with business or whatever, phone may ring and I kind of lose my train of thought and I'll tell him something. And He knew what I meant Because of what I was doing, but what I, like you know, i may say Here and instead of you know here, and I'm turning left and he's still healing right with me. You know it's like I gave him the fuck man.
Speaker 3:But he's like you know I got you dad. You know whatever you want to say, but uh, yeah, it was. That was a big. I don't know if it was as big a moment for the dog as it was for me, because They don't I. That made me realize they don't know what they're doing wrong. If you don't show them and you can't I mean You know, you can't. You know when I'm frustrated He's, you know, they feed off your emotion 150%. If I tell Boone, you know Just the inflection my voice if I were to say good boy, you know, he's calm, his tail is way. But now if I said good boy, he's up in my lap and he's licking my face and he's going nuts, you know. So it was. That was a big moment for me to just realize like I need to stay calm and And that's helped me a ton Throughout other training.
Speaker 3:I mean I remember when we started introducing gunfire and the launcher and stuff, i had trained him at two different spots and he had done fine. I brought him to a new spot and he broke four times in a row and I was so, so frustrated because I'm like you, he's never broke, he's creeped once in a while We've kind of got away from that now. He's never broken. Every time I'm like this is terrible. Luckily It's only 15 minutes from my house, so I ran back to the main farm and we ran a couple drills there, you know, and I ran, loaded him right back up. He did great.
Speaker 3:I load him right back up, drove back to the spot I was training him at and ran a few drills there and the first one he kind of like He went about two feet and I'm, and all of a sudden he backed up and he's like you know, looked at me like ah, just getting, just getting with you, and he was fine ever since. But it was like, you know, i had to break him down. You know, i had to bring him somewhere where he was comfortable and it's like I could easily got frustrated. But And I was frustrated It's not like I was happy about it, i guess, but I could easily just come off the rails and instead I'm like okay, he knows this, let's go back to a familiar environment and in the same. You know, 20 minutes later we can be back here and run it again. And now I don't matter where I bring him, he's, he's fine And that's awesome.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. What's been um. So we kind of hit on one of your greatest challenges. That sounded pretty crazy. What's been one of like, the biggest like man. That was just easy, that was just absolutely incredible and it just shocked you. One of your greatest moments of successes with him so far.
Speaker 3:Probably, probably the morning, started doing backhand signals because I'm like I don't know how much of this he is going to remember Back went. You know, but obviously you guys have built the system the way you have. And, yeah, i, i did it. He went and I looked like There's no way I have some fluke. There's a fluke, you know, beginners luck. So I then I tried to trip mom and I did it with the other hand and he did it just fine. I'm like what in the world? I didn't expect it to go like that.
Speaker 3:Now, when we went to multiple hand signals, there's a couple times where I'd give him an over or I'd give him a back and he'd go over, and We worked through that. But when we first started doing backhand signals, i was very surprised and That dog's been pretty good. That dog's letting me get away with probably more than he should, but he's been, i think, a lot of. That's just foundation of certain things and Foundation of certain things and An environment. I mean, he doesn't get distracted by hardly anything. The other day actually, i was training him and Friend of mine walked up to the pond where I was training him and threw two big rocks in the water As Boone was just sitting there and I was doing remote marks and Boone Danny, i don't even know if you looked, i don't think he really broke eye contact me and You know.
Speaker 3:But like he got to my girl's softball games last night, we were leaning in, i was leaning against the fence and he was sitting right next to me and These young boys were playing With a baseball and multiple times I had rolled into the fence behind me. One time It rolled about foot in front of Boone's face and I'm like that, Thanks God He never even moved. He never even moved and that I think you know a lot of. That's just solidifying stuff, because you know Every day doesn't have to be a training day but it doesn't mean there's, i guess not, things you could work on. I mean, you know I've had friends over in the barn, guys hanging out or whatever, and Boone likes to be loved on. He can be a bit much sometimes and his momars is in there, so I just down place in his momars and He ain't happy about it, but he won't move.
