The Last Hunt With Chili: How One Dog Made Me a Better Dad

Mike didn't want just a good hunting dog, he wanted a great hunting dog he could count on.

Mike got a journey that would test his patience, challenge everything he thought he knew about training, and ultimately change the way he showed up as a father.

In this episode, Mike shares the story of Chili — the Boykin Spaniel he once worried might never retrieve, the dog who became the best hunting partner he’d ever had, and the dog who gave his family one unforgettable final hunt.

From early frustration… to breakthrough moments… to the powerful lessons learned training alongside his young daughter… this conversation is about far more than dog training.

It’s about why you shouldn’t wait.
Why the process matters.
And how sometimes the dogs we train end up training us.

If you’ve ever wondered:

• “Will my dog turn out?”
• “Am I doing this right?”
• “Is all this work really worth it?”

This episode is for you.

Link to Mike's Breeder: Double J Boykins

Want to learn how to train your hunting dog with confidence?

Visit: Cornerstone Gundog Academy

Need gear for training your retriever, like collars, dog training dummies, and more?

Visit: Retriever Training Supply

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Phenomenal six down six dogs twelve. Just a phenomenal member and just an upstanding father is animated his journey with his podcast and getting incorporating his children into the journey. It's just that's what makes it all worth it. So uh with that said, um welcome aboard, Mike. So glad you're here and uh glad you're on the podcast. Glad to share your story.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Thank you. Yeah, thanks for the kind words. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

You bet, man. It's uh hey, I mean, that's just you. You you're the one that's incorporating your uh your family. I'm just telling it like it is, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Right, yeah. Well, yeah, you only see the you know good moments, but yeah, yeah, I try to make it as good as possible and get the girls girls in it, especially my older daughter. So yeah, we're having a good time with it.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Yeah. So um we'll talk about them in a second, kind of the the family thing. But just uh, you know, for for the members that don't know you uh for those that don't know you, maybe kind of give a little background, you know, where you're from, how you got into hunting as a whole, and uh yeah, we'd just love to know a little more about you.

Growing Up On The Yakima River

SPEAKER_00 1:57

All right, yeah. So I'm from West Richland, Washington. It's uh it's eastern, southeastern Washington state. Uh the area is is known by the name Tri-Cities, uh, three main cities, Kennewakpasco, Richland, um, that all kind of incorporate each other together. And uh we've gotten the Columbia River, the Yakima River, and the Snake River all converging within I'd say 20 minutes of my house. Oh, really? Uh I live probably, I grew up probably um a mile or two from where I live now, so I didn't make it very far. I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. Uh, but I live probably a half mile from the Yakima River, which is where I grew up hunting. Uh, me and my buddies. Crazy to think about the stuff that we did and how we're still alive. Uh, you know, it's like I can't, I don't know what my parents were thinking, sending these 14-year-old kids out there in their canoes, but somehow we did it and we survive. Um, but yeah, I my dad was a little bit into duck hunting. He kind of took us, he'd take us pheasant hunting, duck hunting, deer hunting. Um, but for whatever reason, duck hunting just stuck. Uh, we always had labs, and my dad actually is a canine handler uh for an explosive detection dog for I'd say at least the past 20 years. He's retired now, he just retired last year. We can talk about that later if you want, but we've always had had labs. Um, and you know, taking the dog hunting and going out there, shoot a couple ducks. I mean, we were never good. We'd shoot maybe two, three ducks, and we think we were the greatest duck hunters in the world. And then I got a little bit older and had some friends at school that were into hunting. Um, and then yeah, we started going, we had uh my actually who's my wife now, um, her stepdad has a pro piece of property that's on the Yakima River. So he let us go down there and we'd hunt. And we probably started hunting together as a group at about 14, me and three other buddies. Uh, and one of them was really good at duck calling. And I'm like, man, this is the coolest thing ever. You, you know, you're telling these ducks to come over here, and they're doing, you know, they're doing it. So I talked to my dad about it, and one of his friends at work, his name is Abel Cortina, uh, is a super good duck caller, like unreal, super good. Uh, I think that he's gone to worlds three times. And I think uh he's he's gonna be mad at me if I say it wrong, but I I I wanna say he's made it to the final round a few of those times, if not, if not all of them.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Wow.

Mentors And Contest Duck Calling

First Lab, Early Training Missteps

SPEAKER_00 4:38

So my dad said, well, I can I can talk to him and and you know, see if he can help you out. So I started meeting up with him weekly uh for probably a good year or two years. And he was kind of well, not kind of, he was a great mentor for me uh and taught me a lot about duck calling and contest calling. So then I started getting into contest calling. Uh and then from there, then on out, I mean it was just like duck call, me and a duck call are everywhere. One of the neighbors just hates me because I'm blowing my duck call all the time. The other neighbors didn't mind it, they liked me. You know, I was outside doing something, but uh so that's kind of what really got me to dive deep into this whole waterfowl world was actually duck calling. Uh, and then when I was 18, I got I got my own dog. I got a black lab. And I thought, all right, I'm gonna train this dog up, and this is gonna be the best dog ever. And and truth be told, now, knowing now I failed that dog, it had so much potential, but I just didn't know what I was doing. Um, that was 14 years, yeah, about 14 years ago when I got that dog. So we had YouTube and I would look up a couple things, but I'd never really hunted with a good dog, so I didn't know even what I should be looking for. I just knew I needed a dog to go get my ducks, and whether that be me throwing a rock out there so that so the dog could see see the splash and sending the dog out, to me that was a good dog. And uh I worked seasonally at that point in time, so I'd work all summer and then in the winter time I'd hunt like every day. And my dad's like, my dad's like, just soak it up, enjoy it while you can because it's only gonna last so long. He's like, You got a few years of this, and then you'll be working for the you know, for essentially the rest of your life. Like, okay, okay. So I enjoyed it, and we have a 108-day season here in Washington, and we have a seven duck limit. So we could shoot seven mallards, you know, if if hunting allows. Uh, so I was hunting, I bet I'd hunt every bit of 90 days of the season, and that probably lasted till I was about 22. And then I started finally working, you know, tried to be an adult and work here. Um, but in that time I worked for uh a local outfitter, kind of just helping them out when they needed somebody uh to take guys out. And I hunted with a lot, not a lot, a few bad dogs. And I'm thinking, you know, I wouldn't really bring my dog that often because he he would whine, not horrible, but enough that it would irritate me. I don't want to irritate people with my dog. Um he he just wasn't great. If he if he marked a bird go down, he he'd go get it, but he was just like what they call a meat dog. He he'd go get the ducks, and that was about it. So and he wasn't very steady. So um one day I had a guy and he he came out and he said, Hey, I've got this dog. Uh I was curious if you'll let me let me uh bring it out with us. And and I was kind of yeah, yeah, that should be fine. Uh he says, if the dog's bad, I'll I'll put it away. It's no problem. I said, All right, that that sounds great. So he gets this dog and the dog goes in the dog box and it's staying there, steady as could be, quiet. You know, you almost forget the dog's there. We're waiting for shooting time, and then first thing uh shooting time, somebody shoots a duck and it sails, and it probably goes 200 yards away. And uh we're like, okay, you know, we'll have to go out there. And he goes, Well, I can send my dog on it. I'm like, Yeah, okay, yeah, we'll see about this, you know. So he lines his dog up, he sends it, stops the dog, gets it redirected. Dog goes out there, gets this duck, brings it back, delivers it to hand, and I'm like, holy crap, I cannot believe what he just did. I didn't even know that was possible. Uh and so I'm like, okay, well, we'll maybe it was a fluke, you know, we'll see. And as the day goes by, this dog just I couldn't believe it. And at the end, at the end of the hunt, he gets the dog out in front of everybody and he says, Okay, now smile. And he has the dog smile, it snarls its teeth, and and I'm like, this is ridiculous. You know, he come out of the water, he'd tell it to shake, it goes back in the box, waits for the next duck. So I go, I I gotta figure this out. And he had told me, uh, this was probably nine years ago, give or take, maybe ten years ago. And at that point in time, I think he had told me that he had about ten thousand dollars invested into that dog. So I'm like, oh boy, well, I'm I'm not gonna be able to afford that, but you know, maybe in the future I'll be able to. So after that, you know, I started working with my dog, getting on YouTube, trying to make my dog, you know, be steady, be quiet. Um and that was essentially all I really wanted out of that dog. And I we got him to that point. Uh, I ended up force-fetching that dog, and man, it was hard on him. Uh, I like I just didn't know what I was doing. I just watched videos on YouTube, and okay, we'll eat pinch his ear until he grabs a hold of this and then let go. And and I it just it was a disservice to the dog. Yeah. So I'm kind of going off on a tangent. I apologize, but I said, No, man, this is great.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

