Why You Shouldn’t Train Your Retriever Alone | Ted Turner

In this episode of Build From Here, Josh sits down with Ted Turner to hear more about his journey with retrievers and the work he is doing through the Augusta CGA Chapter. Ted shares what he has learned from training alongside other dogs and handlers, hosting their first chapter event, and creating opportunities for members to connect, share, and grow together. It is a great conversation about community, leadership, and why none of us have to build a retriever alone.

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Transcript

Welcome And Meet Ted

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Build From Here podcast. On this episode, I'm so excited to be introducing you to an amazing Cornerstone member, CGA member Ted Turner. Ted has been really amazing in the CGA community, and we'll get deeper into that as we go. But uh one of the things that I love about Ted is that he just knows how to make people feel feel at home. And you can tell that he does that within the Cornerstone chapter. He's uh the leader of the Augusta chapter, and uh you can just tell like he makes those people feel at home. And even when we're doing our other calls or just any other live, like you can see he gets on there, he's able to connect and just has a great experience, which is what we love to do at Cornerstone. We love to connect, share, and grow when it comes to chapters. And as far as training dogs, we love to train our dogs with confidence. But I think Ted exhibits all those traits. So um I am excited to be bringing them on. This is gonna be a special edition episode of the Build From Here podcast. Um, Ted hasn't been on the Build From Here podcast, so we're gonna kind of do a mini version of the Build From Here where we give a little bit of his story, and then we will actually want to dive into his most recent chapter event in Augusta, um, which will be amazing. So, what we'll end up doing is do another chapter, uh, another Build From Here call later, where we kind of do the whole shebang, but we will give you a little background on him and and go from there. So with that said, Ted, we're excited to have you on board and and talk with you. Welcome aboard. How's it going? Hey man, I really appreciate it. It's going well. You know, it's been a good morning so far. How's everything going with you? It's good. It's uh, you know, it was a little warm this morning already. I I walked out the door, I was like, man, you know, we're recording this in July. And so it's not as bad as it probably will be. When August gets here, it'll be nice and hot in August. So um outside of the heat, we're doing great, loving life, just doing the best we can and having a good time with the Cornerstone members. It's been uh it's been cool to see all the new members come in lately. We actually had a member, I've got to shout him out real quick. He's a brand new member. Um, he inspirational. He I know he's gonna be inspirational. His uh he jumped in and he's in his mid-70s, and his wife is also in her mid-70s, and she just started hunting with him. Uh so when I was talking to him on the phone before he was uh thinking about purchasing, he told me that I was like, this is inspirational. Like, this is just so cool. So uh that's kind of one of the highlights in my past week was uh getting a chat with him and have him come on board. Um so yeah, but other than that, man, I'm excited to hear more about

Hunting Roots And First Labs

SPEAKER_00 2:22

you. Before we dive into um your the the chapter stuff, let's get a little more about you. Tell us where you're from, give us a little bit uh background on Ted so all the the people out there listening can know a little more about you.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Yeah, man. So I grew up uh toward I'm I'm in Georgia. Um grew up towards the coast. Uh when I say the coast, yeah, a lot of people are more familiar with uh Savannah, Georgia, or Brunswick, Georgia. So I'm from that region. Um, you know, after spending quite some time there, uh going through you know childhood and through early teens, moved up uh closer to Augusta. Uh did that originally to try to go to college or to go to college, and then uh yeah, just ended up staying around, man. Um that's where I'm from. Background, you know, with with dogs came uh straight from hunting. Uh my dad brought me up hunting. Uh funny, he's he took me out uh way before I can remember. I was probably three years old. He was a dog hunter, you know, so they had a lot of deer dogs. So I grew up around a lot of dogs and a lot of hunting. And um, yeah, man, he was carrying me under his arm, running down the dirt roads, what they the stories they would tell me. He'd have a shotgun in one hand and a child in the other, and he's just running down the road chasing dogs. And uh, so anyways, growing up with that and uh then getting into archery and you know, eventually, you know, uh my love for dogs was there, grew up with dogs, and um, you know, we got into uh to bird hunting. Now here in Georgia, uh, some of our biggest bird hunting, at least in my experience, is dove. Um, so we do a lot of dove hunting, and um, you know, it was pretty nice to see dogs that would go out and retrieve a dove for their handler or find a lost dove for their handler. And um, you know, as a child, I'm thinking, wow, it's it's really hot out here. It'd be nice if the dog would go get that bird for me. So, you know, fast forward years later, I uh, you know, got a niche to uh want to get into that and and end up getting uh more labs. You know, I grew up with a lab and uh yeah, man, through that experience, end up hearing about the cornerstone program and and dove into it kind of wide open. You know, I really uh really loved everything that I was reading, um, you know, some of the videos that y'all were posting online. And then I reached out to several, several uh breeders, and every breeder I spoke to, you know, through our conversation, they were like, Have you heard of cornerstone? Have you heard of cornerstone? It was everywhere that you looked, it was cornerstone. So uh it was kind of a no-brainer to get involved with cornerstone after that.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Man, that's that's so cool. It's uh did did your dad train the dogs or work the dogs? How how did that work growing up?