Speaker 2:Man. That's, that's incredible. Yeah, sounds like you've done a Fantastic job with him and just, i mean, i love your story, i love how, how this journey's gone for you and You know, i would say it's really the kind of a journey of faith when you're training your dog Right, faith in the process, like that's a theme that you'll trust in. Like you, the frustration comes from Man. It's hard to say where it comes from exactly because of for different people, but, like, when you hit those frustrating points, you start to question things and like, is this going to work? Yeah, is this gonna work out? and You know that's the biggest thing. Obviously I'm very confident in the process And look, that's kind of like what that's when we were doing 52 plus, like I was so confident in the way we train. This is. This is how confident I was in this process that it works. We launched 52 plus Before it was complete, like we, i think we Will this see, i had 16 weeks of 56 filmed when we launched it and I'm not gonna say I didn't have doubts along the way, because what I trained enough dogs to know.
Speaker 2:Though, like you run into those days to where you think this day It's not going to work. Yeah, i just don't know if this is gonna work out. I mean, i had those thoughts, even said it out loud. I don't start know if this dog while it's gonna turn out, but she did, and I knew that that's normal because I'd train enough dogs. I know you're gonna run into those places where you just you just it's in the back of your mind, it the very least, if not the front of your mind. Yeah, i don't know, because you run into those points where it's like, ah, yeah, you know I don't see how this is gonna work out, but if you just do what you did and you keep your hand to the plow and you just keep trying, it's gonna click one of These days. And hopefully that encourages a lot of people, i think, that are on the journey right now. I mean, i just listening to your story. I think people should be encouraged that hey, it is gonna work out. And I just wanted to add that, that little nugget in there. I don't know if we've ever said that on the podcast and I don't know we may have said that to the members, but that's.
Speaker 2:We launched the members, i think, at that point and then kind of went public pretty quickly after, but that's how much confidence We had that our system worked. I mean, we sold a product and got to finish it. But we're on the way and sure enough we did and I'm it's awesome to see How you've used it, trust the process and I kind of loved your your greatest success moment too, how you're like it. You know the hand signals. For those of you that are not familiar with cornerstone, we do hand signal stuff early on And then we kind of leave it.
Speaker 2:You know We do enough of it that we build it in the foundation But then we kind of leave it and then we move on to other Important things that are important for our process at that point in time and then we come back to it pretty, pretty far down the road. And so I love that how you're saying you know, like I don't know if this is how my dog's gonna remember any of that work We did, but all of a sudden you did and then boom, he, just he got it. That's, that's cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was. I Think, I don't. I don't know how I Mean, i don't know what else is?
Speaker 3:out there, but I don't know how, without cornerstone, anybody could Do any of this stuff. To be honest with you it's, you know, one of one of the guys I went to. I went to that hunt test this weekend I told you about and He actually paid somebody to do the starter training of his dog and now he's trying to get farther along and He goes to our weekly trainings for our club. I joined a retriever club and You know you only get so much information when there's multiple guys there And you get 10, 15 minutes or whatever of actual learning and he's, you know he's struggling to go on from the point. Is that and it's like This gives you a really good plan To move forward and how to troubleshoot if you have issues and you guys are constantly dropping emails and stuff like that and Things that mean never having a hunting dog is things I didn't think to take an account heat and certain things of that nature.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, i appreciate, i appreciate that. And, yeah, for us, like the proofs in the pudding for people like you. I mean, i just love it. I love it when It's possible you know it's possible for someone to train their dog and Well, we'll post up this video. I'm gonna, when we send out this email, i'm gonna try to figure out for this podcast, for those of you listening, you'll have already probably seen the video by now. We will figure out how to get this video where it needs to go so that you can see it, even if we put it on our YouTube, because it was just, it's such a cool picture. The video that Luke had posted on his Instagram, just the Where he started to worry ended up. It's, it was a cool, it was a cool video.
Speaker 2:But, luke, what's so? obviously you're not finished with a course yet You're. You're well in what? well in your way, i Have a feeling you're kind of really looking forward to hunting season. That's probably. Is that your next goal, or Do you have any goals before then? what, what, what's your next steps? What's your, what you're hoping? What are you hoping for? My next step? just get to.
