The Blast Wingshooting Kennels, Wausau, WI (2025)

We are a professional retriever training and breeding kennel. We pride ourselves in training retrievers for hunting waterfowl and upland at a high level. Beyond the hunt we train for both; Waterfowl AKC Hunt Tests and Upland Bird Dog Tournaments. Our Hunt Test Program trains dogs at all levels including Junior, Senior and Masters. With the ultimate goal of training our client dogs and our own pers

onal dogs to be able to participate in the AKC Master Hunt Tests to earn the title of AKC Master Hunter (MH). We are Nationally known for training the top Upland dogs in the country. We are proud members of the Bird Dog Circuit (BDC). We are a Nationally recognized facility as we train, travel and compete dogs in Upland Bird Dog Tournaments across the country. We have trained others as well as our own dogs to be: National Champions, World Champions, Dog of Year Champions and Puppy Of The Year Champions. Beyond the National competitions we enjoy competing in local and state competitions. Our dogs have been featured on the Sportsman’s Channel, Pursuit Channel, You Tube, Local and National news, as well as many social media platforms. Although we enjoy campaigning our dogs in retriever events we are hunters first and foremost! We understand how great it is to have a highly trained dog on a hunt, be it waterfowl or upland. Therefore our first love is to train dogs for people who love to hunt and want a good obedient family dog. After all thats where most of the memories are made with friends and family! We pride ourselves in researching, breeding, raising and training our own line of High Quality Fox Red Retrievers. With Nationally known Fox Red stud dogs. We take great pride in our Yellow and Black litters as well. Throughout the year we raise genetically sound, health tested litters that meet our standards to be a good family companion, a rockstar when on the hunt and the intelligence to compete at a high level. Stud Service: Visit our website to meet our top Fox Red Studs as well as our Black Stud. We offer On Site breedings along with shipment of Fresh Chilled and Frozen semen anywhere in the country. Started or Trained Retrievers: Throughout the year we will raise a dog or two from some of our litters. These dogs will be trained to different levels and be ready to purchase to take afield for the fall hunting season. Contact us for more information on what color, hunting style and training ability you would like in a Hunt-Ready companion. On Site Dog Training Seminars:
Each spring and Summer Annually we have a Waterfowl/ Hunt Test seminar and a Upland/Tournament Hunting seminar. These seminars have become yearly events for attendees to learn about dog training, become a better handler and understanding the ins and outs of each competition venue. Be sure to stay tuned to this page to sign up for one of our next events. Host a Seminar: Host Mike Vaughn and his ever popular “Gaining The Edge” Seminar Series at your Retriever Club or Upland Hunt Club. Mike’s seminars are fun, informative and straight to the point learning that will ensure your members get the most out their experience. Mike caters each seminar with a wide variety of topics in world of dog training for both Waterfowl and Upland Hunting. His sought after coaching style is what sets Mike apart as he helps each dog handler on how to become a team with their dog. Beyond dog training Mike teaches his Practical Shooting Program for sportsman looking to improve their Shotgunning on the hunt and in competition. If you are interested in our training program, buying a puppy or a trained dog, using one of studs, participating in our annual seminars or hosting your own seminar- call us anytime. We are happy to talk dogs and help anyone- anytime
we can. Trainer Mike Vaughn www.theblastwsk.com 608 445 6149

01/24/2025

Your Friday Tidbit: Preparing for the Formalization stage of Training
(a continuation of last week)

There is nothing better for me than to activate questions in peoples minds who truly want to learn the art of GunDogmanship. Last week I talked about the “teaching phase” of a command or what I like to call a control. However for simplicity I’ll use the word “command”, as that is what most people are use to hearing. I received many messages about last week’s tidbit and it sparked interest in diving deeper into this subject.

Last week I talked about the “teaching phase” and the imprinting phase of a command leaving people wondering about what’s next in the “formalizing phase”.