SPEAKER_01 4:43

So I'm not sure how uh he trained the dogs because he uh managed deer dogs. Now, with the deer dogs, okay. I'm sure with deer dogs he definitely trained them. A lot of that training is natural. It's uh more of a natural ability from my understanding. I was a child, so I don't remember a lot of that, but you know, I know they would take them out um in the offseason and and let them run deer, you know, and uh just kind of you know see how they track. They kind of ran as a pack. So that's where that came from. Now, fast forward to me getting my first lab, uh, I don't remember the age, but I'd say early teens, might have been a little earlier than that. Uh, my dad actually uh had a friend that was a big time duck hunter, and my dad was talking with him about different types of dogs, and we had heard about uh a specific breed called British Labs and heard about it from him. So uh ironically enough, my dad went and got a British lab, and the dog was so smart, you know. I mean, he was an incredible dog, and um, and I was a kid, so you know, I was I didn't know any type of professional teaching or anything, but me and the dog shared a uh what I would uh consider a unique uh connection. It's like the dog could read my mind and I could read his, but it's like I guess we was just understanding body language. And um, so of course I didn't understand how to do a proper training with him, but I could teach him so much without you know any any you know proper training. Um but anyway, so yeah, that was my first experience with the uh with the labs and how I kind of came to the labs and and now fast forward you know I'm 34 now, so fast forward 20 years later, roughly, and and uh I'm I'm definitely thrilled to be part of the cornerstone because your guidance and the cornerstone guidance and all the modules and the program, it's it's impressive. I mean, even you know, it's it's so unique to me that I can watch you say, Hey, here's what I'm experiencing with with Violet. I'm like, well, I'm not gonna experience that. My dogs have none of those tendencies. And I'm I've two days later, my dogs are doing exactly what Violet was doing. I'm like, man, I'm so glad to see that because I'd be lost if it wasn't for seeing you know Violet doing. You know, like for example, sometimes when Violet will try to run away from you, and you know, um, I wish I can remember what module it is. It's in the 20s, I think early 20s. Um, I think there's the 180 degree drills, and like you would toss one out and toss one out, and then she wanna grab it and kind of run around. I was like, oh, my dogs wouldn't do that. And they never give me that that trouble. And as soon as I did it, they run around. And I would have been lost if you know if it wasn't for seeing what you were doing with Violet. So it's just it's it's great, great guidance to to to follow the modules. And yeah, man, I mean, I that that's just uh the the the cornerstone program's just uh really been a lot of a lot of good guidance.

SPEAKER_00 7:09

Man, I I'm so happy to hear that for you. I you know, at the time when we were filming that, we were really questioning, like, do we really need to show all this, you know? Um, but we decided to do it, and I'm so glad we did, because so many people have told us that they're really happy that we showed the authenticity, what we showed what training really looks like, and we showed you how to to work through all those challenges, which is also why I'm excited about this podcast, because we get to talk about one of the most authentic pieces of Cornerstone, and that's the community. Um, specifically what you and I talked about on doing this episode. After I got off the phone with you, I remember um this is maybe a a week or so ago, a couple weeks now. I remember you telling me basically you were prepping for the chapter meetup for Augusta, and then I called you after and you told me how it went. I was like, This this is incredible. Like we've got to tell everybody they need to hear this because what you were telling me was just absolutely outstanding. Before we do dive into like this chapter meetup, let's go back to the chapters for you uh where it started. Um I would love to just know kind of your thoughts on that because a couple years ago or a year and a half ago, however long it's been now, we released kind of a new flow for uh CGA chapter uh for the app. We completely rebuilt the app. Um one second. Oh, never mind. There I had a package there. But they dropped it, thankfully. The uh last time they came in and they like reached over in front of the camera. I was like, you need to sign this. I'm like, okay, I'll I'll sign this.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

Hey, like you said, man, keeping it authentic.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, we really are. Um, but I'll I'll dive us back in. Um so, anyways, yeah, let's let's go back to where chapters really started for you. And I would just love to hear that story because about a year and a half ago or so, we redid how we did Cornerstone. We actually built a whole entire new app. We kind of moved everything into a new interface because we have a vision for connecting people. And what we found that over the years is that the Cornerstone community is where it's at. Of course, the courses are great, but having people connect and be able to talk to each other, bounce ideas back and forth off each other was one of the most pivotal pieces that we saw in their success. So we wanted to take it a step further, and that's where the new app came in, and that's where uh the idea of chapters come in. So instead of just doing it in a digital format, now it can be in a one-on-one in-person or uh in a group setting. So, where where did all that start with you? What what was your first memory of chapters and talk talk us through all that?

Finding Cornerstone And Real Training

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Yeah, man. Well, I want to touch on what you was talking about with the community as well. So uh the breeder I had worked with was Shane uh Kendrick, and I think you you know, yeah. So uh man, he was telling me he's like, hey, look, when you get involved, if you decide to go with cornerstone, he said the community's wonderful. And in some certain dog worlds, you know, especially if you go to some of the tiling events, you might see where things sometimes might be a little clicky, or especially Facebook these days. If you get on Facebook, you'll see, hey, can you help me with my dog? And instead of getting help, there's 60 comments of you know, neutral to sometimes, or I shouldn't say sometimes more often than not negative. Cornerstone community is not like that. If there is a problem, no matter how small or how big it is, everybody's jumping in to help everybody out. And uh Shane told me about that, and I can I can say it's 100% true. It's it's very unique that you don't feel, you know, I guess you say shy or or worried if you post a uh a comment into the group. Um so yeah, definitely uh the community is wonderful. But as far as the chapters, yeah, when you launched the uh the the chapters, I was there on the call with you and uh you were telling everybody how you had the big announcement and you were going to do chapters uh for the regions, and I was excited because uh for me um training dolls, I was used to it to an extent, not in a professional, you know. If you I consider cornerstone to be very professional, so not in the professional sense. So I've got that guidance now, but it was exciting, but I'm always by myself, and I know a lot of other guys are by their self. And then when you go to these tiling events, like that, you know, the HRC events, uh, it's you see so many dogs and so many people, and uh, you know, it's like how do you get that experience without going out and being in that, you know, being part of it? So of course that's a goal, but in the meantime, when you're you're training, how can you recreate that? Um, I I'll say something real quick. I played uh golf um, you know, almost as a pro. We were doing, you know, we were doing tours uh in the region, so you know, Georgia, South Carolina stuff, and you learn quick light that no matter how much practice you put in, until you can somewhat try to recreate that pressure, when you get to that type of pressure, it's it's a completely different animal. So it's the same thing I see with dogs. Um, you know, you can train with your dogs, but then when you bring in one or two dogs, the dogs might get a little iffy. When you bring in a bunch of dogs and a bunch of people, we saw it like with my dolls immediately. We saw it in our in our chapter event that uh you know they they were they were off a little bit, you know, but it was in a good way because they they they quickly you know got their feet back under them. But getting back to the chapters, I was very excited to hear about it, and I was very excited to be part of one. And uh so I'm sitting here in Georgia and I'm hearing about the chapters, and then I'm hearing about other chapters coming forth. I hear about other chapters coming forth, and I'm posting like, hey, you know, when when you know, is there any anybody doing anything in Georgia? And then somebody else would reach out, you know, I wish somebody would do something in Georgia. And that just kept, you know, flowing for I don't know, I'd say probably two months or close to it. And I was like, you know, in the back of my mind, I kept feeling like it was maybe a little bit of a calling. I was like, I have a great setup for training, I can host plenty of people. Um, you know, I can somewhat make my my schedule fairly flexible. Um, you know, so I was like, you know what, let me just let me reach out to Josh. Let me see, you know, if Josh thinks that I might be a good candidate for a chapter because I would love for us to have a chapter and uh, you know, here in Georgia. And uh, you know, you and I had that phone conversation and you was very encouraging about it. And I told you, hey, I don't, I my biggest thing is my plate is it stays full. And I don't want to bite off more than I can chew and let other members down. And uh man, it was it's nothing like that at all. It's such an easy flow. Um, you know, I was um I'm thrilled to have gotten the Augusta, Georgia uh chapter up and going, and uh and and you know, I'm I'm very happy just you know to be part of it in general. But uh but yeah, man, once uh once the chapters uh like I said started kind of popping up and we got the Georgia chapter going, um it all it all just fell right into place. It was nowhere near as overwhelming as I was concerned with it being. Um, you know, and everybody was very encouraging and everybody was willing, all the members as they you know kept coming on, they were very willing to to jump in on calls, to to give opinions and advice and ask questions. I mean, it's just you you almost even with the guys before you meet them um you know in the live calls, you you almost feel like you've you know got friends there, like people that you've known forever instead of just you know video calling, the same thing. As soon as we met in person, it was the same flow. Um, you know, they just we got you know, they got out of the truck, we shook hands five minutes later, it's like we all knew each other for life. It was it was you know, the chatters in general has been a great, you know, great success so far.