Speaker 3:Get to the end of 56 or 56 weeks, i think. But I'm looking forward to hunt seasons. I mean, i got two daughters. They enjoy hunting. But I mean my dogs, my he's, he's with me all the time. I mean every night, every night, we may not be training, but we're at softball games, where We're somewhere's. I mean I've taken them to jobs, it's, you name it. But uh, yeah, i'm looking forward to cutting them loose on what we've been working for. I can tell you that right now I I've been trying to eyeball properties and some cure, secure some stuff by permission, you know, and stuff like that. And oh yeah, i'm, i'm ready to light the match on this whole business. I'll tell you that I'm pretty excited. I'm pretty excited, i'm pretty excited, i'm pretty excited. I'll tell you that I'm pretty excited.
Speaker 2:Oh, it's gonna be awesome.
Speaker 3:And you know, and you know I sit there talking about frustration and You know, there's there's, there's times I've obviously other times too where I hit headwind with some of this stuff And I just kept telling myself, like You know, you don't, like you know, you were just talking about people going through hard times You feel like they're failing or this than the other thing. It's like what you, you fail when you, when you quit. I Mean that's what I kept telling myself the whole way through. It's, you know, especially Home and especially on that fetch work. I'll tell you what that, but it's like you know, oh, i, if I would have quit, i would have failed. But as long as you're not trying, as long as you're still trying, you're not fail.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 3:That's right, yeah, when you would quit trying. But It's uh, yeah, you guys have. You guys have really done something. I told your dad that and I'll tell you that again. I think I told you that the other day. But You guys have definitely changed my life, that's for sure. Let's uh, i Don't even know what else I've been doing. I really don't. I know, i don't have a clue. No, you know, i always say I don't have time for work and stuff, but I find I always find time to train, and so you know it's, and sometimes too, i think I would say I think by far my best, the best days for training is after a break. Oh Yeah, you know, sometimes I train Friday, saturday, sunday, monday, and you know, by Monday it's almost like he's, you know, getting maybe bored with it or whatever. But if all of a sudden you take a two-day break, it's, it's a, it's some days like a different dog, you know.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, yeah, it's. I mean, it's like they get that weekend and they're ready to roll If you give them their own personal weekend. They miss it. They love it. It creates machines. When you go out there and you train consistently for that long, you're creating a machine. But you're creating a partner too that's connected with you, that loves what you're doing. I mean, heck, i mean, they love it just about as much as we do, and probably more. They're ate up with it too. It's uh, it's just awesome to see. So while I've got you here too, one other, one other moment of success you just recently had Was this your first round of hunt test that you've ran. It sounds like you've been involved through club for a little bit, but, uh, this past weekend seemed to get pretty, pretty decent for you.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I think like three weeks ago, four weeks ago, something like that, i had posted something about doing a hunt test. I had no idea what to expect. I had just joined the club a month ago. So I've only had four nights with those guys four or five. At that point, or to this point, i should say, and I didn't know what to expect. You know, you don't know if your dog's ready and everybody said, uh, i think one guy actually commented on my post jump in the water is fine. Yeah, i find out, i'm wearing lead sneakers. Uh, i don't think I probably could have gotten to that point.
Speaker 3:Shout out to Cody Todd. He helped me out a ton. He hooked me up with live birds. I didn't think to save any last fall, i mean, i just I didn't even click and he had hooked me up with a few birds And so Boone was already used to working with real birds, but yeah, that was a ton of fun.
Speaker 3:Um, that's pretty nerve wracking. It's pretty nerve wracking. I mean it's, it's, it's different than anything I ever done. I mean I had raced our bikes and stuff back in the day or played sports and stuff, and it's, it's all on you at that point when you come to the line for a race or whatever else, and when you get to the line at a hunt test, it was on you two days ago or two months or six months ago when you were training, but right now it's on him. That's right. You know it's on the dog at that point. So that's a maybe he did really good. He did really good.
