Trust the Process: How Zach Took Ted From Puppy to HRCH

Fresh out of college. Newly married. First house… and finally time to get the golden retriever he’d always wanted.

Zach didn’t start as a dog trainer — just a regular owner hoping he wouldn’t mess things up.

Fast forward a few years, and that same dog is a calm family companion, reliable hunting partner, and finished hunt test competitor.

In this episode, Zach shares the real journey — the early doubts, the learning curve, and the small daily habits that built a special dog.

If you’ve ever looked at your dog and thought, “I hope I’m doing this right”… you’ll relate to this one.

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

Welcome And Zach’s Origin Story

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Have you ever felt like your retriever might not turn out like you hoped for it to? We get it. The truth is, training a retriever isn't simple, but it doesn't have to be hard. On the Bill From Here podcast, you're gonna hear real stories from real people who used to be stuck with the retrievers, but are now confident they're on the right path to training their dog successfully.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Welcome to the Bill From Here Podcast. On this episode, it is my great honor to be introducing you to CGA member Zach Stan Knop. He's actually a cornerstone ambassador as well, and Zach has been with us for quite some time. We were just talking before uh we hit record here about him and his journey and the original, one of the original member weekends. And uh it was it's been incredible to see Zach's growth as not just a handler, but uh a leader throughout this journey. You know, I remember the very first weekend with Zach and Ted. Ted was a young little golden, wasn't even fully grown yet. And he uh I just remember the questions that Zach was asking. Zach has this passion and this fire for training these dogs. Like you could tell he was hungry. He wanted to make this amazing. And uh the next member weekend when he came back, I was um blown away. I was like, wow, the the jump from where you were with Ted here to that next one was incredible. And then obviously it's been just an amazing jump every single time from there. Zach has also spent a lot of time uh really investing just in the retriever world as a whole, himself with his dog. Like because it's it's amazing. We'll get into all the details, uh details of that as we go, but uh it is a great honor to have him here. Also, let me just say this, he's a chapter leader as well, helps with the uh St. Louis chapter, if I'm not mistaken. Uh so just heavily involved, an amazing model cornerstone member. And I told him, I was like, I can't believe we haven't had you on the podcast up until now. So uh I'm really glad to have him on. And uh guys, I just want to introduce you to Mr. Zach. Welcome aboard, Zach. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 1:58

I'm doing great. I'm so honored to be on here today.

From LA Surfer Kid To Midwest Outdoors

SPEAKER_01 2:02

Yeah, man, it's again, it's it's our honor to have you. It's uh like I said, it's been an amazing journey. I'm excited to uh to kind of dive into that journey and and recount it and maybe even hear some details that I don't even know yet. Um where uh you know that said, let's let's dive in, man. Let's let's a little a little bit about you. Um where'd you grow up? Yeah, what do you do for do for work? Just let the world know who Mr. Zach is.

SPEAKER_02 2:29

So I have a have a kind of an interesting story. So I grew up originally in Los Angeles, California. So I lived there for the first 12, 13 years of my life. Uh my parents are from here in uh St. Louis, uh, moved out there. My dad worked in the film industry for a number of years, a location manager, location scout. Um, but it was one of those things. Uh the kids were growing up, it was kind of time to move back to St. Louis. Um, so I was the surfer boy living in the Midwest. It was a little bit of a culture shock.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Um really? No way. He did a lot. So how much surfing did you do when you were like is that what you do out there? Or what was it? What do you do as a 10-year-old in California?

First Dogs And Falling For Goldens

SPEAKER_02 3:08

You know, I'd go to the beach. I was just outside all day riding my bike, um, just doing a uh hooligan, just playing outside, the best way to describe it. So I moved to Missouri and I learned what humidity was for the first time, that you don't just spend all day out in the summer. Um and the big thing in the Midwest, especially Missouri, was hunting. Everybody was talking about deer hunting and like doing all these like four-wheeler rides and stuff like that. I was like, well, what's this? Like, I would ride my bike, I'd go to the beach, um, I'd go to the park and do jungle gym stuff, but like, what? Um, so I kind of just got immersed in the outdoor culture in Missouri. Um, had a fishing pole, but go to the creeks and stuff around people's houses and wet a line, but like we didn't really catch much, but it was just the adventure of being outdoors. Um, but through there, I always wanted a dog in Los Angeles. We lived in an apartment, so there wasn't many dogs, but um walking around, I could always see dogs, and I was like, I want a dog. It was just like innate passion, like I want that. Wow. Um, so you see golden retrievers out and about, and I was like, let's look happy, dogs. I want one of them. So every time I see one, I'd stop and pet. Um, so just from a young age, I loved golden retrievers. They were just like that iconic dog that I always wanted. Um so going through life years later, graduated college, met my wife. Um, we moved in together after college, and I still wanted a dog. A house isn't a home without a dog. Um, I guess I guess to back up just a little bit though, um, when we moved to Missouri, we bought a house and I was finally able to get a dog. Um, so we waited a few months and went to Humade Society and got this little black lab. Can't think what we have to tell the story of. Um, my first dog, Simba. He was a black lab named Simba. I don't know why we named him Simba. Um, I don't think there could have been a better dog for a group of teenage boys. This little dog um was they called him a lab mix. I think he was probably 100% lab or had a slight component of something else. I'm guessing the main side he got him from a farm in mid-Missouri and they took him in. Um, and he was just the typical wild young lab. My mom will probably still tell stories of him chewing up shoes, wanting to get rid of him for the first two years, but he just stuck to me and stuck to my brothers, um, like labs do. He just was just all over us. Um, I didn't know what dog training was sit, stay, shake, um, go lay down. Uh, we told him the basic commands, and he was just the quintessential American dog. Um he just kind of got old and gray and just would just follow us around, and he was the most calm, peaceful dog later in life. Um love to death. We lost him in 2020. Um, but that was the dog that I think changed it. There was like you gotta have a dog in your life. A house is not home without a dog. So Simba was that first dog. Um if you would close your eyes and visualize a black lab with just a gray face across his like muzzle and his eyes, that was Simba. Like he was picture perfect. I love that dog to death. Um and he was he was so calm once he turned like three. Before that, he was a cannonball. But my mom has stories about that for another time. Um so I met my wife uh college, post-college, and then similar thing. We moved into an apartment together, we could have a dog, and we got uh another rescue. Uh we named Reagan. She was this little brown lab mix, they said, okay, we got chocolate lab mix. Um, the pull there was my wife grew up with labs. Her dad had a yellow lab and a chocolate lab. So I was like, oh, we're gonna get another lab. Is that cool? So I think that kind of sucked her. Like, yeah, we could get a chocolate lab.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Um strategy, man. It's all about the strategy. Absolutely.