Why Chapters Create Better Community

SPEAKER_00 14:09

Man, it I remember the the first call, like when we were talking through, uh I was actually, I think my wife and I were going on like a short little weekend trip and we were uh driving, and uh I remember when when you got off we got off the phone after like she she said he's gonna do a good job. Like she could just tell like you're passionate and excited, and sure enough, I mean you've crushed it. But and one of the things, like you said, like you do have a full plate. So that could be like what we don't want for people is and what we've said it from the beginning is this should be one of the best parts of your week or day, or how after however often you participate, there's no expectation or all right, all right, now that you've signed up for chapter, we're gonna put all this weight on you. You gotta go do all this work. We've never done it that way. The the way we've always wanted to do it from the beginning was hey, look, this is cornerstone, the the community, it it exists. Y'all have seen it how it is. Like we have a vision. We all we all we want to do is facilitate more of what's going on. And if y'all want to participate, you want to participate, you're more than welcome to do it and do it as much or as little as you like. And what we have found is it's the same approach that we take to the dog training, too. Uh, we take the dog training, it's gets to, not has to. And so when it comes to the chapters, it's really gets to, not has to. We're not out here calling you to say, hey, you haven't met enough, you know, and all that, because it doesn't matter. What matters to us is that you do it when you want to because you love it. And what we have seen from the fruit of that is that uh I think people do it a lot more, right? Because there isn't any pressures, just do it how you would like to when you want to. And I can I've been able to tell that from every conversation I've had with you, like the first conversation where we were talking through the logistics, what would being a chapter leader look like, talking through that. And I think a lot of people are skeptical on on the front end of stuff like that, because they're like, man, what am I getting myself into? I don't want to well I we all have busy lives, we've all got things we've got to do, we've got priorities, uh, responsibilities we've got to take care of. So we we don't wanna we gotta make sure that what we're getting into doesn't take over uh and uh you know over overtake the other priorities that we have. And so I remember talking through those things with you, and just when we got off, I knew I was confident, I was like, man, I'm excited to see where the Augusta chapter goes. And uh sure enough, it's been incredible since um since it launched, and you've done such a great job of really just leading the chapter and facilitating the the concept of connect, share, and grow. It's pretty simple. That's that's all we're gonna do connect, share, and grow. If we do those three things or one of those three things at every single chapter event, then we consider it a success. And um, I've been able to but hop on your guys' calls and and just hear how everybody's connecting. And it's it's just so cool to see. So y'all are uh y'all are doing a great job. What was let's talk through your first um your chapter, your first time leading a chapter call where you popped on and you did that. What what was going into your mind and and how did how did all that go?

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Yeah, man. So uh first I was wanting to say you know thank you as well. But uh the yeah, with the first call, um, you know, I I'd even mention this to you as well. You know, like I was like, hey Josh, you know, I'm I'm I'm somewhat you know used to managing businesses, you know, I've I've led a lot of things when it comes to archery or golf. You know, my dad had was was uh you know leader of a hunting club. I was like, so I kind of grew up in that somewhat of a leader-like, you know, position, but uh, but in the dog world, I don't want to be the little guy on the totem pole, you know. I was like, this is this is new for me. And so I was nervous in that aspect. And uh, but man, you know, again, the community just lifts you right up. You know, they they don't look at it like, oh, well, you know, you you haven't titled five dogs, so you know, so it yeah, um it was it was nice on that part. But the first call, um, you know, I was prepping everything, um, you know, trying to you know understand how to get through the you know the app and making sure I had everything in line, and man, I was I was a little bit nervous, like, you know, I think there's a little bit of nerves there for sure. Um, you know, but I was excited. Um, I think the nerves was excitement. And uh as soon as the guy started jumping on with the calls and everybody started engaging, um, you know, we were gonna set the first call up for an hour. And it's like in the blink of an eye, I look at the clock and I'm like, wow, we're 55 minutes in. And everybody's engaging, you know, everybody's talking, everybody's asking questions, um, you know, to call an icebreaker. You know, uh, it was it was very much a good icebreaker, you know. We we broke the ice and um and everybody seemed to be engaged and enthusiastic, and they were eager to say, hey, when are we gonna be able to meet up? When are we gonna do another call? So, you know, that that first call was was great, and um it really kind of set the tone that, hey, this is this is going really well, and hopefully it just continues to grow, and it and it definitely has.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Man, that's awesome. Yeah, and one of the approaches we always take is progress over perfection. We say it in dog training, and and also on this thing. Um, you know, we could always do things better, we can always learn and grow, but if we have found that if you just if you take action and you start moving towards a vision, things start to just fall into place. And um, you know, I that's what I have seen from all the chapters. Not that every call goes great or everything's perfect, but you're just when you do those three things, connect, share, and grow, and you're moving towards that, and it just it just seems to really take off. Well, let's talk through the journey of leading the chapter.