And it that sounds pretty simple, right? Yeah, but we all know when you actually try to do something, it's not that, it's not that it's not that easy.

Seeing A Finished Dog For The First Time

Choosing A Boykin Spaniel

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yeah, so you know, time went on, started a family, moved out of the parents' house, you know, all that that whole ordeal. Uh, I think when I was 22, yeah, uh moved out full time, you know, working a real job year-round, and uh got married that later that year, and life kind of happened. I still hunted um quite a bit, but nothing like I was before. Um and I'm like, okay, this next dog I get, this is gonna be a good dog. It has to be. Uh so I let me think here. So I decided maybe three years before I got that boycan, I was like, these boycotting spaniels are cool, but you know, I was like, it's cold here. We get pretty cold winters. I don't know how they'll how they'll fare. So I did research, you know, I Googled everything there is boykin spaniel on the internet. I think I've read it. Every video on YouTube, I've watched it, and I'm like, you know what? I'm I'm gonna get one of these little dogs. I was like, I think it'll be pretty cool. Uh, and they just look cool to me, they just have a cool look. But I looked into breeders and I'm like, man, there's no breeders around here. You I mean, on this, you know, on the west coast, it's like boican spaniels unheard of. So I found, I think there were two breeders that I found locally. There may be more, but this is what I found was uh there's a breeder in the Fugit Sounds, so over by Seattle area, which is about three and a half hours away. Then there's a breeder in Plains, Montana, and it's called Double J Boykins. And that's where I ended up buying that first dog, her name's Chili, uh, that first boykin spaniel. Yeah, yeah. And uh so I ended up, okay, I'm gonna go with them. Uh got the dog in Jan, let me think here, get the dates straight. January of 2024. I picked up that puppy. Uh, but in the meantime, I'm I'm trying to figure out how am I gonna train this dog? And you know, I'm looking at multiple different uh online training things. I'm trying to figure out how much it's gonna cost if I want to send it off somewhere. And I'm just like, you know, I'm trying to get our family started, get it, you know, essentially get our feet on the ground. And uh we've got this, we bought this old 1918 farmhouse that we're trying to remodel. I'm like, I don't got no extra money, you know, I got nothing. So we I settled on, okay, I'm gonna train this dog myself. I just can't, I can't afford to spend the money to send this dog off. And then the thought went through my head too, is you know, man, what if this, what if I send the dog off, spend all this money, gets hit by a car, something happens, god forbid, and now I'm out, you know, 5,000 plus, you know, or more dollars, you know, not even factoring in how much, you know, I bought the dog for and all that. So I'm like, okay, uh I need to find a training program that I can do from, you know, do at home. So I'm looking and looking, and I looked at a few, and I purchased actually another one different than CGA, and I I'm just like, yeah, this just doesn't have exactly what I want, you know. And then I'm looking at your guys, it's like, oh man, that's that's pretty expensive. This other one's a lot cheaper, you know, like a lot cheaper. And I'm like, I don't know. And I'm hemming and hon and talking to my wife about it. And I'm like, you know, the cool thing is is I can use it on the next dog that I get. And this was a talk, you know, even from the get-go. I was like, I'll have it forever. And I'm like, I think I want to do it, I'm gonna bite the bullet. I hope it's as good as I think it is, you know, and and and obviously looking online, uh, you guys have a great reputation. So I'm like, okay, we don't get a good reputation, you know, and this big of a following without having a good product. So, okay. So I bought CG uh CGA, the 52 Plus, and this was I think uh maybe a week or two before I picked up the puppy, and I'm watching all the onboarding videos and all that stuff, and kind of starting to get into the first couple weeks and looking at the breakdown of this 52 weeks because I go, I picked up this puppy at eight weeks old and end of January, and we're gonna be hunting in October, you know. I was like, there's no if, ands, or buts. It's gonna happen. And uh maybe we won't get all the way, you know, through the 52 weeks in that time, obviously, but I would like to have the dog started and and get her out there. So I get the puppy, we get started with the program, and she is like the perfect dog, except for she hated the crate, and she would bark and bark and bark. So she got graduated to the garage pretty quick. Uh and you know, at night it was just she'd go in there and I swear she'd bark for an hour trying to, you know, trying to get out of there. I'm like, man, this dog's horrible. But when it came to training, she was perfect. It was like, and I think you talk a little bit about in in maybe the first week or two uh of actually getting into training. Uh, hey, your dog may be doing really, really good, but you probably want to, you know, don't get your hopes up essentially. They're gonna pick pick up this stuff pretty quick, but it may, they may struggle on some spots. And I'm like, yeah, well, this dog is different. This dog is she's perfect on training. And she got placed down great, uh, sit, heal, you know, all the you know, first couple weeks of of that 52 plus, and I'm like, this dog, this is gonna be easy, you know. And I did everything you said not to. I got my head got so big, I thought I was gonna be a professional dog trainer, so which is hilarious thinking back. So we we had a great time. This dog, I got a really cool boss. He he let me bring the dog to work a lot of days. I didn't always bring her, but uh just that way so she didn't have so much crate time, and uh got her all through the the basic obedience, and she was great, like excellent. Well, we got on to the retrieving, and it was just like a slap in the face. I'm like, this dog will not retrieve. I'm like, I'm done, you know. This dog, she's a great dog, she's got a good obedience, but this dog is not a retriever. And I'm like, okay, Mike, just you paid for this program. Why don't you just stick with it? So I try to stick with it, and all of a sudden I've seen a little bit of progress, a little bit of progress, but it's not going as fast as I want, you know. So I'm trying to rush things. And every time I I start watching the video, you're saying don't rush it, don't rush it. Just take your time. If it takes longer than the week, then that's okay, you know. Essentially, you know, the build from here. So I'm having to keep reminding myself, okay, stick with the program. Every time I get frustrated, I'll just end the training session. Hey, we'll come back out, we'll try again, you know, and say an hour or whatever. So we get back out there, we do the training, and the timeline, it's hard for me to remember the timeline now, but all of a sudden, this dog went from not wanting to retrieve anything to just like barreling out 100 miles an hour to go get this bumper and bring it back to me. And I'm like, there's no way. I, you know, I would have written this dog off. Like, if it wasn't for this training program, I would have wrote the dog off. This is not a retriever. I'm going back, I'm getting a black lab. I know it's gonna be crazy for the bumper against but and that's all I like. I said, that's all I ever had was labs, so that's all I knew. So this this boykin spaniel was uh, and it could just be the the dog. That's my only experience with boykins, is that first dog. So so I'm like, man, maybe maybe they just don't have the drive. I don't know. But it got unlocked one way or another. I stuck with the program, and I'm like, okay, I'm making it, you know, I've got a dog here now. Like, this is gonna be a good good retriever. Um, and my daughter, let's see, she was just over one when I got that puppy. And so, I mean, this was her dog, she just loved this dog. And I've got videos of this dog going up to her, biting, biting on her diaper and tugging on it. And I mean, when you know, when it was a puppy and and her loving on it, and the dog uh sitting on its placeboard in the house, and and uh her going over and roughing it up and giving it love, and just an excellent family dog. And because this, because these boykins are so small, they're not just throwing the kid around, you know. A lot of labs, at least that I've been around, they're they get excited and that butt starts swinging around and they're knocking the kids over, and and at least the boycons a little bit you know, small enough that that she's not you know too rough on the year and a half-year-old kid or whatever she was at that point. So um she'd come out and help me train. Uh, she'd throw the bumper for me, you know, not really much of a throw, but just you know, having fun with her and her puppy. And uh then that first hunting season came around. Um, and let me know if if you want me to talk about more more about uh kind of leading up to that hunting season.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