Finding A Breeder And Choosing Ted

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Again, a house isn't a home thumb dog. Um that's right. So then Reagan just started growing and growing and then just stopped at like 45 pounds. Like, that's not a lab, and she's a little more round than a lab, just the build is all wrong. She's a complete mutt, sweet as can be. Um, and she was the love of her life, perfect little dog for post-college kids. Calm, um, would lay around, eat her food, be happy to see you, and kind of go do be independent again. Perfect. Um, and then me and Catherine got married in 2019, June, had a great wedding, took a great honeymoon. We bought a house in November. And then as we bought a house, she said, All right, fine, you can get another dog, you can get your golden. I don't want to say that was like a late wedding present, but like I think she knew since I met her, I wanted a golden retriever. They're a little more expensive, so I'm sure like you're not gonna just go willy-nilly buy one. Um, so finally she's like, Okay, fine, we got the house, you can get a second dog and get your golden. Um, so we bought our house in November. Um, I'm talking three, four weeks later. I'm on Google. Where do you buy a golden retriever? I don't I don't know. I like I learned that there was a difference between a field and a show line. So yeah, yeah. Google.com. What shows up? But a Tony Peterson article from Gun Dog Magazine. I was like, oh, this is a reputable source. Gun Dog Magazine, all right. Um, and the article name was how to pick the perfect golden retriever. What more could I want? Step-by-step instructions on how to pick a perfect golden retriever. Um, so he lists out through there the history of golden retrievers, lower tweet mouth in Scotland, this and that. And he starts mentioning like some of the top golden retriever lines in America, being like 80 years old. So follow that down Goodwill and realize I cannot afford one of those dogs. But then there's a little article in there, a little blurb in there about Teresa Baleva, Flat River Retrievers in Freeman, Nebraska. And I was like, oh, okay. Let me look them up. Oh, just a you know, says in there, family run, uh golden retriever breeding, 20 years success, you know, this whole story. I was like, okay. So I sent an email and Teresa's like, oh, give me a call, let me know what you're looking for. So I give her a call and like got my guard up thinking I need to like convince her I am worthy of a dog. And she's like, Oh yeah. So what are you looking for? It's like, oh, a golden retriever. I uh I'm active, I hike, I I I go fishing. Oh, I want to I want to learn to hunt, I want to do all this stuff. She's like, All right, um, well, I got two litters come soon. I'm like still guarded up, like, okay. Um, do I need to apply? Um, well, how do I do this? She's like, oh no. Um, give me a call in two weeks. I'll have two litters available. Um, do you want a boy or a girl? She was so casual about it, sweet as can be. Um, I was like, uh, I think I want a boy. She's like, okay. Um, those are usually available. Um, so I called her back about two weeks later, still like guard up, okay. So I'm interested in a male dog. She's like, yeah, so um I got four in this litter, two in that litter. Um, what are you thinking? I'm like, uh uh, I'll let you choose. Uh am I able to choose? Do you choose? She's like, um, puppy pickup's gonna be on March 8th. Um, come by and I should have some boys and both available. You know, let me know uh when you're when you arrive, and I'll uh you know introduce you to them, and you can pick your dog. I was like, whoa, I can pick my own dog. So then that down the rabbit hole of reading, like, don't pick the first dog, and what oh, don't pick the runt, pick this dog, all the strategy. Well, that went out the window as soon as I walked in and saw all these dogs. They're running around in their pet. Teresa gets out like a goose feather and shows me like their birdie, and the whole time, from when they were born until I picked them up, like she had a uh group chat going of little puppy updates of everything that's going on. Um, so I was like, okay, I think I want that one. Oh, it's that one. Okay, that one's gone. It's blue collar, green collar. Um, so then they're all running around, and one kind of chasing the feather, and then one comes to me and just kind of like looks up, and I'm like, hey, little buddy. I just hold him, and he just kind of puts his head on me, and then he's just like wagging his tail, happy as can be. I go, Well, I think he picks me. So that was my dog.

unknown 11:21

Dr.

Pandemic Routine That Built A Bond

SPEAKER_02 11:21

Blue Collar. Wow. Um, wow. So that was an eight-hour drive for us from St. Louis to Freeman, Nebraska. Um I was willing to drive it. I didn't care. We made a weekend out, but we stopped in Kansas City on the way up, ate some barbecue, drove a couple more hours, spent the night. Um, and then that Sunday when I picked him up, we drove all the way home. So for the eight hours home in the front seat of a pickup truck, I lifted up the center console and he just laid in my lap. My wife looked at me like, I thought he was our dog. And I was like, uh, I think he likes me more now. So he just snuggled like tightly on my lap as I'm driving uh across Highway 70 in Missouri, and he was just asleep, just laying on me. And I was like, all right, I picked the right one. This is this is something. I don't know if all dogs are like this or what, but all right, we're gonna we're gonna have some fun here. Um, so that was March 8th of 2020. We didn't know what the heck was about to happen. Wow, March 8th.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

So there was one week where I would go home at lunch. My wife went home at lunch to let him out, do our potty breaks. My mother-in-law came over with one of her friends to show off the puppy and let him out once. Of course, that was the one day he had a big accident in his crate. So she got to give him a bath in the kitchen sink. Um, and then the following week, my wife being a teacher, had her spring break. So she was home. Um, before she left, there was like kind of rumors like, hey, be prepared not to come back after spring break. All the teachers were like, What? What are you talking about? So they prepared, and then on spring break, they said, We're shutting down the schools. So she was home with Ted for I think three or four more weeks than I got the uh stay-at-home order from my work. Um, so more or less from April to September of 2020, it was me and Ted working and then going out and playing.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Um I I that was that's the good old days right there. That's it was rough times, but there was also some good moments in it.

