What is Bird Dog Tails?

The Story Behind Bird Dog Tails

Bird Dog Tails was born from a single moment the crack of wings, the rise of a rooster pheasant, and the steady presence of my dads first field bred English Springer Spaniel, Totem. She was a Field-Bred English Springer Spaniel, the same pup who overcame swimmer’s legs as a youngster and grew into a dog that taught me more about life than I could have imagined. That first wild pheasant over Totem didn’t just mark the start of a hunting season it lit a fire in me for the uplands and the dogs that bring them to life.

Since that day, I’ve learned the uplands are more than a place to chase birds. They’re a classroom. My dogs have been my teachers, showing me as only dogs can that a true dog man learns early to care for something, or someone, other than himself first. The lessons run deep: patience in the face of challenge, joy in simple victories, and loyalty that never wavers.

Alongside those lessons came friendships forged in the field the kind that start with a shared hunt and grow into bonds as enduring as the traditions we keep. Over the years, those dogs and those friends have been the thread that ties every autumn together.

My academic journey eventually took me into a PhD program in Educational Leadership, where my research focused on dispositional awe, that deep sense of wonder that connects us to something larger than ourselves. I discovered that the same awe I studied in classrooms is alive in the uplands: in a frosty dawn, a dog’s locked point, a flush that freezes time, and the shared smiles that follow.

Bird Dog Tails exists to capture all of this the hunts, the friendships, the lessons, and above all, the stories of that dog. The one you still talk about, the one who shaped your seasons, and the one whose memory walks beside you in every field. This is more than a podcast; it’s a celebration of a way of life, built on the bond between hunter and dog, and the wonder that bond inspires.