Take a guided stroll with us through the evolution of dog training with this tribute to those who get their hands dirty and train dogs professionally in both good weather and bad. And, the best set of those hands, at guiding dogs to achieve greatness, are those of Gary Ruppel. Gary was mentored by Mike Gould, and both were written extensively about by the late Bill Tarrant for their extraordinary ability to connect with pointing dogs on a new level. Come step with me, through an invisible veil, deep into the secrets of bird dog training. It is my hope that you will find something here useful, not only for you, but for your bird dog. To me, the joy of wing shooting and upland hunting is in watching the dogs work. If I didn’t have a good bird dog, I wouldn’t hunt. And, I prefer pointers over retrievers, but Gary breeds and trains both. Sure, the shotgunning part of a day afield is a beautiful thing, both in and of itself, and something I have spent a lot of time and money to perfect that craft as much as possible. But having a finely tuned bird dog is the real key to enjoying what God gives us from a day afield. Just enjoying a day in our safe space in nature and watching a dog run in the grand places in big skies, where our 14 species of upland birds are found, as are some of the most magical places in the United States, often wide open or undisturbed parts of the county, can set your heart right again in the world. So it is, that the training of bird dogs is a critical … Continue reading Bird Dog Training for 25 Years with Gary Ruppel