Thoughts of A Dog Man

Steven Thomas
  • 5.0 (11)
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Thoughts of A Dog Man is the ultimate podcast for new hunters who want to unlock the full potential of their four-legged partners. If you are starting your journey with hunting dogs, on the fence about getting started, or even a seasoned vet, this show dives deep into training techniques, proven strategies, and real-world experiences to help you and your dog succeed in the field. The podcast focuses on Hunting Beagles, Treeing Dogs, and Pointing Dogs. Join me as I share useful, practical, and knowledgeable advice, personal stories, and hard-earned lessons to guide new hunters in the right direction. You're in the right place if you’re passionate about hunting and the incredible bond between man and dog!

  1. 3d ago

    40+ Years of Experience: Dog Men Just Talking Dogs

    What happens when over 40 years of hunting experience meets the next generation of dog men? On this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, I'm joined by Donald Savoy, a member of our Dog Man Insider community who brings over 40 years of hunting experience, along with his mentee Chris, who has spent the past four years learning from Mr. Donald. We sit down for a conversation centered around something that means a lot to all of us: hunting dogs, mentorship, and the relationships built through a shared passion for the outdoors. One of the things I appreciate about the hunting-dog community is the opportunity to learn from people who have spent decades in the woods. But just as important is having people willing to share what they've learned with those coming behind them. That's what makes the relationship between Mr. Donald and Chris worth talking about. Whether you're a new handler, an experienced dog man, or somebody who simply enjoys a good conversation about hunting dogs, I hope this episode gives you something to think about. Here's a question for you: Who was somebody who took the time to help you when you were first getting started with hunting dogs? 🐕 JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER — $6/MONTH Connect with other dog people, ask questions, and continue learning. https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📖 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 📗 PRODUCING A FUTURE TREE DOG [Insert direct Tree Dog book link] 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS https://bawlinoutkennels.com Stay sharp. Stay real. Stay houndy. #HuntingDogs #HuntingTraditions #DogManInsider #HuntingMentorship #BawlinOutKennels #ThoughtsOfADogMan

    40+ Years of Experience: Dog Men Just Talking Dogs

  2. Oct 14

    What Are You REALLY Agreeing to When You Take That Dog

    When somebody gives you a hunting dog, or you purchase one from a breeder, what exactly are you agreeing to? Sometimes we get caught up in the excitement of bringing a new dog home without having conversations that could save us a lot of frustration down the road. In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, we're discussing the importance of clear expectations, communication, and understanding the responsibilities that come with buying, receiving, or placing a hunting dog. From registration papers and breeding rights to friendships, mentorships, and financial responsibilities, there are plenty of situations where two people can believe they understand each other, only to discover later they weren't on the same page. I'll also share personal experiences that have shaped how I view these situations. Topics covered include: Does receiving a dog for free come with different expectations than purchasing one?Registration papers, ownership, and breeding restrictions.The difference between offering guidance and maintaining control.Why friendships and mentorships can complicate agreements.Financial responsibilities and expectations involving breeding arrangements.What beginners should ask before bringing a hunting dog home.Why upfront communication about expectations matters for both parties.This conversation isn't about telling breeders or handlers how they must operate. It's about encouraging people to communicate clearly, understand what they're agreeing to, and make decisions that work for everyone involved. Here's my question for you: Have you ever had a disagreement over a hunting dog because expectations weren't clearly communicated beforehand? What do you think should always be discussed before a dog changes hands? Join Dog Man Insider https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 Producing a Future Rabbit Dog — Book + 3 Bonus Audios https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios Bawlin Out Kennels https://bawlinoutkennels.com Stay sharp. Stay real. Stay hungry.

    What Are You REALLY Agreeing to When You Take That Dog

  3. Oct 7

    When Is Your Young Dog Actually Ready to Hunt Alone?

    When is a young hunting dog actually ready to hunt alone? Soloing young dogs is something dog men have different opinions on. Some believe it’s an important part of developing independence, while others would rather build a young dog up around experienced dogs before asking it to do everything on its own. But maybe the better question isn’t simply, “Should I solo my dog?” Maybe it’s: **What has this dog shown me that tells me it’s ready?** In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, Stevie Thomas talks through what he looks for before hunting a young dog alone, from confidence and experience to whether the dog is actually contributing or simply following the pack. We also get into why you’re soloing in the first place, ways to test a young dog before completely removing the help, differences between developing beagles and tree dogs, and what you can learn about a dog when things get difficult. And we tackle another question worth thinking about: **Are we sometimes setting dogs up for failure by expecting every dog to possess every skill needed to do everything alone?** Not every dog is going to be the best jump dog, check dog, track dog, or most independent dog in the pack. So how should that affect the way we develop and evaluate them? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The goal is to learn how to read the dog in front of you and understand what you’re actually trying to accomplish. 🎧 Listen in and let me know: **When do YOU believe a young dog is ready to hunt alone?** 🐾 JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER  Go deeper on hunting dogs, training, and conversations like this with other dog people:  https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📘 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG  A practical guide built for new and beginning rabbit-dog handlers:  https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 🐕 ALCBA ONLINE REGISTRATION  https://forms.gle/ZzTbuJkBXsf6Rec97 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS  https://bawlinoutkennels.com Stay sharp. Stay real. Stay houndy.