Obedience First And Daily Micro-Sessions

Why Train Him Myself And The CGA Plan

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Yeah, looking back, I I don't think I could have been any more lucky to like, you know, I in the living room, I set up the little puppy play pen, a little hexagonal thing, put some gym mats on the floor, put a blanket, put some toys, whatever, and he would get up and play, then he'd lay down and nap, then I'd work, then we'd go outside, work on heel work, we'd walk on a leash, five, ten minutes, put him back in, he'd nap, I'd do some more work, I'd take calls, then we'd go play with again. Um that cadence and that sequence was what built the bond. Um just being together all the time, having fun, those foundational things that you don't need long sessions for. You just need five or ten minutes. Do it five times a day. Healing is great. Sitting great. Just building all of those cadences in the initial um a couple months was I I don't know how I got so lucky to do that. I don't think lightning strikes twice. Um but that that was fine. Um September I returned to work, so he was, I don't know, seven, eight months old. Um and then kind of had our foundations down. Then we're kind of off to the races. So being born in January, the first hunting season in November, a lot of people would be like gung-ho to go hunt him. I said, Yeah, he's not ready. I'm not ready. I don't even know what the heck I'm doing. Um I barely even was a duck hunter at that point. Um, what got me in duck hunting was my wife's dad uh was a duck hunter. Um, so early on I would ask questions and seem interested, you know, just to kind of show some interest in the family and his hobbies too. Um, and it took probably a year or two of us being together until he finally invited me out on a duck hunt with him. Um acreage in mid-Missouri with a couple lakes on there, their old clay pit mine. So you get a lot of divers, you'll get geese, you'll get mallards when the time is right. Um, so he had a blind set up there, and he'd go out there as much as he could and hunt ducks and everything. So finally I got the invite, and I was like, all right, I'm in. And seeing his dogs work, and I was like, okay, you know, they're what most we consider to be, you know, a very good duck dog, got some basic skills, go retrieve, bring it back, call it a day. Could eat could could um could they sit to a whistle? I don't know. And it wasn't necessary. Um, so I thought, yeah, dog picks up ducks, brings it in. That's a good duck dog. Um but as I started diving in, um, week by week, I realized no, Ted's gonna be a good dog. We're gonna follow this program um all the way through. So um I didn't hunt him that first season. We just worried, or we just worked on our obedience, our skills. I don't even know if I was even through a lot of like the retriever portions yet. A lot of people thought I was crazy for that. I was like, I don't know, I don't know any different. I'm gonna just follow the complete academy. Um work my way through. Um and week by week he just kept improving. I loved it, like it was such a seamless program for us. Um I I didn't have to reach out for help. If there was a question, I would kind of rework it um in my mind and and then try a different drill, and it usually just kept taking with him. Um I think a lot of that success, I've kind of mentioned this to you before, was uh I kind of an academic when it came to his training. I had like a notebook where I'd watch the videos, I would draw it out like a stick person for me. I'd have like an arrow and like a dog figure. Okay, so lining is here, lighting is there, the T pattern when we got to whistle stops. Like I had like it all drawn out, like what I'm looking for, what the success criteria is, what the failure criteria is, like in the columns. Um, and I page by page, I had stuff so drawn out that in the afternoons my wife would be watching TV and I'd be at the coffee table watching videos, and she'd hear that that CJ jingle, and she'd be like, Oh, going back to school tonight, huh? I go, Yep, we are. And then it was to the point where every time Ted would hear that jingle, he'd pop up from the couch and come running over. And I was like, We're just watching the videos, man. Not training yet. Um and then it was just a lot of small training sessions that just added up over time. I'd get home from work, pick up Ted, get him in the truck, um, and head over to the soccer field by our house. We have a little park that's kind of a mixed-use soccer field, baseball field, where we'd go train for 20, 30 minutes. I'd come home, we'd have dinner, um, and maybe I'd work in the backyard, um, or we just call it a day. But it was daily training, just three, four days a week, 20, 30 minutes, just building on those skills um for the backyard skills. Then I'm lucky that there's a pretty large um state conservation area that's about 20 minutes from our house, uh, bushwildlife, that I would go there and set up some most extreme stuff you could think of, just not knowing any better. Then Ted would either pass or fail, and we'd adjust it as we go. Um, I later learned that I was kind of a madman set for some of these setups that people logically would not run over two hills or do some crazy water work, but I literally did not know any better when I started this journey. So people wonder like, why does Ted go over two points? Why is he, you know, not like just taking a straight line across a hill? Uh-uh. I just did it. Why are you training at 80 yards on a water bot when he's, you know, eight months old? I don't know. That's just where I thought a good place to hide a bumper would be. Uh I approached everything just like so naively. Blinds, I I literally called hide and seek for the longest time. Oh, yeah, we're gonna play hide and seek on this bumper. All right. I'm gonna hide it underneath that bush. Way over there. All right. So um and then we just continued just to become best friends. Um the greatest thing I did with him is just take him everywhere from a young age. So during COVID, like there wasn't many places, so I was kind of had to be really intentional about taking him out um to Home Depot, to the farm and home uh store by me, um, going to the parks because during COVID everybody still wants to go outside. Um but when we be out there, it was like obedient session mixed with socialization. So we had to learn the socialization with tight obedience because that was the only time to be outside. Um so that developed this like really well-rounded dog who enjoyed being with people, but understood that meeting people and socializing had to have like a really tight rules about it. No jumping, uh no whining, you sit at heel, you walk with me. We can ignore people all day long if you want. Um that there's been times where people are like, is that a service dog? Or they'll give me a look from across the way, like, because he heals tight with me, he takes tight turns. Like I was really diligent early on about obedience and healing, and just being just a good dog that I wanted to take everywhere. Um is exactly that. Like I take him everywhere because he can be, and he just blends in. A lot of people just look past him now because he's so focused on me and what we're doing.

Academic Note-Taking And Fixing Mistakes

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Man, that's wonderful. It's nice that he, you know, to have that level of obedience. Uh, you know, a lot of people can't do that, uh unfortunately. But you know, when you have a dog that listens and and actually I I think you said it really well. Yeah, he just kind of blended in. He didn't stand out. Like that's what you're looking for. You want this dog that just blends in, it's part of the environment. That's pretty unique to have a dog like that, especially with tight heel work and not pulling on the leash, stopping when you stop, sitting when you sit. Um, one question I have for you is kind of going back a little bit, when how did you just I guess decide you were gonna train a dog yourself? Was this something you planned from the beginning? Where did that um whole idea come in for you?