As being a martial arts teacher for most of my life before being a dog trainer it helped me in understanding how kids and adults learn the same things differently. The ol’ school quote, “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks”, can’t be further from the truth. If I was to start teaching a kid martial arts or a teen or an adult I would teach them all in the same system but understand the learning curves difference’s based on their age and personality. Starting to teach a 8 week old puppy vs a 6 month old vs a 2 year would be the same exact process however the older dogs it would be teaching and molding, and the younger pup would be teaching and imprinting until they hit the 6 month mark. In martial arts it would be when a kid in my class began their teenage years. 6 months old is a bench mark as it’s when they should have all their adult teeth and their adult brain is closer to being fully developed. Now what they learn can be retained rather than just imprinted up to this point. Although dogs are doing much more things younger nowadays but we’ll leave that alone for now. So anywhere after 6 months old a dog can be “trained to be retained”. I’ve trained many dogs that were never trained until they were 2 years old that went on to be Master Hunters or Upland Champions.

Formalizing means we are going to hold the dog accountable for what we have taught them by using different forms of pressure. Now before I mention pressure I want to mention personalities. Everyone always asks me what amount of pressure I use. I always teach handlers that the amount of pressure is based on the personality, breed (any breed of Gun Dog) or breed within the breed (British, English, American, Pointing in the Labrador Retriever world). However in most cases if I was to train a dog I don’t look at what breed they are in comparison to what type of personality they have.

Are they super hyper and smart?

Are they super hyper and unfocused?

Are they intelligent and active?

Are they casual and active?

Are they casual and lazy?

Are they lazy and unmotivated?

Are they lazy and smart? (playing you)

I figure this out during the teaching phase of the training. This will tell me the type of pressure I need to use and how I use it. What others do is use the same pressure for the all personality types and tend to ruin dogs with softer personalities. It’s quite possible for you to have a bird crazy dog that is sensitive to pressure. It’s also possible to have a lazy dog that resists pressure. Now LISTEN…. here is a crucial lesson!!!!! When you start formalizing a dog’s training they are going to have up and down days!!!! They are going to come at you with different personalities each day!!! One day they come out doing everything you ask and make it everything look easy. The next day they come out wanting nothing to do with the lesson for the day. This is no different than teenagers or adults. Their moods change day to day, some in the same training session. Think about it! You’re working out doing physical fitness, sports, shotgunning or martial arts. It’s all the same while learning!! Your learning to mount your gun and keep missing the flying targets. Your attitude is down. You finally hit one- your attitude goes up! Then you start missing again- your attitude goes down.. Then you finally hit one- your attitude goes up and we end the shooting lesson. Soon consistency starts to come into play. Consistency builds your attitude which builds your confidence.

“Keeping our training consistent and fun with a disciplined training routine is the true success for us and our dog.”
- Mike Vaughn

This is truly the hardest part of dog training for people looking to train their own dog. They simply don’t have the experience of what to do with the personality or daily mood changes or even mood changes within the training session. Therefore they make early mistakes in pressure causing their dog to go into shut mode. This happens when the dog is not understanding what they are being pressured for or are being pressured too much. Therefore in the Wingmasters training processes we hide pressure in a circuit training system for all skills being learned.

The dog learns a command, we start formalizing the command with pressure then immediately we exit the pressure and go back to doing something fun. We keep their mind working the same skill in 3 different processes as dogs learn best in three’s. So I’m teaching the dog the same thing in three different ways adding the pressure in, in all three areas. Soon the dog learns that pressure is just part of the fun. I use to do this with teen and adults all the time in martial arts. l’d disguise the skill they were learning, then show them how I got them to do a particular skill without them even knowing how they learned it. I love doing that in my shotgunning courses nowadays.

Before you buy a E Collar and start pressing buttons, you must first understand your dog’s personality, learning habits, have a routine and the system that best helps them learn. Otherwise you’ll ruin a dog instead of coach the dog into success.

To be continued…..