I'm enjoying the story, man. I don't have anything to ask right now. I'm just enjoying the story.

Committing To DIY Training Program

Fast Obedience, Struggles With Retrieving

First Season Lessons And Big Wins

Cold Weather Hacks For Small Dogs

SPEAKER_00 19:16

So so, like I said, uh a lot of frustration, but I just had to trust the program. Uh and every time I just trust the program, I'd have success. And like, okay, there's there's something to this, you know, and you break down everything. And the best part, in my opinion, or one of my favorite parts about this program is you show your training sessions, you know, with a violet, and you show little failures, you know, like all these things that they go wrong. I mean, it's not really a failure because you're bit you're you're building and learning, but you show the things that go wrong. You go, okay, well, if his dog's doing that, it's okay if my dog does it too. Because without that, if you just said, hey, here's what you're supposed to do, bam, bam, bam, I I'm gonna I'm gonna think my dog needs to be perfect on all these things. And you say it all the time that you know you're not looking for perfection yet. You know, you you you just want to have something to build on. So um, anyways, we got to that first hunting season, and I'm like, okay, we have this toxic blue-green algae here that's new as of probably like 10 years ago that I've ever heard of. It was never a worry before. So I'm watching they do testing pretty pretty frequently, starting in like August around here. And our duck season doesn't open till middle of October. And that that year, there was not no big toxic algae bloom. That would have been the fall of 2024. And uh I'm like, okay, I think we're gonna be safe. And I hunt the river a lot. Uh that's kind of where I grew up hunting with my dad. And uh, we've got just a little little hunting boat, it's like a 16-foot with a 40-horse on it, and we go out opening day, and and I'm like, okay, I'm not gonna shoot. I'm just gonna, you know, just watch the dog and work the dog. And it was just it was funny because this is a whole new environment, you know. I hadn't we hadn't, I think we were close to like mid-30 weeks on our training. So I'm kind of like, okay, I can't expect the world out of this dog, but I want her to be steady, I want her to mark, and uh, you know, retrieve, retrieve the ducks. Uh so we're out there, and this is like this is a spot that it's always good on opening day. It always. Well, not that day, it wasn't. So we shot one duck, and I'm a little bit frustrated because I want to, you know, I want to work this dog. And uh I'm like, okay, this is this isn't working out. We the one duck we shot went down in water, it was about six inches deep. The dog watched it, saw it go down. I sent her out there and it was kind of it was, I would say dead, but it was moving in the water quite a bit. And she goes out there and she sniffs it and barks at it. And I'm like, oh, you have gotta be kidding me. There's no way. You know, it's like, okay, you know, well, I gotta, you know, I'm like, if I'm gonna take her hunting, I gotta make sure it's a fun hunt because she's, you know, still a puppy. I gotta make sure it's fun and I gotta make sure it's a learning experience. Um, so I'm like, all right, don't get frustrated with her, you know, go out there, and I'm like, I need to give her the best chance of success here. So I get her, you know, kind of get the duck and and tease her a little bit with it, throw it, she retrieves it, do a little bit of that, and then I'm like, okay, all right, I think she she'll be a little better. So we didn't shoot another duck that day. I'm like, man, I just want to I want to work this dog, you know. I'm I want to see her get a little bit of action, and I'm antsy, you know, I've been doing all this training all summer. So we go the next day, we hunted a place maybe an hour away, uh, and we knew it was gonna be good. My buddies had hunted it that first day, and it got out of there quick, so I'm like, okay, that that'll be awesome. And they wanted they wanted me to bring this dog because they're like, we know how much you've been working this dog, and and they're like, so it ended up being four of us, and I'm like, I'm just concerned about a lot of shooting, a lot of you know, hectic craziness, and they're like, no, we're just gonna take turns shooting, and this is gonna be for the dog. So you I've got good friends. I mean, they're not they're not out there just to you know be bloodthirsty and kill everything. They they really wanted to see success out of my dog, which was really nice, it was awesome. So we get out there and it was a great day. We ended up killing 28 ducks, and I think it was like four geese, and uh she retrieved, I'd say, everything, but maybe a couple of the ducks you know that landed that she didn't see, or they landed um on dry land next to us. And I'm like, holy crap, this dog's steady, she's marking well. I can send her out there, you know, line her up on a duck that's laying out there dead, send her, she goes and gets it, brings it back. However, these big ducks, this my dog, she was probably 25 pounds at that point. And these big ducks, you know, say mallards, I think we shot, I think it was all mallards and Gadwell. Uh and she actually there's a few pintail as well. So she she'll get them to the bank and then she'll drop them, and then she'll kind of try and drag them to me. And I'm like, man, we've been working. I have, you know, I had some birds that I froze, uh, you know, that we've been doing fetch and hold with. So not frustrated, but I'm like, okay, we need to, we need to fix this. So I go back to this fetch and hold training uh and just like worked it and worked it and worked it. Like when I get off work, we go in the garage, we do fetch and hold, and it took a lot of work. Uh, but she enjoyed every bit of it. Whereas when I did that uh force fetch with my black lab, it was not fun. And when I would have him fetch, fetch something and hold it, his ears would be down, and he'd be sad. I mean, he he did not love it at all. Well, this dog loved it, and she loved going out there to train. And she it was still tough, she'd still want to mouth mouth the bird. So I started uh healing her and have her would have her fetch and hold as we heal, and we walk around the front yard with her uh holding. And she just got better and better as the season went on. Uh and just to fast forward, kind of, because I know I'm kind of long-winded. Uh, we went, we got to the point where I shoot a duck. Well, actually, I'll talk about this real quick. So we went and hunted that same spot on that video I sent where I shoot the duck and send the dog, which nobody else is gonna know what we're talking about besides me and you, but uh, she was steady as can be. I mean, no whining, no nothing. Uh and like she'd just sit there and watch. And I'm like, this dog's been hunting for two weeks, and it's the best dog that I've ever had, yeah, you know, as far as as far as far as hunting goes. Um, so as the season went on, tried to kind of fix the thing that I knew we could fix and improve during the hunting season. Uh and her fetch and hold was like perfect, I would say. And we got to the point, yeah, I'd shoot a duck, send her out, she'd come back, bring it to me, give it to me in my hand, and then she'd go right back to her placeboard or wherever I had her um, had her sitting. A lot of the places that we hunt is like public lands, so they're like an improvised junk blind. So I'd actually bring that uh that cato board. Uh I think that's how you say it, but however you say it, I'd take that with me actually everywhere, and I'd I'd just use that as her little placeboard. And then I learned uh as the weather got cold, the boykins, at least this boykin, she didn't love it. She was supposed to be out there, but she'd be shivering pretty quick. So I actually got some of that uh two-inch thick pink, pink insulation foam, and I spray painted it black, and I would have her sit on that, and it was like a world of difference for her, and it was like a little placeboard too that weighed almost nothing. I could pack it in. That's a good idea. So that was one thing I kind of figured out. And then my wife got mad at me because I took her, she had a uh sitka like prima loft jacket, and I'd wrap the dog in that, and uh I sent her a picture and she was like, Oh, that's nice. Yeah, you take my jacket for your dog. Like, well, I don't I don't want her to get cold out here, so uh, but the last few years we haven't really got that cold, you know, it was maybe like just below freezing or high 20s. Um, you know, I felt totally comfortable having the dog out there. I had a little heater for her. Um, but we'll see with with this next puppy, you know. I don't want the dog to be miserable, but I do expect them to hunt, you know, below freezing, as long as the conditions are right. Um so uh made it through that season, and I'm like, this is the best hunting dog I've ever had. Uh hunted with a buddy one of those days, and he had his, he's got a red lab, and he trained it himself. Uh, but obedience-wise, I'm like, my dog looks so good out there, you know, in comparison to his dog. It's a great dog, but where my dog was at with obedience, and his dog is a year older than mine, was worlds past his. And my dog's just there silent. His dog would take off, make a retrieve. My dog's just sitting there waiting. And I'm like, I can't believe this. Well, you know, with my last dog, this would have never happened. And it's all credit to the training and all these denials you're giving the dog, uh, and making them patient and making them be content with staying in one spot and being quiet. So that season comes and goes. Uh, I'm excited. I'm already, you know, excited for the next year. And I'm like, okay, this next year is going to be this dog's breakout year. Uh although, truth be told, I got a little lazy with training. Yeah. You know, it didn't just pick up at, you know, because I essentially paused, I would say, in the in the mid-30s weeks of that 52 plus, and we picked up about uh I don't know, somewhere in there, but uh, we picked up about the same spot. It wasn't like I continued training through during mining season. My focus was okay, she's really good at these things. I'm gonna fine-tune her, fetch and hold. And then once the season's over, then we'll kind of go back to to working. So I slacked off, I can't lie. And then we we've got a phenomenal, like crazy good salmon fishery here. Uh, and the summer uh summer sockeye is like it's unreal, our fishing. So, anyways, we went through spring, we did a little bit of training here and there, nothing, nothing crazy, didn't really build a lot. It was kind of almost maintaining what we had, and then uh our sockeye season kind of came to an end. Another nice thing about having an obedient dog is you can take it fishing with you, and it's not jumping out