SPEAKER_02 21:21

Yeah. That's something I haven't thought about. Um I think it may have been that like my father-in-law trained all his own dogs. So my wife's eyes, she was like, You can train a dog. And I was like, Well, I don't really know what I'm doing. Um and I think I first heard about Cornerstone Gun Dog, do like the HP Outdoors podcast, and you know, taking you know, eight week old puppy to a finished gun dog. I was like, well, that's that's what I want to do. That that sounds good. Um so I, you know, signed up for the introductory course, and I was like, oh, I think I can do this. So again, I made a business proposition almost to my wife, like, so I can send him off for a couple months to a trainer. Um, or for around the same price, I can buy this program that I have for a lifetime. It's gonna be a full year of training. I got it all laid out. She's like, yeah, then just do it yourself. And I was like, okay, well, there might be a little time associated with it. She's like, okay, like if that's what you want to do, like, then do it. All right. Nice. Um, so I was was very diligent. Like I said, like if I was gonna do it, I was gonna do it right. Follow the program week by week, uh, module by module, um, not knowing what an orange versus white bumper was. There was times where I'm throwing an orange bumper and I'd be like, it's right there. What are you doing? Oh, yeah. So dogs can't see orange. Like I was that green of a dog trainer that I just didn't know the difference.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

You still had the passion for it, though. You're fired up about it. You know, let's go every day.

SPEAKER_02 22:56

Absolutely. Because he I and he he had the passion. He was looking at me. So, like, if I would be loading stuff in my car, the passenger seat open or something, like putting my whistles in the front seat, he'd run out, hop in the car, like poke his head out. Like, where are we going, Dad? We going? All right. He he kept me honest. I'll say that.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

Man, that's that and that's amazing to just jump in in. I think some of that's just that that passion, that excitement. You know, a lot of people question whether they can do it or not. Was there any question in the back of your mind if you could, or is more of you just you aren't thinking about that? You're like, I think I can do this, let's just see what happens type of thing.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

I think you just had to trust the process. Yeah. I got the right breeding, I researched it, I talked to Teresa. She's like, Yep, both parents hunt, uh, they're hunt-trained. Um, her son hunts with their line of dogs. So I knew like it was capable of that. Um, through the whole process, I figured I was the weak link. Um, like, could I train him? Do I understand well enough what needs to be done? Um, but as far as did I trust the process, do I believe he could do it? I don't think I even thought that far ahead. I just said if just in the moment. Nice. Yeah. If if I just follow it, if I follow the right steps, why wouldn't he be able to do it? That's good. Yeah.

unknown 24:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

You know, something that you've said that I think has served you really well. And we talked about this when you originally sent in your your story, and that was that that academic approach. Like you you didn't just watch the video one time and just do it. Like you actually really paid attention. I think you said you might have watched the videos a couple of times.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Yeah.

Breakthroughs: Fetch Hold Release And Whistle Sits

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Um, you know, each one, and you were really paying attention to those details. And you know, that tends to serve you well. It doesn't seem like you have many challenges along the way. I I would say probably because you were just such a good student. You really just dove in and developed yourself first, and then that natural outcome is, well, the dog and the training's gonna go better.

SPEAKER_02 24:56

Correct. You know, if you train the trainer, if I knew what was expected of me to serve him, then he could succeed. Um, so I'd watch the videos multiple times. Like I said, I was like taking notes, like drawing pictures about what needed to be done, so that when I got out to the field, I just had like a single sheet to reference. I know you could watch the videos in the field, but I'm like, I'm I don't need to take five minutes away, but I'm already sitting there set up. What am I doing here? Got all my notes. This is what we're gonna do. Um, if he was struggling with a concept, like whistle sits for the longest time, like he was just like walking or just drifting around. I was okay, what am I not having him what am I not explaining well enough what needs to be done here? Castic. Um like the mannerisms of like how to cast a dog was important. So I like look at the video, okay. What looking back to myself, like, okay, what am I relaying? What kind of message is he getting, and how am I presenting it? Okay, let's reach let's reframe this, let's reframe the lesson, let's reframe the activity. All right, let's find success doing something slightly different, build on that and get back to the main goal, whatever it was, whether it was whistle sets, whether it was lining, casting. Um, so I kind of have to alter it once I understood what the lesson was. Um what was due to just those notes I took or just understanding the concept first.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

That's good, man. Yeah, being a good student. And one thing that you said too, just um you use the original complete gun dog, which is the module series. Let's talk about that, man. Your experience, because you know, we've seen a lot of people do really well with that too. A lot of you know, a lot of the interviews we do are with people using 52 plus, but we've got a whole mod uh I don't even know if people even know, but we got a whole module series. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 26:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:40

It can give you amazing results. I would love to just hear about that experience for you and and all that.

Mindset, Incremental Wins, And Patience

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Um Yeah. So for when I when I signed up, I think it was kind of there was a crossover. Like you had the complete gun dog and you had 52 plus available. Um, so I was like, well, I could I could do the complete gun dog. I just skills-based, module-based, early retrieving, early obedience, advanced retrieving and obedience. Um, so it was just kind of a skills and module based. So I was like, all right, what are we doing today? We're gonna work on healing. This is how we heal, this is what you do to teach your dog to heal. It's like, okay. Um, so I just kind of progressed through those modules um kind of seamlessly. They all flow together um so well um that I it just seemed so well laid out in the module series that you just had as your advanced obedience was coming up, your basic retriever was coming up, when you had your advanced obedience, basic retriever. So you kind of built your obedience and your retrieving skills together as you master one, you had beginning of another, and that's that synchrony was awesome. I loved it. Um, knowing that this is the skills, this is the module you're doing, this is what we're teaching. And it kind of gave me a little bit more of an open-ended approach to gear it towards Ted and the dog, like being the dog in front of me. So it's kind of for me to assume and make that lesson plan and make those adjustments as I need it with my dog.

SPEAKER_01 28:10

So I loved it. That's awesome, man. And it seems like y'all had a great experience with that. Was there any challenges along the way? Just that you know, any roadblocks you hit, or was Ted do pretty good along the way?

