Mar 06 2025 67 mins
In this episode we turn things upside down just a bit. Rather than me, Josh, interview a guest, long time friend and bird dog guy Jake Faas w/ True Loyalty Dog Training out of MN, asked if he could interview me about the history and my experience and thoughts of the breed I work the most with, the Epagneul Breton. With over 35 years of life spent around and with the breed, we discussed everything from breed standard, to personality, to breeding philosophy, to understanding the breed for what it is and can be.
There are some controversial topics within the breed, as there are in any, from the common misunderstanding of what "foot-hunters" dog ought to be, to what the "range" of these dogs should be, to outcrossing versus line-breeding or inbreeding in a successful breeding program. We tread the waters lightly and try to address the truths behind some of these myths, the reason these small but mighty pointing dogs have the following and fanfare that they do, and reframe the converastion over some of these topics all while weaving in stories and examples of EBs who have been trained in different styles, to different nurture environments in their development, all in a pursuit of a fully formed bird dog that can be that demon in the field and angel in home.