of the boat and chasing every time you cast and and all that. Uh, I just tell her place on her little blanket and she'd go lay down. So uh we get done with our sockeye season. I'm like, okay, time to dive into this training. And we start training, we're probably a week into into getting back on the program, and I noticed her like her butt was swollen, and I'm like, what is going on? You know, are you in heat? I don't know, you know, I don't know what the problem is, and it was bad. Like, I'm like, how long has it been like this? You know, obviously I'm with the dog every day, so I think I would have noticed. Uh and it was like a Sunday, and I'm like, I'm taking the dog in. So we have an emergency vet here. I took her to the emergency vet, and they're like, I don't know. You know, it's not a prolapse, but it almost is. And they're like, we're gonna put her on antibiotics. We think it's uh in a bacterial infection. Okay, fine. So put her on antibiotics, go home. I uh on Monday I called my vet uh to get her in and got an appointment set up, took her in, I think it was maybe a few days later, took her into my vet, and she's like, you know, she goes, How old's the dog? And and we're talking about the dog, and she was uh a little more than a year and a half old. She goes, This just looks like lymphoma. Her lymph nodes are swollen. Um, but she goes, the dog's so young. She goes, I don't think that's what it is. She goes, Maybe they hit the nail on the head with this bacterial infection. She said, Stay on the antibiotics, and and I think she I can't remember now, but I want to say she prescribed me a different antibiotic to add on to that would cover uh broader spectrum. So she's on two antibiotics, if I remember right, and um she's not getting any better. So a couple days later, in this vet, is she's so great. Uh, she gave me a personal number and she's like, anything after hours, just call me, send me a picture. So it's getting worse. And then all I mean, the lymph nodes on her neck were getting so swollen that that her face was drooping. And I called the vet and I sent her a picture and she goes, okay, let's let's get her checked out. So she gave her a steroid shot and the swelling, everything went down. And she's like, I I don't like this at all. She goes, I think we need to do a uh sample on her lymph nodes. So, you know, and then I'm looking at him like, good grief. I'm like, this is costing me a fortune, but you know, I want the best for my dog, but uh I'm like, this is this is crazy. And uh yeah, that emergency visit alone, I think, was like a thousand bucks. And and then I'm looking at, you know, I think I racked up probably another thousand or fifteen hundred at my vet, trying to do testing. And she we did a blood test and it came back pretty good. And so they do this uh sample from her lymph nodes. I bring her in, they take the sample, take her home, and then I think it was the next day or maybe two days later, she called me with the news. She said it's uh lymphoma, I can't remember uh type B, large cell lymphoma. Uh so I go, okay, well, what does that mean? And I kind of knew what that meant. She says, Well, your options are chemo, or we can maybe put her on prednisone for a little while. You might get a little more out of her, but she goes, it's chemo essentially, or or the dog's gonna pass, and she goes, it's gonna happen quick, too. So this is August of 25, and uh, you know, I'm pretty torn up, and I'm like, you know, I can't, I just can't fathom doing chemo to get a couple more years out of a dog when I know chemo's gonna be rough on her, and that she's probably not gonna be the same dog. And I'm talking price of chemo with a with a vet, and I'm like, it's it's really it's not feasible for me. And I don't I think at that point, maybe this is just me talking myself into it, but I said it's a disservice to this dog to do chemo and try and keep her around just to make me happy. Uh so I said, okay, let's do prednisone and um and we'll we'll see what that does. And she had already had that steroid injection, so uh all the swelling, she was almost back to normal after that injection. Uh put her on prednisone, and I maybe got a week, a week out of her, and she's starting to swell back up again. I called the vet and she goes, Well, we can give her another injection, but she goes, It's just it is what it is, type of thing. And she's a straight shooter. She's uh, in my opinion, it's the kind of vet that I like. She's gonna tell you how it is, and and that's it is what it is. Um, she's not gonna try and sugarcoat it, which I appreciate. Um, and she's kind of like it just might be the end of the road. So we're at very end of August, and I said, Okay, well, I'm gonna I'm gonna see if we can hunt her on September 1st as our dove opener, um, and we'll see, see what happens. So we go out there, and I decided I wanted my my daughter to bring come with us because I was like, this is gonna be our last hunt with her dog. So she had her little purple shotgun out there and her ear muffs or pink earmuffs, and she's got her chair, and we got her little her little toilet in case she has to go potty. And I mean, I hauled so much stuff out there. Granted, we could drive right to where we went, but I'm like unloading the truck for 10 minutes with all these gadgets and everything to keep everybody happy, and and it was actually a really good dove hunt. Uh, the dog was just perfect, and I'm like, I don't know if this is just God just giving me one last perfect hunt with the dog, or if she just really was that good. Um, and one thing that that she had really failed, not failed, but she really struggled with that first duck hunting season was she was not good at using her nose. I mean, she was the worst of my I was like, we'll see what happens. And she's using her nose, you know, finding these little doves that are tucked, you know, tucked in the brush and pulling them out of there, bringing them right back. And and it was cool because she'd come back to her placeboard and hold the dove, and then my daughter'd be able to get it from her. Uh, and it was just perfect. It was really, really cool. Uh, we probably hunted for two hours, and then my daughter decided she was done. And I think we'd shot like nine or ten doves, and I said, Hey, that's I said, that's I'm good, you know, we're all good. So she wanted to uh just play out there for a little bit. So we played and then we loaded up, and and I'm like, man, this dog is um like she's she's good to go. She's gonna go another couple weeks, you know, because she was just like nothing phased her out there, and we got home and an hour later, she's just I mean, literally dying. Uh, she's just in rough shape, she doesn't want to get up. She just used everything she had, and I kind of felt guilty at that point, you know. I was like, she had fun, but man, I didn't mean to run her this ragged. So then I said I'll give her overnight, and I said tomorrow just might be the day. And so September 2nd, uh, we decided to put her down, and it was rough. Uh I'm like, I really this dog had such a good personality. Great family dog. Uh just everything you could ask for out of a dog, and then for her to go before she even hit two years old, it was just a gut check, you know. Um and yeah, she yeah, I just can't say enough good things about that dog. The problem is I think a lot of it was due to that training, you know. I'd have to say thank you to you guys. I mean, what a phenomenal course. And I was only halfway through, and I'm like, this is the best hunting dog that I personally I've ever had, and I'd put her up against any one of my buddies' dogs. Uh however, you know, she's not gonna be out there running trials or anything like that at that point in time. Um, but to me, I just I want a competent, well-behaved hunting dog. That's what I want, and that's what she was already. So uh yeah, then I after that I'm I'm thinking, you know, I I don't know what I'm gonna do. Hunting's not the same without a dog. Um I and I hunted with that dog by myself a lot, a lot that year. Uh, and I I don't really care to go hunting by myself much, but that dog was forcing me to get out there, and I'm like, I love hunting by myself. And then the dog passed away, and I go, no, I loved hunting with my dog, not by myself. Uh, so that was kind of a tough realization. So um, my daughter did get to go. She got to go, I think, on two duck hunts that first year, which was pretty special. She's out there with her dog, you know, watching her do her thing. Um, and anyways, I get to the point where it's like, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't know if I'm gonna get another boycan, I don't know if I'm gonna get a lap. Um, I talked to the breeder that I got her from before I knew it was lymphoma. And I said, Hey, have you seen anything weird, allergies, anything funky? And she's like, No, I'll ask around and see, you know, what I can figure out. And then I figured I you know, found out it was lymphoma and kind of kept her updated on it. And she goes, Well, here's the deal. She said, I feel really bad for you. She had she had said something about she had a similar experience when she was young or younger, and had a dog pass away young, and she goes, I want to give you a puppy out of my next litter. And I'm like, Well, you know, like that's really nice, and I appreciate the offer, but I don't know if I'm ready for a puppy, and you know, I was like, that that's a lot of money that you're just giving up, you know, essentially for her. So I talked to her about it a little bit, and she goes, No, no, I really, really want to give you a puppy. She says, the problem is uh that litter was the last litter out of that sire and dam. So she goes, I'm waiting for this new dog that I have to get pregnant. And she's said she's having trouble getting pregnant. So she goes, it may be a couple years before I even have a puppy for you. Like, okay, well, you know, we'll see what happens. Well, a few months later, maybe uh uh three, four months later, she goes, Hey, my my dog's pregnant. We got puppies, they're they're due. I think they were due like December 1st, which was almost the same birthday as that first puppy that I got. Um, and I'm like, no way, okay, that's cool. And and she said, There's one, you know, one of them's for you, no matter what. What do you want? I told her I wanted another female, um, and it's Boykin Spaniels, obviously. And uh how generous of her to give up a puppy. And people say it, you know, people say things all the time, but she followed through. She didn't ask for anything. Uh I just got I couldn't believe it. I tried to make it worth her while. Um, and I hope it was, but uh, what an honest and you know, really generous person uh and a breeder like to take care of me like that. I was I was shocked. I didn't expect it. Even when she had said it, I was like, yeah, well, you know, we'll see type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 42:09