Entering Hunt Tests And Early Lessons

SPEAKER_02 28:24

Ted did great. I'll always say that. Um, and I think the line came down to me. Um, so we can jump ahead to the first members weekend 2021. You you mentioned that that we were green, green as a puppy, green me as a handler. Um, and we were probably struggling or kind of, I was towing the line with with fetchable and release. It's a common issue a lot of people have, and it was a confidence for me because you hear about people paying to get the dog force-fetched, or oh, you gotta do it right, or you're gonna miss the opportunity, you can mess up a dog. So I was timid, like, okay, if I don't do this right, he's never gonna hold a bird right. I don't think you could be more wrong. You have so many opportunities, and I was kind of timid to like present the bumper to Ted and everything. So it might have been raining at that first members' weekend in 21. You had a bunch of people under the tent. We were like, well, let's uh let's do some fetch hold release. I know some people have issues, you guys want to come around. So we gathered around a table, pulled up some chairs, had our dogs in front of us, and you were just like, all right, grab a bumper, and we just like did it. And I was like, Oh, okay, okay, success. Okay, take it out, dead. Fetch, present the bumper to him. He just took to it. I was like, okay, I can do this. So it was a confidence thing as a handler more than it was for him. Uh, making sure he opened his mouth appropriately, or just reading his cues and understanding how you read those cues and building off that. So maybe he holds onto it for a second or two, reward him. He did it. Didn't have to be for five minutes here, but it's two, three seconds. That's building from zero. And that two seconds becomes ten seconds of holding it, or just opening his mouth more to receive the bumper. So understanding there's incremental gains in the process of fetch hold release, I was like, oh, this is easy. Once I understood it well enough. But sitting in my basement, just like having a stare down with him holding a bumper. We were just staring, like, okay, and he didn't know what he was supposed to do. I didn't know what to tell him, that it was just like a weird, awkward stare-down where I would be like, open your mouth and everything. And it just got awkward, and I'd be like, Okay, this isn't working, and I don't know how to change this yet. Um, but I think it was like a couple weeks after that we came to Members Weekend. Um and we had that little session. After that, we're off to the races. Um Fetch Home Release was probably my first struggle point. Um, I think that was more so me than him. Because once I understood how to teach it, he knocked it out of the park. Uh the second one was whistle sits, where I don't think I understood how to get him to stop. So I was chasing him and running at him or whistle sit, pulling a leash. Um and I just slowed down. I was like, okay, let's do it together. Let's heal. Boop, sit. Pause. Okay, let's speed up. Boop, sit. All right, now let's work it backwards. Um and then we just slowly work through that. So for anybody that is hitting one of those obstacles, I'd say slow down, look at your approach, look at what your dog's reaction is, change that approach. Always ask for help if you're stuck. Um, ask the cornerstone community for assistance, or post a video. You'll see a lot of times we'll see something that you don't at that time. Um, so I think that helped too. 100%.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

That's awesome. So I think what you said uh probably resonates with a lot of people is they're they're like the this stare-down session. We're looking at this dog, it's looking at me. It's like, I want you to do this. But the the key word you use there was incremental success. Yes. I think one of the biggest mistakes we all make, and I even make myself, even if you've done it a lot, is we always want more than the dog's willing to give at times. So getting that incremental success, those small wins, less than what we want, but it's what the dog can do well. The the more you do that, it's it's counterintuitive. The more you do that, the faster it works. The less you do that, the more you try to push to stretch it, the slower your training goes. And it it it seems like the opposite would be the case. But it's uh I think what you just said probably encouraged a lot of people knowing that, oh, it it wasn't as big of a deal. Sometimes we get this idea in our mind that's like, oh, this is gonna be hard. This is gonna be real hard, you know. Uh a lot of times it's not as hard as as as we think once we get into it. Um but sometimes it can just be a mental block. And maybe it seems like you busted through that mental block at member weekend, which is which is cool to see.

SPEAKER_02 32:48

It definitely was. And you know, it takes a lot of reps for mastery and just to get incremental steps of like a little bit of time. It could be the same with with any of the principles, whether you're running a blind and it starts with 10 yards, getting confidence of the dog running towards a white pole all the way through months and years later, and you just send them on a line 200 yards down a hill, and they just take a straight line, pick it up. You're like, huh. I don't think I don't think we all give ourselves enough credit for that either. Of starting with this dog who was just like staring at this random white pole in a field, going, so what do you want me to do all the way through? Just like an invisible horizon saying, go that way. And they just phew take it. So um that's incredible. Yeah, it's good to to look back and just remind yourself how far you've come.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

And that and that's what's yeah, I think that's that's pretty important too, because you know, if you get too frustrated, you're gonna slow yourself down. And it's and I think what people at times fail to realize, because you're doing this every day, progress and success don't seem as big as it really is. Like you said, if you don't look back and actually document and look how far you've actually come, you know, you may have made just a little bit of progress from yesterday to the next day, and then you took a big step back the following day, and you feel like that's the end of the world. But in reality, you've been training 20 weeks now, and you look back and say, oh man, we've basically have transformed this dog into an obedient family companion that's now learning to retrieve. And that's that's a pretty big feat.

unknown 34:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

It's a pretty big feat.

Seasoned To Finished: Passing And Setbacks

SPEAKER_02 34:21

First and foremost, like this Ted and many other CJA dogs are family dogs first. So yeah, you want an obedience, a very obedient family dog that can retrieve. If you were just a retrieving dog that can be a family dog, it goes the other way, and then you get yourself in some trouble, and your wives are wondering why this dog's bouncing all around. So that I I I I continue to harp on. That's what I love about CJet. It builds these well-rounded dogs. Um, a couple weeks ago, right for Christmas, I took the family down to the Bass Pro Mecca in Springfield, Missouri. Ted was walking around with me. There was a worker who looked down, he's like, That dog's special. I was like, Oh, okay, well, thank you. He's like, I don't know. Like he the way he looks at you guys, the way he just walks, he's part of the family. He's like, I see a lot of dogs in here, they're all over the place. But that dog, he he recognizes that he's part of the family, he goes with you, he looks at you, he stops with you, and I go, Well, thank you, sir. It's like, uh, guy looks more, and I was like, Yeah, well, I trained him myself. Like he's a best friend, he comes everywhere with me. He's like, Oh, that's cool, man. You got yourself a special dog. And I'll say, Okay, well, thank you. Then a little bit later, I realized, oh, I do have a special dog. That like a guy who sees hundreds of dogs every day over the week recognizes that this dog, healing with me, walking with me, looking around, like being attentive to me and my family, um, is something special. So I'm I'm incredibly grateful for that. Because then a week or two later, we can go hit the field, pick up a bunch of geese, be a monster in the field, and then come back home and just relax with us. That's wow. It's a core stone. They will make me do that.

unknown 35:59

Man.