    When Is Your Young Dog Actually Ready to Hunt Alone?

  4. Sep 30

    Buyers Checklist for Beginners: 7 Things You MUST Know Before Buying That Dog

    Buying a hunting dog can get expensive fast—especially when you get the dog home and realize it isn’t anything like what you thought you were buying. In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, I’m talking directly to new and beginner handlers about some of the questions I think you should ask BEFORE money changes hands. This episode came from a real conversation I recently had with someone who has been trying to build his beagle pack. After buying a few dogs that didn’t quite fit what he was actually looking for, one thing kept coming up: “I wish I would’ve known what questions to ask.” So that’s what we’re getting into. Before you start asking the seller questions, what do YOU actually need? What does that seller mean when they say a dog is “started”? Has the dog only been worked in a starting pen, or has it actually been hunted on wild game? When somebody describes a dog as fast, medium-speed, hard hunting, close-working, or a good check dog—what are they comparing it to? We also talk about asking the question a lot of buyers forget: “What DON’T you like about this dog?” If possible, go watch the dog yourself. Bring your own dogs or dogs you’re familiar with so you have something to compare against. Pay attention to what you actually see—not just what you were told before you got there. And most importantly, be willing to walk away. You don’t owe somebody a purchase because you drove three hours, used their time, or feel bad leaving without the dog. The goal isn’t necessarily to find a perfect dog. The goal is to gather enough information to decide whether that particular dog actually fits YOU. 🐾 JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER: https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📘 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG — BOOK + 3 BONUS AUDIOS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 🐆 ALCBA ONLINE REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/ZzTbuJkBXsf6Rec97 🐆 ALCBA REBUILD / PERMANENT REGISTRATION PAYMENT: https://buy.stripe.com/8x228kcui1PZ5Wu2bV7bW04 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com 🎙️ Thoughts of a Dog Man Podcast One question to remember before you hand over the money: If you hadn’t driven all this way and spent all this time looking at the dog… would you still buy it?

    Buyers Checklist for Beginners: 7 Things You MUST Know Before Buying That Dog

  5. Sep 23

    5 Easy “Secret” Training Tricks You Need For Your Hunting Dogs

    There are a lot of little things I do when training hunting dogs that probably wouldn’t sound like “secrets” to everybody—but they’re techniques I’ve picked up over the years that have helped me get more out of my dogs. In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, I break down five of those little training techniques and explain how I actually use them. We talk about teaching a hunting dog to hit the ground running so that when you cut that dog loose, it already understands that it’s time to GO HUNT. I explain how I work toward that with beagles and how I use a similar idea with tree dogs. We also get into using tracking bells, knowing when to stop a training session while the dog is still at its most excited, and why I believe young dogs need opportunities around enough game to learn that putting in the effort can actually lead to success. None of this is magic, and none of it guarantees that every dog will turn out the same way. These are simply small things I’ve used over the years to increase the chances of developing the habits, confidence, excitement, and hunting desire I want to see. Sometimes getting more out of a hunting dog isn’t about finding some complicated training system. Sometimes it’s about paying attention to the little things. 🐾 JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER: https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📘 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG — BOOK + 3 BONUS AUDIOS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 🔔 COASTAL PET PRODUCTS — MY AFFILIATE LINK: https://s.creatorcommerce.club/1dbbc452 🔔 WATER & WOODS TRACKING BELL: https://www.coastalpet.com/products/detail/?id=WWCB1 I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through my Coastal Pet Products affiliate link. 🐆 ALCBA ONLINE REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/ZzTbuJkBXsf6Rec97 🐆 ALCBA REBUILD / PERMANENT REGISTRATION PAYMENT: https://buy.stripe.com/8x228kcui1PZ5Wu2bV7bW04 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com 🎙️ Thoughts of a Dog Man Podcast What’s one little training technique you use that has made a difference with your dogs?

    5 Easy “Secret” Training Tricks You Need For Your Hunting Dogs

  6. Sep 16

    What Does A Champion Title Actually Tell You?