Speaker 3:Um, i think he struggled the first weekend. Um, he struggled on one of the landmarks but, uh, this weekend he got his started title, which was fun. I wasn't even playing on doing that And one of the guys I met and became friends with said he was going to run that test and we've actually kind of created a pretty good bond and pretty good friendship. He's like Hey, this one's two hours away, but it's the closest one and it's in two weeks. We could both title the same weekend. Do you want to go? And I said you know, all right, i'll try it. Slept in the truck with a dog at a campsite, had fun and went really good. Um, i was really nervous The first, the second day of the first test or the I guess it'd be the second test He did a landmark and he had a really light bird that went quite a ways farther than some of the other ones into some tall grass.
Speaker 3:Nice, and he, he I'm looking at him like he's got it marked. No problem, easy peasy. The area we train has plenty of tall grass. I send them and he gets about halfway. Well, i didn't me, being new to a waterfall. I have some ducty coys, but I don't have any goose decoys, and they had some goose silhouettes out there, so he's running past them. And also and he looks back as he's running and he continued on for probably 25 feet He's looking back at these goose decoys and I'm thinking, oh my gracious, he lost his mark and he gets out there and he's about five feet upwind of it.
Speaker 2:So he can't smell it.
Speaker 3:He is right there And I've had that train and I've really worked on that to get that out of them. But he used to get this wild hair And when he couldn't find his mark he would always go like a hundred feet to my right for no reason whatsoever And then he'd look back and then he would run back to where he was and then he would usually find it and he'd be fine. And all of a sudden he does that in the test and I'm like, oh my goodness, here we go, it's coming up the rails, and then all of a sudden he runs back over there, runs right to the bird, grabs and he looks at me like I'm just playing. I'm just playing with him, dude, you know, but you don't know what to expect. You know, but you at that point you got to have faith in the dog, you know, and it's. I'm like I know what he's doing. I've seen him do it two or three times before that And I'm like he kind of figured out, but it's, it's not ideal, but we, we got through it.
Speaker 3:And then, yeah, this test was pretty much a breeze. That's awesome, it's fun. I really liked the atmosphere around. Sorry, i think just retriever training in general and the hunt test, it's not. It's not like anything else I've ever done I mean everything else I've ever done if you and I were competing against each other. You want to be me and I want to be you. In the retriever world at least in the hunt test world and our CGA group and everything else people want to see you succeed. Nobody, unless they're a terrible person, nobody wants to fail.
Speaker 2:It's true, it's true.
Speaker 3:Everybody's doing their best to help you succeed. You know, everybody wants to see you go to the next point, whatever that may be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome. Well, i'm glad, i'm glad this past weekend went well. That's a step in journey. Next, next stop, it's the next level. Man, that's going to be. I've you know, i've heard that the next level was a little bit, a little bit more, but it's y'all will be well prepared for it if you keep going. Just keep at what y'all are doing. It's y'all are going to do good What. so you know, kind of, as we close out here, what, what would be your, your thoughts to you know if you could give yourself some advice before you started. You know if you could talk to yourself before you ever got cornerstone, before you ever got started with your dog, what would be, what would be like your top piece of advice that you give, give yourself?
Speaker 3:Uh, before I started cornerstone, before I started training that is a tough question.
Speaker 2:Kind of leading into, you know like, you're thinking about doing that, you're thinking about doing it, you're thinking about training that dog, which you're just not sure what. What would you be telling, telling yourself?
Speaker 3:I'd probably say say goodbye to all your play money. It's over, no Um uh.
Speaker 3:I probably, you know, the one thing I I've said it a few times, i guess is I've probably just told myself and, like you know, we all ask the good Lord. I guess I think I would like to thank you know, for patience And I've been like put, put your patient hat on, strap it down, put the chin strap on, ratchet it tight, screw it down, whatever you got to do, because you're going to need it. You know you're going to need it quite a bit And you know that that probably be the biggest thing, especially me as a person I'm. I think everybody has.
Speaker 3:Naturally, nowadays we live in a world of instant gratification. Um, uh, patience, patience. I can't stress that enough. It's just patience, patience and um, knowledge too, i think was a lot. You know, i've done a ton of research on certain things with dogs and trying to do right by my dog as best I can, with um, controlling his body temperature and controlling, you know, diet and all that stuff as much as you can, but patience, i couldn't stress that enough. It's, it's uh, you know everybody, everybody's got the perfect truck in the world And if it's a pavement, princess.