SPEAKER_01 36:00

That's so cool, man. And that's what we all want. And that's uh it's what anybody can have if they put in the work. I mean, one of the big things is, man, you've put in the work. You got out there and you got it done. And that's uh that's a big part of the battle. Is I mean, I believe success is inevitable if you don't quit. If you just keep going and you keep putting their reps. Yeah. And there's different mindsets on that. You know, people think differently. Some some think that and I encourage our people to think differently. Think about your as you're going through, like you're going to win. It's not a matter of if you're going to win. It's just a matter of when. And when you start thinking from that mentality, it does change things. I I don't know. I have found that that has made things easier for me when I'm training dogs, because it doesn't look like you're a winner on a lot of days. It looks like you're, you know, don't know what you're talking about a lot of days. But if you just keep at it, then things turn around. It's like, oh, all of a sudden, like you said, man, how's this dog? How did how does it this good 200 yard retrieves or nothing? It's just super consistent. They're crushing it every time. But it it was all those days of putting in that work and trusting the the process that that makes it work.

SPEAKER_02 37:03

It's one session at a time, day by day, week by week. I mean, you can't look at it at 52 weeks or two-year process. It's one week at a time. One session at a time, one retrieve at a time, just making sure we're continually growing their skill set, mastery, um, and sticking with it. Because at the end, you're gonna have a phenomenal retriever.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

Let's get in now that we've kind of talked to some of this, and we're talking about success and winning, let's get into your experience in the hunt test game because you've you've kind of got after that. So let's open that can of worms, man. Tell me about it. Tell me your first experience, and then let's go from there. I'm excited to hear your journey.

SPEAKER_02 37:44

Man, I I didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know if Ted was any good. I didn't even know if he'd pick up a bird. I don't think we have done many like real bird retrieves. I think I like poked around at the retriever club and was like, oh, let me try this. He sniffed a bird, ran away. So I ended up getting the dockins out, and they threw a hand threw him. He retrieved. I'm like, okay, you're doing all right, okay, we'll figure it out. Um and then the retriever club, the next one, just the east of us in Illinois, had a weekend test. Um so I emailed in and was like, hey, is there still availability? Like, I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it, but like, can I just try it one day? She's like, oh yeah, absolutely. Come by. So I showed up at RU with like$60 in cash. And uh the head secretary was like, okay, uh, are you coming back tomorrow? And I was like, uh I I don't know yet. We'll we'll see how today goes. I I don't know if he's gonna do any, and I don't know if he's gonna be any good. She's like, okay, well, good luck. You know, just trying to like cheer me up. Um so getting driving up to the test, all these other dogs and all these trailers and everything. I'm like, okay, what am I in for here?

SPEAKER_01 38:52

And then I had the nicest-that's a different world.

Grand Insights And What Testing Teaches

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Yeah, nicest judge, Bev, Bev Andelung. Uh, she passed last year. But if you had the quintessential, just like grandma, she's like 5'4, white hair, just welcome everyone. So uh are you started hunt test. We're so happy you're here today. I was like, okay, okay, just cheer me on. And like, I just feel so welcome. And then you know, you can hold your dog and start it. Uh, I run HRC. Um, and bird launches, he kind of leans forward and then is steady, and I just let go, say his name. He picks off the first bird. I was like, all right, we're there. He comes back. I line up for the second one. I let go, he says his name, takes a couple steps forward, looks back at me. I'm like, Ted, Ted, boom, he races out there. Like, he wasn't sure. He comes back. Um, and he no, he got to the bird in the area, in like, you know, small grass. And then he's just like sniffing it, playing with it, like pawing at it, and then he rolls. I'm like, oh no, what's this dog doing? What is this dog doing? So here, here, here to try and say positive, picks it up, brings it to me. I think, yeah, then he drops it, but I was able to like catch it because it doesn't have to deliver to hand, it's delivered to the area. So then the judges are like, uh, can we see that bird? Can he chew? Did he chew it? I was like, no, I think I I think he was just playing with it. Um, so I passed it back the the the the bird to the to the judges, and they're like, All right, well, um, you know, make sure he, you know, picks it, like perceives the area of the fall, picks it up, returns back, you know, use their judges' language. I'm like, okay. So in the water, similar thing. Bird launches, he looks back at me, and just goes. He swims to it. Does like two laps around it? I was like, okay, what the heck is going on? But he picks it up, brings it back to me. Similar thing. So the uh judges are the uh banquet at the end of the night, hand out ribbons, Bev, the sweet little judge, is like, you guys did so good today, you know, getting all close to me. I better see you back here tomorrow.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

And I was like, okay, okay, yes, ma'am, uh, I'll be back.