Uh we'll link her, we'll we'll link the kennel up in the comments or in the uh description below.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Awesome. Yeah, that that'd be great. Uh so she says, okay, which one do you want? She is essentially gave me pick of the litter, and I'm like, eh, you're spoiling me. You know, it's like pick one for me. Um, I just want a female, that's all I want. Uh pick one for me. And and she goes, Well, I got this one that's really calm, and I got this one that's really crazy. She goes, I think you'll like either of them. I said, I'll take the calm one. I said, I already had crazy. So I'm like, I was like, this dog's gonna be crazy no matter what. If it has a little bit more of a calm disposition from the get-go, then then I'll take it. So she wrote it down, and I told my daughter, and I said, Hey, we're getting a new puppy. Uh, you know, it's it's gonna be the same kind of dog. What do you want to name it? And she thinks about it and she goes, chili. And I said, Well, you already had uh you already had a chili. And she says, Well, this one will be chili too. I think she meant it like chili, also, but I'm like, okay, chilly number two. All right, that's hey, we'll we'll go with that if that's what you want to name it. So I asked her a few different times, and what do you want to name it? She said, Chili. I said, All right, chili it is. So that was kind of funny. I called the vet to make an appointment uh to get the puppy in to get checked out and everything. And they said, What's the name? And I said, Chili two. The lady says, What? I said, just chili number two, and they go, Okay. So it's so cool. Yeah, so we picked up that dog. Uh, let me say, I it was like January twenty third of this year.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Uh, and I'm like, oh boy, not long ago, yeah, a couple of few weeks ago.