Can’t wait to release our first guest on the podcast as these tidbits will fit with this podcast so perfectly!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Address

Wausau, WI

Telephone

+16084456149

Website

http://www.theblastwsk.com/

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Videos

Your Friday Tidbit: From Baby Steps to a Master Hunter My first dog Toddy I had trained by a professional for the Fetch process. My second dog by the name of Bella was the first dog that I would take from a 8 week old puppy to a MH. Bella taught me a lot because I was being mentored on old school hard force methods at the time. The dog either got it or they didn’t, there was no in between. Bella got stuck in different areas of training where high pressure didn’t work for her. I was forced to research, develop and figure out on my own different methods that would teach a better way to understand the subject rather than force her. Next came Winnie and all the kinks that I went through with Bella I knew how to avoid with Winnie. Bella and Winnie ended up getting their MH titles together. Fast forward to where I’m at now and my résumé consists of close to 50 Master Hunters, even more Senior and Junior Hunters along with Derby and Qualifying placements. Not even mentioning all the Upland Champions l’ve made, but that’s for another time. I’m not saying this as some bragging comment. I saying this from a different standpoint. Each and every dog taught me something along the way. My early Master Hunters all taught me valuable lessons that would lead to making better Master Hunters in the future. Every dog I have campaigned has its own story line of how they achieved their title. Going 6 for 6 in Master Tests is very rare especially at a young age. Usually some kinks will show along the way. You’ll have to learn how to fix those and how to move forward towards the title. Some dogs pushed every once of knowledge and patience I had, while others made it easy on me. Developing the Wingmasters online training system is pushing me in a different way. For me it’s natural now to grab a dog and just start training them. I can recognize things before they even happen because of all my past experiences. When Alec Kysely started working at my kennel I could see

Your Friday Tidbit: Growing Up With A Hunting Dog My childhood neighbor by the name of Ol’ Ralph Hempher, was an overall wearin’, whiskey drinkin’, tobacco chewin, sailer mouthin’ hellava good guy. He lived across the road from us and i’d often ride my bike over there for a visit to listen to hunting as well as life stories. He’d talk about running hounds on coyotes, bear and coon. The thrill of the chase he’d always tell me. One story was a little bit different… He told me about a rabbit hound, a beagle that he shot many cottontail and snow hare over. He said it was the funnest hound hunting he’d done in his younger days. His beagle would run the rabbit in a circle mainly 40 to 80 acres. Being the fact that I was 12 years old I thought, “a beagle would be perfect as i’m not able to drive at my age.” I begged my parents for a pup. Finally they gave in and I got my first beagle. Back then there was no internet. So really the only way you learned anything about beagles was reading books or magazine articles. I read everything I could find. If you wanted information on a beagle they’d have to send you the pedigree’s in the mail. I had a folder of pedigree’s that I studied and kept for my genetic knowledge of the breed. What I learned from growing up with a hunting dog was priceless. The list is too long, but it taught me many life lessons I carry with me today. What Ol’ Ralph knew was, if I can get this kid a dog, get him to respect wildlife and the outdoors, I can keep this high energy kid from getting into trouble. He was dead on! I got into beagle field trials from age 13 to 20. As a teenager I had no interest in drugs or alcohol. All I cared about was traveling with my beagles on Hunting Trips and to Field Trials to compete. It’s funny now how traveling to Upland Bird Dog Tournaments and Hunt Tests gives me that same feeling of when I ran beagles as a kid. “A puppy makes you ageless, they have a way to turn you into a kid i