    What does a Nite Champion title really prove? In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, I take a deeper look at competition titles and ask a question I think is worth discussing: does the title tell us enough about the dog, or do we need to know more about the road it took to get there? We talk about the difference between a dog that earns its wins quickly versus one that needs considerably more opportunities, how much the handler behind the leash can influence competition success, and whether home-field advantage matters when a dog is competing on familiar ground. I also get into the idea of different “conferences” or regions of the country and how terrain, game population, weather, and hunting conditions can create very different challenges for dogs depending on where they compete. Then we take it a step further and ask whether a dog’s competition record should follow the title. Would seeing something like: NITECH — 5 wins / 7 starts tell you something different than: NITECH — 5 wins / 22 starts? Would that information matter to you as a hunter? A breeder? Somebody looking at a potential stud? I’m not taking anything away from anybody’s title, and I’m not saying I have the answer. Maybe the title system is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Maybe the bigger question is whether we’re asking the letters in front of a dog’s name to tell us more than they were ever intended to tell us. A title may tell us WHAT the dog accomplished. The record, the handler, the country, and the story behind it may tell us HOW. 🐾 JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER: https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📘 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG — BOOK + 3 BONUS AUDIOS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 🐆 ALCBA ONLINE REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/ZzTbuJkBXsf6Rec97 🐆 ALCBA REBUILD / PERMANENT REGISTRATION PAYMENT: https://buy.stripe.com/8x228kcui1PZ5Wu2bV7bW04 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com 🎙️ Thoughts of a Dog Man Podcast What do you think? When you see NITECH in front of a dog’s name, what does that title mean to YOU?

    What Does A Champion Title Actually Tell You?

  7. Sep 9

    Rabbit Season Safety: What Every Beginner and New Hunter Should Know

    Rabbit season is open here in Iowa, and before we get too caught up in the dogs, the races, and putting rabbits in the bag, I wanted to spend some time talking about safety. In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, I go through several things I think every rabbit hunter—especially somebody new to hunting with dogs—should think about before heading to the field. We start with muzzle control and the habits that matter while carrying a gun around other hunters and dogs. Then we get into knowing where your dogs are before taking a shot, being selective about who you hunt with, and why I think a quick safety conversation before turning dogs loose can save a lot of problems later. I also talk about choosing which dogs to put on the ground when hunting with somebody new, paying attention to roads, property lines, weather and dog condition, and remembering that you never HAVE to take the shot. There will always be another rabbit and another race. A successful hunt is everybody—and every dog—making it home safely. 🐾 JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER: https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📘 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG — BOOK + 3 BONUS AUDIOS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 🐆 ALCBA ONLINE REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/ZzTbuJkBXsf6Rec97 🐆 ALCBA REBUILD / PERMANENT REGISTRATION PAYMENT: https://buy.stripe.com/8x228kcui1PZ5Wu2bV7bW04 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com 🎙️ Thoughts of a Dog Man Podcast Sometimes the safest and smartest shot is the one you never take!

    Rabbit Season Safety: What Every Beginner and New Hunter Should Know

  8. Sep 2

    What Are You Looking For in A Young Tree Dog?

    When you’re working with a young tree dog, it can be easy to focus on one question: Is he treeing yet? But there’s a whole lot more I’m watching before I ever decide what I think that young dog might become. In this episode of Thoughts of a Dog Man, we talk about some of the things I look for while a young tree dog is developing—hunt and desire, how they use their nose, whether they seem more track-minded or tree-minded, problem-solving ability, independence, confidence, and how they respond when things don’t go perfectly. Treeing is exciting, but it doesn’t tell you the whole story. How did the dog get there? What did he do when the track got tough? Can he correct his own mistakes? Is he making his own decisions, or depending on another dog or the handler to do everything for him? And maybe most importantly, are we judging that young dog off one exciting moment—or are we paying attention to the patterns he continues to show us over time? Especially for beginners, I think there’s a lot you can learn about a young tree dog long before everything completely comes together. Hopefully this episode gives you a few more things to watch for the next time you’re in the woods with a young dog. 🐾 NEW JOIN DOG MAN INSIDER: https://www.skool.com/dog-man-insider-5478 📘 PRODUCING A FUTURE RABBIT DOG — BOOK + 3 BONUS AUDIOS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com/products/rabbit-dog-starter-bundle-book-3-bonus-audios 🐾 DOG MAN INSIDER FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1562828264897293 🐆 ALCBA ONLINE REGISTRATION: https://forms.gle/ZzTbuJkBXsf6Rec97 🐆 ALCBA REBUILD / PERMANENT REGISTRATION PAYMENT: https://buy.stripe.com/8x228kcui1PZ5Wu2bV7bW04 🌐 BAWLIN OUT KENNELS: https://bawlinoutkennels.com 🎙️ Thoughts of a Dog Man Podcast Don’t get so caught up asking whether that young dog is treeing yet that you miss everything he’s showing you before he ever gets to the tree.

    What Are You Looking For in A Young Tree Dog?
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About

Thoughts of A Dog Man is the ultimate podcast for new hunters who want to unlock the full potential of their four-legged partners. If you are starting your journey with hunting dogs, on the fence about getting started, or even a seasoned vet, this show dives deep into training techniques, proven strategies, and real-world experiences to help you and your dog succeed in the field. The podcast focuses on Hunting Beagles, Treeing Dogs, and Pointing Dogs. Join me as I share useful, practical, and knowledgeable advice, personal stories, and hard-earned lessons to guide new hunters in the right direction. You're in the right place if you’re passionate about hunting and the incredible bond between man and dog!

Information

  • Creator
    Steven Thomas
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    81
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Thoughts of A Dog Man

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