Clearing Myths: CGA Dogs In Hunt Tests

Chapters, Community, And Mentoring Others

SPEAKER_02 41:01

So Sunday morning, got up, had my$60 in cash, paid, and did it again. And I was like, all right, we can do this. And slowly, little by little, um just kept showing up, growing skills, and I think, like, all right, this dog can do it. I think like leaving that weekend, um, I said, All right, uh, I think we're gonna keep chasing this. He understands the concepts, but I think he wants more, and I think I can give him more. So then we just kept training. We learned, you know, how to do the walk-ups for seasoned, um, using the the upland drill in the CGA where you walk, use your hand launcher, stay to a shot, pick it up, bring it back. Run the water retrieves, and then it kind of became fun. That was before we started having any kids. So, like, I would go drive to Nashville, run uh that hunt test. I go to northern Illinois, I go to southern Missouri. We're like, it was kind of the fun thing to do. We travel, meet new friends, see how other people trained, what tips and tricks do they have, how are they running? Um, so we were 100% on hunt tests um through seasons, which most people in the HRC said like is the hardest one. Or there's just so many mechanics of the test between the walk-up, the diversion, your water blind, your land blind, your two marks. But we just kept passing these tests, excelling at them at times. Like, okay, is this all that's expected of us? So we just kept knocking it through. Um, and then it was like, all right, it's time to run finished. This is the big boy test. All right. And similar thing. We just kept succeeding. There was a little hiccup in there where uh I made Ted fail because I failed, which disqualified him. Um, there may have not been a gun safety violation uh in there, which I still object to for shouldering the gun, but that was our first loss. And when I say like I beat myself up, like we had a perfect record going through our third pass and finished. Oh, I beat myself up so hard about it. Because it was like he showed up, he did what he was supposed to. I was on the honor bucket. Um, I didn't shoulder the shotgun, apparently. I still a little sore about that. So I got dropped. Um, it was an honor bird. He said I had a little low, I didn't shoulder it. That's all right. So that was kind of another turning point where it's like this dog does everything right, and it was on me. So I beat myself up about that. Um, and now we've continually just continued to run finish tests, um, try new concepts, run longer blinds, bigger marks, and just continue. Um an HRC. I've kind of got bit by the bug, and now I'm the vice president of Gateway HRC, um, organizing different meetups and travel trips and all sorts of fun in the HRC world. Uh, attend the national meetings, usually here in St. Louis, uh, to meet other club presidents or just try and Guide the future of HRC. It's been a really fun organization. Really engage folks who are 4 hunters by hunters. So we try and set up very hunting like setups. So I guess it was fall of 24. The International Grand was here in St. Louis. So I was able to help facilitate that, run TED on some of the setups. It is fun. You know, like it'd be like an average golfer going and playing the masters. You may not hit par, but you're you're gonna learn a thing or two about your dog or challenge yourself. That's really what it comes down to. It's really challenging yourself or challenging the setups or what you think is possible. Um it made me learn the grand is a lot more approachable than you might think. The setups are challenging, yes, but it's the scoring system that'll drop you. Like me and Ted could have. If we ran like a weekend test where you have a little bit more lead way on your marks and blinds, we could pass. They're bigger setups. Blinds are a little tighter to marks, but we made it through all the test setups, you know, just allowing the judge to see like what concepts are the dogs being challenged by. Um so that made me go, huh. This dog really gets this. He he knows how to read stuff, he he he loves these hunt tests. Um so that that's our next journey of uh seeing what uh some grange reading may look like. Um a lot of people think these hunt test dogs aren't good hunting dogs, but I think it's the opposite. It just extends my hunting season. Instead of shooting wild birds, I'm shooting you know, shooting with our cap guns, uh, fake birds, but it allows us just to keep practicing, just like shooting a skeet league in the summer to keep your shooting skills up, I run hunt tests for my dogs. Um and allowing other people to have success. And now I'm on the other side of the training journey. I'm allowing myself to help other people, meet with them and say, all right, let me set up this mark, this blind. Let's do some obedience. Where's your dog at? Where are they struggling with? Have you heard this suggestion? Um so I that started with the HRC and now um into the St. Louis chapter. And that's kind of allowed us to expand into that realm too.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Um Yeah, but um, we'll dive into the chapter here in just a second. I do have a couple of questions um on that test. Uh so a lot of I've seen this question from a lot of people. So you found really good success with it. And even with the module series, not even the 52 Plus. There's uh, I don't know, what do we want to call astigmatism, uh a general consensus of people that haven't used cornerstone that want to say these cornerstone dogs aren't gonna do good in tests. Tell me about your experience with that, because clearly you've done well. What did you did you need to do anything different? What kind of how did you find your success, or would you accredit it to the foundation? I mean, what was the story there? Because you have real experience with it. And that's the one thing that gets me. Yeah, I see a lot of people dog it that have never even they're not even in our system. I'm like, who is this person that never been in the system, they've never seen a video from us unless it's been on Facebook or YouTube, but you've experienced it personally. So what's what's the story there with with test and cornerstone?

Final Reflections And Advice To Beginners

SPEAKER_02 47:22

It's I I think they just merge together because Cornerstone being a hunting dog program. We don't mile ourselves. Cornerstone isn't some field trial contest program, we're not doing anything crazy. It's for the hunter. Hunt tests, at least HRC is for hunters by hunters. So they kind of merge together, if I'm being honest. So marks are marks, how they're thrown is great. Blinds are blinds. Can your dog take a straight line and pick up a bird? Is your dog obedient? Can you walk from a holding blind to a chair? Well, cornestone dogs actually beat out most programs with that. It's just natural progression. We heal everywhere we go when we're training for CGA. I don't know, it's just something we do. Um, can your dog swing to the bird? Can your dog pick up a bird on the water and the linked? It merges really well. Um, and then like I mentioned before, like the uh upland style hunt where we're walking, we use our hand launchers. That is the walk-up in a season test. So if you have experience of your dogging state of shot, um, healing, being released on their name, you you just nailed one element of a season test. A diversion? How many times do you throw diversions just casually when you're training? It's they merge together so well, I would say, that there's no, I would say, additional training to get through finished level tests. If you can pick up three marks, run a water blind and a land blind, you can honor another dog. There's no reason why you couldn't pass a finished test with a cold stone program. When you get into the upper level national test, yeah, there's some more complicated factors in there, but it's how your dog learns. There's modules on how your dog learns how to introduce those principles to teach the dog for success there, and you're great. It's the layout of the test. Hunt tests are a game. That's really all that they are. So if you can train your dog for the game, it's fine. I don't think you necessarily need to do anything extra, but I think every Core Stone member would find easy success in the Hunt Test game if they follow the program front to back.

SPEAKER_01 49:42

Makes sense. That makes sense. I'm glad I'm glad you cleared that up. That was you know, I know for a lot of people that are thinking about should I do this? And then they hear someone out there that's talking, like I said, that hasn't experienced it, they're like, oh, I don't know if I can win. Like you said, you're going into it apprehensive, like, oh no, what's gonna happen? And then it was fun. So that's uh that's encouraging for for people here, I believe.