Speaker 3:but if it's never been, taken off road and things haven't gone awry, then you really don't know how great a truck you have.
Speaker 3:So, when that, when that does you better be prepared because it's not going to, it's not going to be. You know, rainbows and unicorn farts, it's going to go, bad It's. And just when it does, be patient. That was, that's probably my biggest thing. And there's, there's times where I've I've struggled and I probably, you know I probably failed at that, but, uh, the level of patience I have now versus, you know, when I started is drastically different.
Speaker 3:You know, when I started, i used to just uh, you know, some days it's like almost put your hands in your face and you're like, what am I going to do? My dog's broken. This is as good as it gets. And then you get farther along and you're like, you know, you look at your dog, it's like he's still like goof. You know what you're doing. Why do you do that? You know, and you, it's no big deal. And it's like now's when you run again and you just think, yeah, why don't you do that last time? It's, it's. You know, i couldn't stress that enough.
Speaker 3:Patience, patience. I think that'd be, that'd be probably the biggest words of advice, especially nowadays where you can order some on Amazon in the morning and have it some days in the afternoon It's like it don't, it doesn't work that way And I was really happy too, like I didn't. I told myself that ahead of time I guess I literally did tell myself was just not to go ahead. But that's going back to the patience. Thing is, you know you don't, you don't give your one year old that. You know you don't throw a fast pitch at your one year old and expect him to hit it out of the park.
Speaker 3:You got to build up to that point they have to age and I just told myself I can't go ahead because I said, if I do, i'm gonna probably ruin this dog, is gonna try to do too much too fast, and And there's, there's always things you're cleaning up on constantly. But I think if you, if you weren't patient, you did go ahead and you thought your dog, you know, was an ace in the hole or whatever, because there's some stuff that boom, just absolutely crushed and we breezed right through it. You could. But there's other things that Didn't, and had I gone ahead, i think I could. Really, you know, i think you could get, i think I could have gotten a dog that was Ten percent at everything, rather than a hundred percent in some areas and seventy percent in some other areas, you know Well yeah, it's good advice to me.
Speaker 2:Both of those. Both of those points are important and all that bulls back down the patients, and staying committed to the process and it can work out for you if you do it's. I mean one thing's for sure rushing it typically is not going to end well and it may not show up right away, but it will. If the foundations week, it's just horrible to have to go back and fix it. It's one of the worst things to do. So definitely building, doing what you said building that patience is is key. Well, we appreciate having you on and I'm excited to continue seeing how your journey goes. It's gone well so far.
Speaker 2:I look forward to you know I always tell people once they get past you know, like week twenty eight somewhere in there where you entered the gunfire, you've already done foundation during the gun dog skills. Everything's downhill from there. It just seems to just go so quick and everything you learn so much in such a short period of time. So Once I found a chance, built so you're, and you're even further along with. You said something about week forty somewhere in there. So y'all are, just keep trucking along your Downslope and it's, it's fun. From here everything is is just gravy at this point. Just keep it going.
Speaker 3:I appreciate brother, i appreciate me on and yeah, we're right around week forty and it's been a ton of fun and You know I kept boon intact just in case This thing turned into someone like, well, i have to give him a son in a couple years and do this dance all over again. Yeah, it's, it's fun. I appreciate it, brother. I appreciate having me on. It was kind of fun chatting the other night tonight. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2:Yes, sir, we'll appreciate having you on and that's hey that that might be the next step down the road. I will say I've taught a lot of members that are on their second, third and fourth dog. I just get it up with it and they're like I gotta do it again. So little by little you might get there.
Speaker 3:Hundred percent, hundred percent. I know, once it takes hold of you it's pretty hard to let go.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is well. It's been great having you on. I'm excited that you shared your story thus far. I think it's encouraging. I think it's helpful for a lot of people. If they'll really pay attention to what we talked about, i think you can make a big difference for them. So thank you for sharing.
Speaker 3:You bet man thanks.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the build from here podcast. To learn more about retriever training or our podcast, visit cornerstone gun dog academy dot com. Slash podcast.