Comparing Dogs And The Power Of Obedience

SPEAKER_00 43:51

Yeah, exactly. So I'm like, we got puppy again already. So and I was not looking forward to it, but when I got that first first. Chili, chili number one. Uh man, I was stressed out, and I'm like, I just hope this training program works out. I hope I kept telling everybody, I just hope the dog turns out. And with this new puppy, I know she's yeah, it's like I know she's gonna turn out. Uh I just have so much confidence now after that first one that I'm like it the dog's gonna turn out, it's just it's gonna be uh it's gonna be up to me, you know, and how much time I put into it. And there's been like almost no frustration. Not none, there's a little, you know. But almost no frustration. I just, you know, going through the the program and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do what you say, and we'll kind of you know go from here and see see what happens. And so far, she's been great. I I would say she's not as crisp and clean on obedience as that first one was, but she's doing great. I mean, it's a puppy, you know, you can't can't ask too much of it. Uh and then with this one, I've really been able to my daughter's now three, she turned three in February, uh February 1st. Um and I've really been able to incorporate her in the training, and it's just been the coolest thing. Because this is her dog. I mean, she'll she'll tell you this is my you know, this is my chili. And my new chili. That's what she there's old chili and new chili now, is what she's referring to him as. And uh she it's been really cool, she she has a blast, and I was a little bit concerned at first, you know, hey, I don't want to confuse this puppy, you know, with her using the clicker, or me giving treats, and hers giving treats, or she's giving treats, and and you know, we're switching everything up, and and the more we kind of started doing stuff, I'm like, you know what, everything's turning out just fine. And the dog's learning, she's going in the right direction. This is perfect. I'm getting to spend time with my daughter, uh, I'm getting to spend time with a puppy, I'm learning, I'm getting more patient, and the dog's learning, and then my daughter's getting, you know, special daddy time, and she's learning how to train a dog. I mean, it's like and she loves it. You know, can we do training? Can we do training? And I'm like, Yeah, sure. Anytime you want, you know, it's like perfect, yeah. Um, so it's been a really special uh something that where if I just shift my dog off to a trainer, I'd miss out on all that stuff, and I'm really building a good connection. Uh, me and my daughter already are just like two peas in a pod where we do stuff together all the time. I mean, sh I think she loves my wife more than she loves me, but she sure loves doing stuff with dad. And this has been really, really special that just this last month or so with this puppy. Um our heel, our heel training is not excellent together. The dog wants to heal to me, and I'm like, okay, we're gonna wait till she's you know, really fluent and and you know, through all the whole process and generalized that she will heal to you when you tell her. And then her little voice, you know, I'm like, you gotta say it crisp, clean, and clear. You gotta, you know, tell the puppy, and she just cracks me up trying to be, you know, almost assertive to the dog. It just cracks me up. But yeah, that's kind of my whole uh story, you know, story in a nutshell of of what we kind of went through and the And y'all y'all been through a lot.