Chapter Leadership Without The Pressure

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Uh, because I know a lot of cornerstone members listen to the Build From Here podcast. So this one, this one's really for for those that are out there listening, or I guess you could say for those on the outside that are not a member that are just kind of peer peering in to see what's going on, but specifically, um let's let's talk through this this chapter leadership stuff. So how does it fit into your life and and what has all of that look like? And then I want to get to after that, we'll dive into um your first chapter event. So, but yeah, before we get to the event, how how has the chapter stuff gone for you? What what has that been like uh through the ebbs and flows of it?

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Yeah, man. I mean, for me, it's uh, you know, I could say getting to that first phone call was like, okay, you know, you you get into the app, you you learn how to do some posts. It's very, very, very easy. The app that you you know that y'all have built has been is it's very, very user-friendly. So you get in there, you type up a few you know comments here and there, or you know, the title and let everybody know, hey, we're gonna do a live call. And you know, everybody jumps in and says, Oh, it was wonderful. And then every event has kind of just built off of that, you know, when we do the next live call, um, you know, just do some advert, you know, it's advertising, hey, we're gonna, you know, do another live call. And um, it just it falls right into place with me because and I will say one thing, um, and I've talked to other guys, I felt guilty about it, and uh then I talked to some other some other guys that's training, and they're like, Oh, I'm doing the same thing, especially in the live calls. It's a topic that we we cover. But um, you know, I may be hammering out, just you know, training my dogs, uh, you know, because I'm I'm working with two at the same time, and uh, so I'm training the dolls, I'm training the dolls, everything's going great. We're six weeks strong, and then all of a sudden something comes up, and I just take two or three straight weeks off. And then usually what happens, I take about a week and a half off, but then I want to do a little bit of catch up with other stuff, so I put the dogs on the back burner and I'm like, oh, I'm feeling a little guilty about that, and I start coming back in. But now, you know, holding this leadership role, I feel like it also gives me a little bit of accountability because I do not want to be slacking, even more so with my dogs, because if I'm you know, if I'm bringing the guys out, I want to make sure that, hey, I've been hands-on all the time. So I really like the fact that the leadership role has made it to where if I ever you know put the dolls a little bit to the back burner, it's not back there very long. It's like, okay, hey, they've been back there for a few days. Let's bring them back to you know to the front. So uh yeah, there there's there's there hasn't been any you know stress that's been added in any type of negative way. You know, I I mean doing the uh doing the live calls, um getting to meet the guys, you know, getting to meet everybody when they jump on the live calls, um, it's been exciting. Um, you know, just everything about the uh the chapter and and the leadership roles is has been is been positive. I mean, we've been going at it for about I think I think over a year now. I think you and I may have had that phone call about about July of last year, somewhere around July. So I think we're about a year in. Yeah. And it's it's uh it's been a wonderful year. I mean it's flew by. But uh but but you know, very, very happy to uh for it all to be falling in a place like it has and and and thrilled to be part of it.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

Man, that that's awesome to hear. I mean, it is true and That was one of our hopes is that um yeah, but the community itself always helps people become better. But then once we start kind of facilitating community more and we've got leadership roles, we've got basically you're helping people come along, we're helping you come along, and this this cycle just starts creating this really elevating step it's gonna elevate everybody's uh skills and help them become better trainers um without it being a heavy burden because it's fun. I mean, when you're sitting there talking about dogs, like you said, I mean, like these Build From Here podcasts, they go by like that uh when when we're talking. But when I'm just having a call with someone about their dogs hearing about hunting, I mean, you we could talk about that all day long because everybody has different experiences. And I mean, if you're if you're remotely interested in waterfowl hunting or uh dove hunting and you interested in dogs, like you're gonna want to know what your buddy over there in two states over is doing because you want to find out what type of hunting they do. Maybe you can learn from them. Maybe that can improve your hunting. I mean, that it's really just the the the tried and true model of community. Uh and it's just been it's been incredible to see. So um, yeah, I'll touch on that too, Josh.

SPEAKER_01 23:09

On yeah. So even the guys, you know, whenever they come on, I mean you uh uh to start with, you're just you know open discussion, talking about the dolls, talking about the program, you know, kind of establishing what the chapter is going to be. But man, it's taken off now that we're like we're all talking about hunting. We're talking about getting together and going hunting, you know. Um, you know, we've there's even members in CGA that are you know several states from here, and I'll we'll just randomly strike up a conversation. And they're like, hey, you know, if you ever want to come up, you know, north, for example, come up and and duck hunt with us some. And you know, we'd love to come down or dove hunt. So um for those who do like to hunt, it's uh it's it's beyond just dog training. Like I said, the community is you know finding hunting partners, finding hunting buddies, learning techniques. So, you know, you it's not just you know completely uh revolving around the dogs. You know, there's a lot of a lot of good hunting conversations that take place as well. And I know over the years, because like I said, hunting's been a huge part of my life, I've made several friends and had a lot of long conversations about all kinds of hunting stories. So it's uh you know, hunting hunting's a big topic.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Yeah, it's uh man, it's so fun. I mean, we even yeah, Blair, who lives close by, he's been on the podcast before and he participates in the Birmingham chapter. We had a hunt um last year. It was it was pretty special. It was it was fun to see his dog Gus getting out there. It was uh just a solid Alabama southern duck uh wood duck hunt, and it was it was cool. Like it was a good, good time. And it's not like we were out there in Kansas just smoking some ducks, but just being out there. It was it was fun to go to some unique places and and have those connections. I mean, went over there, spent the night late, and uh got up early the next morning, and we're we're barbecuing the night before and then just having a good time, and that's what it's about is connecting, sharing, and growing. Um and y'all have done that well from what I've seen. I mean, tell me more about your chapter. What what's been some of the highlights for you guys?