Your Friday Tidbit: AKC Senior Hunt Test Components A couple weeks ago I started this Friday Tidbit series explaining the general understanding of AKC Junior Hunt Tests. Today i’m going to explain the components of a AKC Senior Hunt Test. Next week I’ll explain how all the components essentially work together. There is a big jump from Junior to Senior but then a smaller jump from Senior to Master in some sense. Double Marks: There is two series like Junior, a Land series and a water series. Except now each series requires you to pick up a double instead of two singles like a Junior. One of the two birds, typically in the first series, will be a live flyer. The dog must remain steady, off lead while two birds get launched until the Judge releases you to pick them up. Controlled Break- Your Mullligan! Here is an important thing you need to know at the Senior Level. In one of the two series, not both, if the dog goes to break and you can stop them at a reasonable distance, you can still continue the test. Some judges will let your release the dog from where he stopped, others require you to reheel the dog before sending them. Walking to the Line: At Senior level a dog must now walk to the line, at heel, OFF Lead, with NO collar. Completely opposite of what I talked about in Junior. The lead since there can be no collar on the dog must be some type of “slip” lead. Secondly you must carry a gun with you to the line. The judges ask for your number, you answer, they say “Guns Up”, then say “dog to the line.” At this time you as the handler remove the lead and pocket it, grab your gun and start walking towards the line. Walk Up Now at Senior level one of your two series will have a “Walk Up.” This means that you don’t just walk your dog up and sit it down. Instead, on your way up to the line, they will launch a bird at a certain area you are instructed to walk to. When the bird is launched the dog must either sit verbally or sit to the wh

Join us tomorrow for episode #2 of the Wingmasters Podcast “Truth Be Told”! This episode will be sure to keep you entertained as we dive into genetics, dogs, training, hilarious moments as well as as some sentimental moments when talking about Winnie! Be sure to tune in on YouTube and Spotify! Our Wingmasters FB page is up! Please head over to our official Wingmasters FB page and be sure to give us a “like” and “follow”! Let’s keep it Rockin! Alec Kysely #WINGMASTERS #wingmasterspodcast #truthbetold #foxredlabrador #foxredpuppy #foxredlab #HilariousMoments #takethejourneywithus

We’d like to show our gratitude to everyone who reached out to us regarding our first podcast episode! Thank you so much for sharing this journey with us as we build the brand of Wingmasters. Our goal is to take you on the journey with us as we film the online training curriculum and build the Wingmasters website. The website will offer online training courses in dog training for Retriever and Pointing Dog breeds, dog handling and Gunmanship with your shotgun!If you missed the first episode, be sure to watch it on YouTube or listen on Spotify! Please “like” and “subscribe” to show your support 🙏 Episode #2 being released this Friday 01/12/24 Let’s keep it Rockin! #WINGMASTERS #wingmasterspodcast #truthbetold #retrievertraining #retrievereducation #pointingdogs #gundogtraining #gundogs #birddoggin

You’re Friday Tidbit: Finding Your New Song I’m always intrigued by musicians as they grow their careers. They’ll have some break out song that gets them to the next level. A musicians biggest fear is to be a “one hit wonder.” The good musicians grow and take their music fans on journey with them. Each album is a set of new songs of expressing themselves for what they are living in the present moment. The album will usually have some type of title that expresses the new journey they are on. Think about all the things you’ve been through in life. If I asked you to lump different years together in life and title it, it wouldn’t be that hard. Your teenage years might be “My Free Years” as a album or “Growing Pains” if they weren’t that good. Your 18-25, 25-30, 30-35 etc could easily be summed up with your own album cover titles. Now if you were a musician you’d go back to each album and sing the classic songs everyone wants hear. That song reminds people of something they went through in life good or bad and how that song made them feel. For the musician that song represents a certain time in their life on each album. Each musician is always “seeking the new” best song that they can grab onto in the moment while playing their songs that treasure the past. What a beautiful gift they give themselves. I always enjoy listening to musicians tell the history of their songs years after that song became hit, what they learned from it and what propelled them forward. Think about your favorite story that your grandparents, parents, friends or mentors have told you. A story someone told you that taught you a lesson that you’ll never forget. That’s as profound as any song. You’ll hear that person tell that same story many times and you enjoy it more and more each time you hear it! Just like when you hear an old song. Now think about when a new song comes out that you start listening to. If your like me, when I hear a new song, I listen t

The Blast Wingshooting Kennels