Fishing Season And Balanced Life

SPEAKER_02 47:37

And uh y'all have to excuse me with this cold, but man, there's a lot we could talk about there, but I think as for listeners, hopefully they had some uh I wasn't really crying there. Hopefully they had a little tissue there so they could handle it. But that's just a case why you don't need to wait. And like on anything in life, like don't put it off, don't wait. Especially with this dog. Like you see people all the time, yeah. I'm gonna wait until the dog is, you know, they they ease into the training, they don't worry about it, they start training later, they're thinking undecisive, haven't made a decision. Uh if you hadn't have made that decision, and you gave that dog all that it could want and more and deserve in a very short period of time. And that that's what matters. Like, if you hadn't done that, man, like you had like those memories were made, and you didn't realize that you were just doing it because you wanted to have a good dog. Yeah, but when you look back on it like that, it's like wow, it does matter that we start, you know. I'm glad you got the course two weeks early. Most that's what a lot of the people do, but some people don't, they wait. Don't wait around. You only have today, you gotta make every single day count. But man, that's uh what a powerful story, just about us and even that hunt. I think you made the right decision hunting the dog. I mean, you gave that dog the best last day it really could ever have. And that's uh man, that's just and that's a testament to why I think people love dogs so much. I think you learned so much in life about the dogs, like they um they teach us a lot and they teach us that's how we should be. Just go hard till the very end, give it all you've got. Yeah, and it's uh but you know, it's funny you said that you kind of slacked off on training there. You know, there's a reason for that. You had the best dog you ever could have wanted at that point, you know. It's kind of hard to say, well, I mean, this is pretty good. You know, you can always go further, but if you get what you want, I mean that's what matters. But man, that uh it's just I I love what you've done. I love how you've poured into that dog, and then now you're starting starting over with chili too. That's pretty cute. Um that's amazing. So it's uh but I like what you said too. You know, to begin you to begin with, your first concerns were, will my dog turn out? What if, you know, what if my dog doesn't turn out? That's another that's a that's a big question I think a lot of people have. What if this doesn't work? What if the dog doesn't turn out? And uh we get that, right? I mean, everybody knows training is not simple. If it was, then there wouldn't be courses, there wouldn't be people trying to teach, there wouldn't be people that have been trying to learn for years that are still figuring things out, you know, on the internet land. Like there's a lot of videos on it out there, and it doesn't make it any simpler. But you know, it doesn't have to be hard. And as you went through the journey, I think uh you were able to make that training about as easy as it could be just following the process, because that gave you something to it basically gives you that consistency that most people lack in training. You need that consistency, and that consistency is not just getting out and training every day, because anybody can do that. It's are you doing the right things every single day that you do train, and are you doing that week in, week out. And when you combine that together, that's what you're looking for. It gives you that good dog. But you know, a lot a lot of times we talk about training, but you you forget to think about the the meaning that it has. Like, I mean, I I bet you you'll never forget that that journey that you went on with that dog. Like, there's probably and we could probably try to unpack it on this podcast, but it would be hard to the lessons that you learned, the valuable moments that that you just are gonna cherish in your heart yourself. It's uh we could unpack all that for hours here and that one one and a half years or however long it was that you had your pup, and then here you are doing it again, and now your daughter's old enough to to really actually participate. Uh we'll try to throw that video clip up that you sent if you're good with that. Um because it uh that was cool. I heard I when the first thing I noticed when you sent me that video, I was like, man, that's some good clicker timing, you know. Three year old three-year-olds getting it. That's amazing. That's amazing. That was the first thing I noticed. I was watching that, I was like, that is great clicker timing. That is awesome. Cool.

Sudden Illness And Diagnosis

SPEAKER_00 51:44

Yeah, yeah. Just to kind of uh uh reiterate or back up what you've said, what you just said, and you said it a whole lot better than I could say it is I would come in, I don't know how many times from training that puppy, and I go, I'd tell my wife, I'd say, Man, I don't know if I'm training that dog or if that dog's training me, because I said, Man, this is not not easy, but I'm I'm learning so much. And and honestly, the patience and just having to be gentle with that dog helped me so much raise my two girls already that I'm like, man, it was like just a blessing to have that dog, and uh I don't know, it almost starts to choke a guy up because it's like, man, maybe that dog was just placed here just perfect for that reason. Um yeah, so like you said, I mean, man, what a crazy connection just through dog training, trying to train a gun dog and learn all these things. Uh yeah, what a special, special thing. And so I know I've said it, I don't want to sound like I'm kissing you guys' butt, but thank you. Uh, because you guys, what a phenomenal, thought, well thought out, easy to run course at 52 Plus is just it's so nice. So thank you. Um, yeah, I mean, that's I guess all I can really say.

SPEAKER_02 53:02

Well, thank you. Yeah, I told you know, my wife, she did the video, like she filmed the videos, and I told her, uh, I wanna you sent the first of all when I read your thing, I sent it to my whole family, I was like, Y'all gotta read this. It's like this it's just a powerful story. I was like, You're gonna cry. Mom was like, Yeah, I cried. But then I was like, I told my wife, I was like, hey, I bet you didn't think someone would be having an experience like this. I certainly didn't think it. I mean, when we were filming the videos, we were just thinking about dog training. And yeah, my wife was not really an outdoors person. Her dad, dad is and and was and always will be, but she had never spent a lot of time. So filming 52 Plus was one of her first times to be outside in the woods like every day. And so, you know, that was like, I bet when we're getting bit by ticks and all this and that, and it's hot and mosquitoes, I bet you didn't think this was gonna happen. Because I certainly didn't expect that to happen. I was thinking, I'm gonna help someone train a dog. I didn't realize like that's what's gonna happen, like those beautiful memories. And it uh I just I thought that was funny. I was like, man, I was like, wow, that makes it all worth it. If yeah, if we ever thought it was worth it, that makes it worth it.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

Good. Well, I'm glad. And yeah, it's just like who would have yeah, like you said, who would have thought never that it I did not think I was signing myself up for that when you know, when I got this training program and and all that, but yeah, special and and like I said before, it just takes so much of the unknown out of it, you know. You guys set it up from when you bring the puppy home to a finished dog, you know, an advanced finished dog. So wow. Yeah, it's been a pretty cool thing, and and we'll be going through it with this this next one. And I hope it all goes, I'm sure it will, but I hope it all goes smooth, and I'm pretty confident this go around that you know that everything's gonna be just fine.

SPEAKER_02 54:47

That's good. Well, I and look, and the truth is, like as you're going through it, there's always that question, the big question mark, will this work? Um, even with my dogs, if I get a new dog, and we forget about it, right? You have a puppy and you go through the process, and then it's like you you free it's like when you have a baby and like all that experience, but after there are two or so, you know, the family, you kind of forget about all the the sleepless nights and all that. It's like, oh yeah, we should we should have another, you know? And then then you get into that moment where it's like, oh man, this is this is really hard. And it's uh and that's the truth. And training was never meant to be easy. Because if it was easy, first of all, everybody'd do it and it wouldn't be that big a deal. And second of all, it probably wouldn't be worth it. Most things in life that are that are strenuous, that are hard. I heard somebody say something. I thought it was very profound. Um I don't remember, but basically, a long story short, what they said, it was like, you know, there's there's blessings on the other side of pain or or hardship. And and unfortunately, sometimes training does feel that way. Like you said, that you got that, you know, you're confident this time around, but maybe even in the back of your mind, you're probably still wondering, you know, you know, hope hope it works out again, right?