SPEAKER_01 25:01

Yeah, I mean, just feeding more off of the hunting, you know, topics. Um, you know, you may have a little bit different experience, but from what you just said, you know, good old Alabama, you know, duck hunting, kind of wood ducks. Here in Georgia, it's the same thing, you know. We we uh we get a lot of wood ducks, and uh it's wonderful to you know, sit sit and watch TV and you see, you know, the guys in Mississippi and all, and they get these, you know, huge you know, flocks of mallards coming in, and it's like, okay, you know, I wish that we had that here in Georgia, but you know, for the most part, at least in my experience, you don't. But um, but but yeah, you kind of understand where I'm seeing where I'm going with that. Yeah. But uh, but yeah, man, you you just start talking with the guys and you know, and they're like, Yeah, this is what I'm seeing as well. Or and it's it's great that you could just, you know, during duck season, you know, you might exchange a text and say, Hey, there's a coal front coming through. What's it what you know, what are y'all seeing with with the ducks in your area? Because we're all within about two hour, three hour circle of each other. And uh, you know, and you you kind of get to build off of that and and uh yeah, help out with with the uh with what's going on with the with the hunting scenarios. Um but yeah, that's uh with the hunting thing's been a big topic for us, and I think that's what we're really thrilled about.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Yeah, I mean that's why we do it, that's why we train. I mean, most of us, there's some some out there that train just to have a a good working dog, and that's great too. But for a lot of us, we're out there training to hunt, and I mean it's a way to extend the season, and it's it's a way to really build that rapport with the dog and and the people.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yeah, and and also building what you were saying there, like Jim's one of the members, you know, in the Augusta, and uh he titles all of his dogs and he uses CGA um you know for building those dogs up for titles. So even even people out there that's like, well, I don't hunt very much, but I want to title my dog. The CGA program is is wonderful from for that, from what I've heard. And so far with my experience, it seems right on par because that's my intentions as well, is titling my dogs.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

Yeah. I mean, hey, training training, get out there, do it day by day, and and you can you can make it happen. But yeah, we we put some secret sauce into the 52 plus to make that happen, you know. We we made sure that you could do both. Yeah. Uh even though our primary purpose isn't for the hunt test, like our primary purpose is have an amazing, outstanding hunting retriever. Um but obviously though a lot of those uh skills cross-pollinate and and work together.

Planning The First Augusta Meetup

SPEAKER_00 27:11

What um we'll we'll talk a little bit about the the first chapter meetup for you guys. And I'm interested to hear from your perspective, right? Because for those that are cornerstone members that are looking at thinking about chapter meetups, maybe you've got a chapter, maybe you live far away or even out uh near the West Coast, and you just haven't had a chance to make it to member week yet, but maybe you've watched a few of the YouTube videos. I would I'm sure I don't I think you've made it to member week yet, if I'm not mistaken. So I would love to know what that process was looking like for you. Like I know we talked a little bit about it building up, but just share with everybody what you were thinking about leading going into setting up this chapter event, especially not having been to the the local Birmingham event or the the big event that we hold.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Yeah, so just going into it, I want to make sure I could because when I first posted, we wanted to do a uh an in-person meeting, our first uh chapter meeting um last year. Uh, but but by the time we got the ball rolling, bird season had come in. And you know, if you start trying to talk to guys about, hey, when do y'all want to do it? They're like, well, the weekend's here and we're gonna hunt. So, you know, we kept you know kind of jumping that hurdle, and it's understandable, you know, everybody wants to prioritize prioritize uh the hunting opportunities. Um so we kept looking at it and looking at it, and finally it was like, okay, well, we're gonna wait until the season ends. So uh, you know, we started you know meeting back up on the live calls and uh trying to establish a date. Um but man, we worked with everybody on their schedules, you know, uh, you know, everybody was trying to be as flexible as possible, and uh we we nailed something down. At that point, um I had a couple of guys reach out, you know, because I posted a pin to the field that we were gonna be training in and uh and then the address, and that way people could really pinpoint exactly where to go. And a couple of guys were reaching out, and you know, they were like, hey, I'm driving an hour and 45, can't wait to be there. Another guy was like, I'm driving over two hours, can't wait to be there. And then I was like, okay, there's a little weight on my shoulders because I can't have these guys driving that far out and not having a good time. But it's just like you know, with that first video call, stepping into the chatter, it all just fell right into place again. You know, I went I've got a field that I train on. You know, we've got a couple acre pond. Unfortunately, the drought that we've had here in Georgia has dried that pond up just a couple of inches of water. But uh, but yeah, we got the pond. We've got a small little dove field. Um, it's it's my family's land, so uh we got a little small dove field that we normally plant. At this time, we haven't planted it, but we got a little bit of growth. Um so you know, I went out there with Bushhog, cut us a couple of lanes, made a couple of T's in those lanes. We were stretching out almost 300 yards there. Uh, went to the front field, um, got us 160 yards with high growth, and then I mowed us out a uh a parking area slash an area just kind of set up with the guys, just kind of do some intro with the dogs. And at that point, I dove straight into cornerstone. You've got the uh the retriever connect, you know, and I was like, okay, let's plug this in. You know, AI is really helping out these days. So I plugged in, you know, I said, okay, we've got this many guys, this is the kind of dolls they've got, this is where they're at in their training right now, this is where they're all they are in the modules, this is how often they train, this is their goals. It spit us out a really good set of, you know, uh of like a uh like a little bit of a foundation of hey, here's some guidelines on what you want to build for, you know, uh on uh for the day. And then we we took that in and just uh as a group, we use it as guidance, and then we just kind of build on it on the fly as uh as things, you know, as a group too. Now that was really good. I could uh reach out to the guys and say, hey, what do y'all want to do? And that's they they gave a lot of good input. But but back on the idea of getting that first one started, man, I was super excited. You know, we're doing you know, trying to uh advertise it on the app a lot, you know, just letting everybody know I hate saying advertise, it's not really advertising, but you know, you're trying to get the get the word out, you know, and let everybody know, hey, this is coming about. And uh, but yeah, man, we set up, uh, went out, like I said, mowed the field. Um, you know, a lot of these a lot of people have the uh the beach tents, you know, the little canopy tents. So we set up one of those so we could put all the Momar stands under there. Um, you know, we have access to a porta cool, which is you know, fans should put some water in it, kind of makes it a little bit cooler. We set that up and then and had everything set up for the guys, man. They got there right on time, and you know, uh everybody was really eager to get started. I was really eager to get started. So, you know, from start to finish, from the time we nailed down the date, you know, we nailed down the date about seven weeks out in our in our live call, if I remember right. And uh man, when that date was coming around, I was excited about it, and it just it fell all fell right into place. It felt like a duck hunting morning, really. You know, I was up at 4 a.m. getting ready to set up, you know, because we're in Georgia, you know. I mean, at daylight, it's sometimes pushing 80 degrees almost. I think it was almost 80 at daylight that day. So we all agreed to start at 7 a.m. and and uh so I got up at four and started setting up and you know, I was finishing setting up as the guy started pulling up, and yeah, man, we just it just kind of really set the tone for for a good day.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Man, that's uh that's incredible. And I love that. I love just and everybody shows up all the time, they're fired up, they're ready to go, and that's that's where that whole gets to versus has to comes in. I remember when you sent me what uh the retriever connect coach had sent you, I was like, man, you because we bounced it back and forth. I was like, I don't think I would change anything. Uh so I I was pretty happy with that, which I mean we did build it where it's integrated into the course. So like it knows what our group work concepts are and like it knows what every lesson says. So it it has our flair, but I was pleased to see that we didn't have to do like a lot of edit. I mean, I'm sure that only took you like five minutes to get a game plan once you did that too. You just put it in and boom, all of a sudden you've got maybe less than that. I don't I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Yeah, I mean it it took it took longer for me to like take notes from everybody, like, hey, you know, how many dolls do you think you're gonna bring? What's your experience level, you know, where are you at in the modules? It took way longer to get all that information than it is to plug it in. You plug it in, you blink your eye, and it spits it back out. It's like, wow, that's you know, is it really gonna be accurate as quick as it was? And sure enough, you know, I I took a screenshot, like you said, sent it to you, and we read over it together, and it's like, there's not, there's really no edits, you know, edit it as needed. Again, like I said, we adjusted on the fly, but you know, it's it you had a a you had a really good blueprint of where you were heading for the day before the day started.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

