Welcome back to another episode of The Upland Disciple Podcast. I apologize for the month away as there was a lot of life and dogs going on in September. With that being said this episode is one of my favorites as we welcome future Hall of Famer, and multiple time Handler of the Year, Mike Tracy of Summerhill Kennels to the podcast. I apologize in advance for a couple of overlaps in conversation as I was battling my internet during this conversation but didn't want to cut out any of the wisdom Mike shares in this episode!
Mike grew up in dogs following his father George into the field trial game and lifestyle running high end Pointers across the country. Aside from his success Mike is a dog man at heart, and this episode is a deep dive into training, handling, and evaluating dogs and horses. We touch on collar work, patterning, the breaking (steadiness) process, teaching a dog from a young age to go with you, and ultimately finishing a dog the right way, set up for success as a team.
Sit back and enjoy this awesome conversation with Mike Tracy, and hopefully you come away with a few nuggets of knowledge on training your own bird dog for success in the hunting fields and forests, or in the field trial or test game that you enjoy!