SPEAKER_00 55:56

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:57

That's normal. I and I I want to say all that to say, because if anybody's listening to this podcast, and for you, as you are on this journey, this starting out with this dog, all those questions and thoughts are totally normal. And it's okay that you have those can those questions in the back of your mind. Uh, if it makes anybody feel any better, I did when we were filming 52 Plus for sure. I thought, hmm. And except, you know, I kind of I amplified that by thinking, well, okay, if this doesn't work out, there goes our reputation. Everybody's gonna think, well, they that didn't work. So I but I did trust the process. I believed in it enough to at least start. And then when you're midway through and you're like questioning everything, I was like, oh man, what do we get ourselves into? And I was like, I I can't I can't even allow myself to think like that. I didn't even leave room. So I'd feel that way for a minute and I would just cut it off, or I would quit for like a day and then I'd come back with a new mindset. I was like, okay, we're good to go. We'd just get back at it. But that's just part of the journey. But I just want to make sure anybody that knows that that's listening and for you, especially like those those concerns or like those questions as you go. That's part of the process. If you're having those things, that's good. Just keep going. You're gonna get there.

SPEAKER_00 56:57

Yeah, yeah. That's I mean, yeah, it's well put. Uh just keep working, you know. It's like it's all it takes, is just time, you know, time and some effort. So yeah, I mean, like I said, everything worked out, everything, every time I thought it wasn't gonna, I'd keep at it and it worked out. So it was like, just trust it, man. Uh I've been trying to tell all my friends that you know, they're talking about getting a new get a new puppy. It's like, dude, go get the 52 plus and just trust it. I'm telling you right now. So so yeah, and a couple of my buddies are about at that point where they're gonna be getting new dogs in the next couple years, so that'll be cool to see. Uh, and it makes it a lot nicer when you go hunting with them because they've got a good dog, and you can even you can even you know use two dogs and everything goes smooth. But when you got a bad dog, it gets rough pretty quick.

SPEAKER_02 57:46

Yeah, it sure does. Yeah, it doesn't take long for uh an untrained dog to mess up a hunt or a poorly trained dog. It's uh right you spend more time wrestling with a dog than you do killing ducks.

SPEAKER_00 57:58

Yeah, that's not fun. Exactly. Yep. Yeah.

The Last Perfect Hunt

SPEAKER_02 58:02

So well Mike, man, I just I want to say thank you for sharing the story. Thanks for you being authentic and transparent to to share, you know, really what happened and the whole journey, because man, that's uh that's a journey you've been on, man. And I'm I'm sorry that happened, but also I'm I'm happy, I'm grateful that things have you know are continuing well well. And you know, as bad as it is, it's all still worth it, even if you lose them. Like you just gotta do it because like yeah, you can't replace those memories. And like also the dog deserves it, too. If you've got a dog like or you're getting one, like it deserves a training, like give it what it deserves so that it can be you know fulfilled and live the life that it's called to be. And same for us, you know, let's get out there and do that. But I want to just say thank you for sharing the story. And uh before you know, before we kind of close out and kind of get some final thoughts, I do I do want to say, hey, first of all, we've got to have you on here again as you train this dog. I would love to share some more. Um, but second of all, what what what are you most excited about with this pup? Is is there anything going into this the second time around? What do you are you thinking any different or what's kind of your game mindset to to more?

SPEAKER_00 59:11

Okay, so so a quick way, I know I've said it already, but a quick way to kind of put it is I have all the confidence in the world. So this is more of gonna be this to me is gonna be more of a uh how can I get it done and incorporate my daughter? Um and I really want her to help and train this dog. She doesn't have to go hunting, she can do whatever she wants. Um, but what a special thing it'll be if if you know in a few years she can say, Hey, I helped help train this dog. This is my you know, this is my duck hunting dog. Uh so it's essentially I know the dog's gonna turn out, so how can I build a relationship with my daughter, her build a relationship with this dog, learn lessons along the way, and kind of give the dog the best chance it has at becoming competent and a great retriever. Um so I think my outlook this time is almost less of making it the best hunting dog possible, it's more kind of building the relationships because with that last dog I realize how special that really is. Um and that's hopefully that answers your question. Uh oh, it does. That's kind of where my mind is with this dog. Uh I still want it to be great. I want it to be an excellent retriever, but first and foremost, I want to have fun doing it.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:48

So yeah, all the dads out there, I'm I'm sitting here thinking, man, I gotta get my girls out. We gotta go train right now, you know. So I was literally just as you're telling me, I was like, man, we I gotta go right now. I I gotta get I gotta get the girls, we gotta go, we gotta get some treats, we gotta get out there.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:02

Right. And the nice thing too is is she just wants to do it so bad. And I think maybe that's why I'm so fired up about it, is because if she wants to, I'm all for it. And as soon as she doesn't want to do the training or doesn't want to go hunting with me or go fishing with me, that's fine. I'm perfectly happy. I'll go watch you do whatever you want. But right now, if if she wants to do it, oh, we're gonna do it, you know? We're gonna do it to the best of our ability. Uh, and hopefully everything will will turn out just fine.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:30

So it's so cool. I'm excited to see this journey for you, Mike, and excited to see both you and your daughter train this dog. And uh yeah, I can't wait for the follow-up episode. I know everybody that's listening now will be they'll be looking forward to that. But man, thank you for taking the time to share. It's an honor to have played a part in your journey, a small part. I know you said it's because of the program, and and yeah, we've given you the the system to follow, but uh you put in the work, you went out there and you did it. And this thing doesn't work without you, without people like you putting in the work and trusting it. That's a big part too. You didn't waver, right? Yeah, if you waver, you can get off course, but you trusted the process even when you weren't sure that it was gonna turn out. As we just discussed, that's a normal emotion experience to have, but that's a crossroads and a cross point on whether you're gonna make the right decision or not. And you made the right decision and it worked out for you. So I appreciate the kind words, but I want to I want to put those right back on you and just say, man, good work. You did a good job.

Grief, Gratitude, And What Training Gave

SPEAKER_00 1:02:25

Thank you. I I appreciate that. Um yeah. I I that's the easiest way to put it. I really appreciate the kind words and the help, you know, that you've gave me along the way. And yeah, to anybody that's listening to this, just have confidence. Stick with the program, have confidence and you're gonna see success. So it may take time, but it it'll be worth it.