So you got up at 4 a.m. after you got your plan, everybody's rolling up, you're getting everything set up, you put a lot of work into it. Clearly, I mean, to go and mow the grass and get everything set up. I mean, that's a blessing that you guys have that property. I know some have to meet at different places, even public grounds, but the fact that you have that is is such a blessing.

Training Day Play By Play

SPEAKER_00 33:32

What let's do like a bl uh a play by play of the day. Talk talk us through what what was it like? And especially as you're I mean, as your first time leading this, I mean, I'm sure in the back of your mind you have doubts and concerns, but also some excitement. So what walk us through play by play?

SPEAKER_01 33:48

Yeah, man. I mean, excitement was definitely there. You know, I was I was looking forward to it, um, you know, especially as the day unfolded, especially as you know, you started seeing seeing the first light of day coming through. It's like, okay, it's it's about to be game time, you know. So I was excited. Um, but the nerves that was there were were more of the unknown. You know, it's like, okay, you know, anytime that you're doing something new, uh, there's just gonna be that unknown. And uh, you know, it's like, okay, the guys, so many people have said they're gonna be there. And sure enough, everyone who said they was gonna be there showed up. And that was wonderful, you know, for everybody just to say, hey, you know, count me in. And sure enough, they they showed up just like they said they would. Um, so yeah, I remember Cole, he came rolling in, you know, and I was like, I was seeing the first truck coming up, and I was like, okay, he's a little bit early. And then, you know, he got out, we introduced ourselves and started talking a little bit, and he lent us a hand to kind of finish up, and then everybody else just kind of you know started rolling in. Um, so yeah, the uh the the beginning of the day was very exciting. Um, you know, we sat around, we we talked, we introduced ourselves, um, you know, had to let the dogs get introduced to each other. Uh my I've got like I said, I've got two dogs I'm training. One of my dogs has uh has a has a very unique tendency. She's she's very withdrawn when she sees something new, where there's new people or uh new environments, not so much, but new people, new dogs. And um, sure enough, you know, I I had the access to a couple cybersides, so we pulled the cybersides up. That way we could move people around. Like I said, there is two fields, and uh they're very short walking distance, 100 or so yards. But, you know, when we're trying to save time, it's a lot easier to load up the gear, load up the dogs, load up everybody, run them from one field to the next. And you know, uh, so anyways, came up with one of the cybersides, have my dog there, and she jumps out, she's all excited, she goes around the corner, she sees everybody, and she just like stops, and you can see the tremble starting. And uh, you know, so I was like kind of coaxing her through that, and uh, she walked up, she kind of got used to the dogs, and like 10 minutes later, everybody's her best friend. You know, that's kind of how she is. But that was what was really, really fun is as us as handlers are all meeting, us as members are meeting, saying hello, exchanging stories, getting prepared for the day. The dogs are there underneath the canopy, and you know, and it's it was actually just it was as soon as you know you arrive, you're almost into training immediately because when you send your dogs to place and you put them on place, they have to be able to stay on place while we're off to the side talking, you know, and and and with with the temptation of other dogs. And of course, some dogs got down, some dolls got back up, but it was it was literally right off the bat. We were already training as soon as soon as you pulled up, and that was what was wonderful. Um, so yeah, man, that that was kind of our our our starting point. And um, once everybody got there and we said our our hellos and all, um, I made a little announcement. The first thing for us is, you know, I told you we opened up with prayer. That's you know, I I told everybody I said, hey, I want to open up with prayer. I want to make sure that God's with us and looking over us. And you know, we we had that discussion and we prayed, and everybody was ready to go after that, man. We we just went straight out to the to, I'm gonna say it's about a 60 by 60 area, 60 yards by 60 yard area that I moat down as flat as I could. That's where we parked at, is where we set the canopies up, but we just went straight up, fouled a uh made a single foul line about four or five yards apart. And um, and when we did that, we done some, you know, I I don't know the proper word for it. I call it almost like a zipper drill. I know you you're gonna know what I'm talking about, but it's where you take one dog and you walk them at heel and you zigzag all the way down to the end of the line, you come all the way back. And that was just a good you know icebreaker for us because that's I like that.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