SPEAKER_02 50:02

And just try it out. It's a it's it's a hunt test to know like, is your dog capable of these skills? You can also just go to a weekend training and say, like, can my dog do these items? What how's my dog act around other dogs? Um your dogs probably act a little different when there's 10 or 12 other dogs around. Maybe they won't. Um and it's just figuring it out, testing it, challenging yourself and challenging the dog to new opportunities. Um and just finding new friends or just building skills and relationships with your dog. It's fun. I don't think people need to make it too serious, like, oh, you have a hunt test dog or you have a hunting dog, or there has to be so many walls and hunting in the hunting and retriever community. At the end of the day, we all have the sh same shared interest of hunting dogs. So let's build bridges, not fences.

SPEAKER_01 50:58

Love it, man. Totally agree. That's awesome. Chapters, let's get into that. That's something that's been it's fairly new, not even a year in from Cornerstone yet. Okay. And uh you've kind of jumped in, man, and y'all have kind of got it rolling, and we're we're really getting ready to kick off. We've got our first um leader summit, whatever you want to call it, happening pretty soon here next uh next week. So um, man, tell me about chapters. What's been your experience so far, you know, in the in the few little bit of time we've done it. I would love to hear some more.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

So yeah, Ryan's chapters were coming about that idea. Um I think Chad Duckworth reached out to me. He was like, Hey, I know you're another Corestone member. Would you be interested in training together? I got this dog Winnie, you know, she's years of change old. I was like, absolutely. And then through my HRC club, Ryan Jeneman was in that. Um, and the first training day he came to, he had the British whistle. And I was like, Are you a corestone guy? He's like, uh, yeah, how'd you know? I was like, You're the only person, we're the only people who use that whistle. So the three of us um started to meet and uh train together, and we were like, oh, we're creating the St. Louis chapter too. Um, so with the page, we've started recruiting more people and having live calls just to share our experiences and get through struggles. Um, and it's fun because we are all on the same path of just improving dogs through the same, I guess, mindset and training platform. So we say, hey, go back to week 22 when you're going through this. Hey, watch this video um when you're going through um bucket whatever, maybe running blinds, cold blinds. Uh when you're going from your you know your three bucket drills to cold blinds, try that. Um so now that we're on the same sheet of music, per se, um it's really fun to be able to compare and then just share trainings. Um we've done, I think, two in-person trainings, the three of us. We're looking to get another one together this spring. We're kind of looking at what month would be best. Um, and then we've done a couple of live calls now. A few new people that we've never even met hop on. We're like, heck yeah, tell us about yourself. Introduce yourself, your dog, where you are, what kind of places you hunt, what your experience has been, what your struggles are, what your successes are. Um, so it's just a good way to just celebrate each other and celebrate our dogs. Um, we're definitely building a kind of excitement, I would say, that um hopefully continues to grow in our area. Um I'm I'm excited for what chapters can be. Uh I love getting together training for other people, especially fellow cornstum numbers.

SPEAKER_01 53:37

100%, man. Yeah, we're we're stoked about it and love seeing what you guys are doing. And you know, we couldn't do it without people like you, the people, the leaders and and the teams that are coming together that are pulling this off. And you know, we've got a vision for it, and and we could do it here, but we can't be where you guys are. We're in Montana or any. I mean, we could like once a year or something like that here and there. But I mean, week in, week out, week out, day out. Like we gotta have people like you all that do it. And so um and I like what you said earlier about, you know, hey, you know, I started, I was training myself, but now I'm kind of a mentor, so to speak. I'm helping other people do it. And that's another thing, man. We're so fired up about chapters, is just seeing people like you guys mentor others, help other people win. It's it's incredible to see.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

That that's kind of been the biggest joy lately of allowing other people to have success. Or I can learn something from them. Um, whether that is obedience or it is a field skill, marks blinds, whatever it is, um, watching other people run their dogs, you learn so much. Like I I'm I have a you know experience of one right now of well-polished retriever. And he flew through some steps and other stuff he struggled with, or it took us a few extra reps. And other people it could be flipped. So just having that shared experience of how did you get through that, or seeing how they get through. Um pushing through cover was one um that was set up last time using hand launchers with each other, and so there's like dogs that just wouldn't push through cover. And I was like, all right, let's shorten it up, or maybe let's land directly in the cover, the edge of cover. Um and seeing how dogs kind of challenge some of those concepts. Ted, I think, always just ran through covers. I never had to think through that. Um so seeing seeing other people's experience and challenges gives me new perspective and gives me new knowledge to kind of bring forward to other members.

SPEAKER_01 55:29

That's awesome, man. Well, Zach, I I appreciate you for taking your time to be on this call and uh just share with other people. And I'm excited to see where the everything goes. We got a lot to look forward to with chapters and all that's coming up. So we're really glad you're part of it. We got member week coming up, lots of good things. But man, it's been incredible to see your journey. Like I said, from the first time I saw you and Ted to where you guys are at now is a transformation unlike any other. It's truly incredible to see how just I really uh the word all in is the only way to say it. You just jumped all in, and man, you got after it. And it's a m that's a testament to if someone, if you're willing to go all in, like where you can get, like y'all have done very well. You continue to do well. I think it's a testament really to you, man. Uh of course Ted's a good dog, and of course he's got good breeding. But I I think I think the testament really is you that you made it happen. You put in the work, and then now you're enjoying the fruits of that. And it's it's incredible to see.

SPEAKER_02 56:29

I could talk about Ted all day. I love that guy, and I love to be able to talk about Cornerstone and just the training methods and just the success we found. Um, I love it. I'm so grateful to be on here today and uh had the opportunity to talk about him and our journey.

SPEAKER_01 56:45

Oh man, I appreciate you for being on. One one last question for you, like we always like to ask. What would you say if you could talk to yourself when you were getting started? Was is there anything you'd tell yourself, like what's the one thing you'd say, hey, pay attention here, or you know, this is what you're gonna face, but don't sweat it, or something like that. What's the one thing you would say to yourself if if you could go back and tell yourself something now when you were starting?

SPEAKER_02 57:07

I'd probably say enjoy the journey. Don't sweat the small stuff. Um there there's days where you want to just get so upset or train with your emotions or you bring emotions home from work. Don't sweat the small stuff. Enjoy it. Dog training is fun. Enjoy the time with your dog um and just enjoy every moment because it's gonna go by fast. Um it's been six years with him, and it feels like it's been six months. I I don't know how the time has gone. So just enjoy every every opportunity you can, take them where you can. Um, I would tell my younger self. Uh just enjoy the journey, absolutely.