We're gonna have to we're gonna have to name the drill, the zipper drill.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

I mean, it looked like a zipper. I liked it.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

Yeah, we called it the S drill, but I kind of like the zipper drill better. Maybe we're gonna read rename that. So if we that was good, that's good. Yeah, well, I just I didn't know the name of it.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

You know, I was just like, it looks like a zipper, and we'll call it the zipper drill, guys. So hey, I was doing the zipper drill. But yeah, man, we done that. And um, and I was that was like the biggest pressure for me right there. Because I'm like, for example, Bo, uh, he was one of the members that came and with his dog, he's got an SOK lab. And uh, you know, that dog is uh he's he's currently uh pursuing his uh his finish title. And you know, and I was like, okay, you know, he's very advanced. Is he gonna be okay with doing this, you know, this zipper drill? This is kind of I hate to say more of maybe a beginner's thing, but you know, but I was a little bit nervous and I didn't know how the guys were gonna take it, and I want to make a good first impression with them, not just as a member, but as their leader, you know, to say, hey guys, I want to you know be able to set the tone right. So, anyways, I gave them the instructions. I started off kind of giving, you know, saying, hey, y'all watch what I do. Your goal is to keep your dog at heel, and my my goal is to walk the dolls in and out. Well, man, it worked out great because so many dolls kept wanting to hop up, shift off as I'm walking my dog. She wants to explore the other dogs. And I was like, okay, good, this is wonderful. It wasn't just a bust, you know, it actually worked really well. So, you know, that was a good icebreaker. And we went straight off the you know, what I you know, called the zipper drill to uh start doing some denials. Now my dad was there, and I got him to assist us with that. Um, because I am again working with two dogs, so it's a little bit hard to you know lead the group and work two dogs at the same time, so he was holding one for me to heel. Um, but yeah, I got my dad to get a bumper and he walked up and down our line. Again, we're in a single file line facing out, you know, same direction. And my dad stayed about 10 to 20 yards from us, and he's constantly tossing the bumper. And uh, you know, we're we're we're making the dog sit. And I was like, okay, you know, no dogs are breaking, everybody's dog was steady because everybody's dogs were at that point that you know we're all pretty much, you know, at the least week 25 and beyond in the modules. And uh, and about the third toss, it was over with. The dogs couldn't take it no more. They started wanting to break, you know, they started wanting to pull. Uh, my dog started wanting to pull and started trying to get it away. So it was again, it was great. I was like, okay, this is working really good. The flow is going good. We're we're setting the dogs up, you know, immediately, so we're not just going straight into the more detailed training, we're doing more of a group training. So we done the denials. Um, let's see, after the denials, we done uh the marking, and that was another good one because now we've we've built on the fact that we let the dog stay at heel, we got control of them, we got them introduced with each other with a zipper drill. We went from that to the uh to the uh denials, which is you know also setting a good tone, but then we built from there by doing the markings. What we done is we all lined up again uh as a group, and we every other uh handler would take the bumper and toss it for the one, you know, about two places to the left. And when he would toss it, and you would send your dog out and come back, we had good success with those dogs going out and coming back to the handler. But what was interesting is that other dogs were seeing these dogs go out and get a bumper and it was driving someone crazy. Again, I will 100% say my dog, she was biting at the bit. She's like, no, I'm the one supposed to be getting this bumper, not the other dogs, you know. So she was, you know, she was you know getting happy with the fee. And these are things that I'm not used to seeing in our daily training. Uh in our daily training, she's steady. I mean, she's like a rock. Wow. So bringing those other dogs in, having that group training was wonderful. I mean, it really helped break the ice. And and I know I had a wonderful experience from it. The guys are giving me a lot of feedback saying they did too. So I'm hoping, you know, that all all went well for everybody. Um, but yeah, after that, we've we went from there to uh to our memory lines, and it's only 60 yards, but it's good for time's sakes as well. You know, we're again we're on the line. So now we're letting our dogs go out to the to uh 60 yards, tossings, you know, yelling, you know, mark toss, we're walking them back, we're sending to retrieve. They had the temptation of the other dogs to the left, um, so there's some pressure there, but then they also had to be able to come back, and then we switched places. So, man, the icebreaker, I bet our first 45 minutes of training, maybe 30 to 45 minutes, was in that. And it was just it was a great setup. You know, I mean it really had it, it set the tone. You know, everybody was having a good time. It was obvious the dolls were able to uh to to to to get good training in that. Um and that was just, you know, yeah, as far as the play-by-play, that's kind of how we started. And we went back to the canopy. Um, we set up, you know, let the dolls kind of cool off because again, even though it was just at the daylight, it was already hot. I seen tongues hanging down to their chest, and you know, so uh it's like, all right, hey, water break, let's get together as a group, let's start trying to see um you know what what we want to do moving forwards. And then as the dolls were cooling off, getting a little bit of water, I walked them over a couple yards over and I said, Hey guys, here we go. I've got a 160-yard lane. I put out flags for us every uh 10 yards, and I set them off about 10 yards to the right in the grass so the dolls wouldn't be distracted by it, but we could see. And that way, if somebody says, Okay, my dogs only used to doing 30 yard retreats, they know they can go 30 yards and they can be pretty exact. Um, so we lay down a placeboard, set up for that, and um, you know, started doing lining memories. Well, Bo, he had a uh great idea. He reached, he, you know, he said, Hey, look, uh, I want my dog to have that temptation to learn to be steady on the line because I am trying to get to that that next title. I was like, okay, hey, that's great. Yeah, come over. You know, so he goes over and sits next to me, and next thing I know, we're all doing it. You know, we got a dog on the right, a dog on the left, and a dog on placeboard. And every handler could go to whatever they were comfortable, whether it was 30 yards or the full 160. You know, and that's uh so that was our next our next drill line. You know, we all took turns doing that. We'd have three dogs because we had six dogs, uh, so we had three dogs getting some air, getting some shade, um, you know, underneath the canopy on the on the porta cooler, and three dogs on place. And we would rotate those three dolls and we'd rotate one up back over to the to the uh cooling area, we'll call it the cooling area, and then bring another dog in. So, you know, we we built on that rotation and uh until we got some good lining memories, and uh that was another another great opportunity. Um, and then kind of got back together and and you know started building on what we were gonna do next, and then moved on to the next part of it.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

Wow. Man, that sounds like an amazing training day. I mean, it flowed flawlessly. I mean, all the work that you put in, the thought that you put into it, that's incredible. Well, I think it's so cool too, is that I guess y'all had never really met in person only on the live call, probably. So I think it's so cool that y'all were able to go from never meeting in person to still feeling like you know each other, and then all of a sudden now we're training dogs together. Which I think makes a huge difference, right? If you're showing up somewhere for the first time and you've never met the people, um, you've never had a conversation with them, you know, that takes some s some warming up. But since you'll you had already been connecting and sharing and growing on the live calls, it was pretty much just a natural extension of hey, let's let's just train.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you you get that final that that you know, finally that in person meeting, you know, face to face, but you already knew everybody. You were used to seeing their faces, you were used to hearing the voice. voice. He was used to you know having conversations and you know, you uh it wasn't like completely meeting a stranger. You know, we we had uh spent almost a year getting to know each other through the live calls, you know, and sharing hunting stories and sharing posts as well. And you know, sharing success stories in the app.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

Man, I'm I'm over the moon about it for you guys. I remember when when uh I called you after I I gave you a little bit of time and you're telling me how it went. I was like man, this that's why I wanted to do this podcast specifically. It just it sounded like it went so great. Um so as we kind of we're running up on time, we'll we'll have to do another episode where we kind of give more of your full back your your full story on on your cornerstone story, how the training's gone and then maybe we'll sh we'll obviously share more about the chapter then.

Member Shoutouts And Next Meetup

SPEAKER_00 44:43

But I I think to kind of to land us land us out, what what would you say were some of the biggest highlights were um of of the the chapter and specifically like who who do you feel like is there anything worth shouting out saying to to share? I would love to just just hear your thoughts on that or even if it's not anybody in particular and maybe it was something in particular that man this was just this was this was it for me.

SPEAKER_01 45:08

Yeah well the biggest thing is and is the the the members showing up you know there was uh we have we have Bo showing up Jim Bryson Cole and it's it I was our and myself the four other five members and of course my dad was there to try to you know lend us an extra hand as well um to put the chapter together and to put the event together I could have gone out there and done all the mowing uh I could have done all the setup but only having nobody show up or even one guy show up you know it would have been a very disappointing you know and it does happen sometimes you know I mean that's just part of life and different events but these guys you know I couldn't thank them enough for them coming out putting forth the effort and on top of that um you know we had like I said a couple of guys driving almost two hours and one of them driving over two hours they were very committed um they took forth the time to to come to the event participate in the event and not only that they they didn't just put forth the effort to come in to be on the live calls um but but while they were there they brought in gear you know everybody had we had so many bumpers we bumper galore you know and then on top of that you know we uh we we had launchers we had placeboards you know um you know just all all kind of great gear so as a group of guys they brought a lot of gear in they were very you know uh willing to share you know gear with each other um and then put forth the ideas you know like I said Bo helped us out with the uh with the idea of like wanting his dog to be there with us as we you know done the lining drills and then we all built off of that um you know Jim has actually put through three dogs completely through the uh the cornerstone program and now he brought two more in and uh yeah Jim Jim is really experienced in it and on top of that his two dogs were very young and they're already so advanced and uh and you know he's he really knows the cornerstone program well um you know me Bryson and Cole have had a lot of conversations about honey and I finally got to meet their dogs and and see how well they've trained their dogs. You know I mean we all had that moment where dogs break and uh and I remember seeing Bryson's dog uh was looking for an orange uh bumper and you know the orange bumpers are a little tough on dogs and uh man Bryson got control of the dog whenever you know kind of got the the dog back on track gave the dog the bumper and sent the dog all the way back to place at almost a hundred yards the dog goes all the way back to the placebo from a hundred yards gets on place sits faces waits for for Bryson and as hot as it was with his tongue hanging to his back feet he held on to the bumper the whole time waiting for Bryson you know you saw the same thing with Cole working with his dog. So you know Cole Cole everybody's just got you can tell the cornerstone program has really shaped us all up to where we we have that in common and we get to see where we can be you know as a group you can kind of get inspiration from guys as well. So yeah man all those guys couldn't thank them enough for the for their time of coming out and they all seem very eager to come back out. We're already talking about uh doing an event in August we're going to meet back up for another uh uh chapter meet and uh a training day and we're doing it right before dove season that way we can all sharpen up and you know get ready to go and you know because shortly after that we'll get our early till season and you know of course other other hunting seasons that'll come in right after.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

Man it's hard to believe um that it's already taken off as it has and it's just it's going so well. So I'm I'm excited for you and man I I can't thank you enough for how how well of a job you're doing leading it. And I I know you're doing it because you love it but um man we're just we're proud of you and we're proud of each of the members that showed up and and put the work in and even for those that couldn't that participate on the cause I mean we we love all that.

Closing Thoughts Before Hunting Season

SPEAKER_00 48:31

So um also I can't believe that hunting season is is this close. I mean 4th of July is over now and now once that happens it's like all right let's go we just it's just just right there on the horizon. We just got to keep going and we're gonna get there. That's so cool that y'all gonna meet up before I'm sure that that will help you. I'm interested to hear and we'll talk about on the next one but hear how all that connecting together and prepping I'm interested to see how that impacts opening day versus you know a lot of a lot of times opening day for people is is the kind of the icebreaker for the dog but if you can do all that beforehand there's no telling what open day is going to be like so man we're excited for you and we're just proud of you. Y'all you are doing a great job on Augusta and you're doing a great job with Cornerstone man.

SPEAKER_01 49:12

Well I dear dearly appreciate it. I'm glad to be part of it.