Wingmasters

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Wingmasters develops complete gundogs and handlers through real hunting, real competition, real training, and proven standards. Upland and Waterfowl focused.

Protraining/Online Education/Seminars/Coaching/Podcast

This is the process. This is Wingmasters. 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 personal 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

10/23/2026

Friday Tidbit: Free Mindness
Life-Waterfowl-Upland

Everybody wants to win the Puppy Obedience World Championship. 😂

“My 5-month-old heels perfectly.”

“My puppy sits at every doorway.”

“Watch this 14-step obedience drill.”

Cool.

But can he hunt?

Somewhere along the way, we started believing that the more obedient and disciplined a young dog looks, the better hunting dog he’s going to become.

I’m almost the opposite.

Leave the damn puppy alone.

Quit being a dictator and let the dog be a dog.

I don’t want a young hunting dog walking around staring at me waiting for its next command. I want a free-minded puppy that is curious about the world, confident enough to explore it and absolutely CRAZY about the things that will eventually matter.

At that age, give me four things:

Bumpers. Birds. Guns. Water.

I want them absolutely ate up with all four.

Then within that craziness, I’m really developing two natural hunting abilities:

SEARCHING — using their nose and learning how to find game.

MARKING — learning how to watch, remember and get to what falls.

Beyond that?

Leave the dog alone.

Let him run.

Let him explore.

Let him screw up.

Let him use his nose.

Let him chase a butterfly once in a while.

Let him figure out that cattails are thick, water is fun, birds smell incredible and the world away from your left knee is a pretty damn exciting place.

There will be plenty of time for standards.

There will be plenty of time for obedience.

There will be plenty of time for heel, sit, steadiness, handling and all the cool stuff that makes a finished dog look impressive.

Formalize the standards when the hunt requires the standards.

Until then, I’m much more worried about building the dog than controlling the dog.

Because obedience is something I can teach.

I can teach a dog where to sit.
I can teach him where to heel.
I can teach him when to stop.
I can teach him how to handle.

What I don’t want to do is spend his puppyhood teaching him that I am the most interesting thing in the field.

I want the hunt to be the most interesting thing in the field.

Later, I’ll teach him how to hunt with me.

That’s the difference.

So quit worrying about making your puppy a badass at obedience.

Make him a badass at being a hunting dog first.

Give me a free mind, confidence, prey drive, curiosity and a dog absolutely obsessed with finding the next bird.

We’ll put the rules around all that fire when the time comes.

Build the fire first.
Control it later.

And for the Life Lesson- You’ll have to watch and see 😁

This is the process.

This is Wingmasters.

Mike Vaughn

10/18/2026

Random Saturday — Chopper Got to Play 🐾

Moments before connecting on our first Timberdoodle of the season, Chopper tracked a grouse for about 75 yards before a tree decided to step in and save that bird’s life. 😂🌲

Chopper has always been a little overlooked in our breeding program for one simple reason—he’s not Fox Red. And as most of you know, that’s become a big part of what we’re known for.

But color sure doesn’t hunt.

Chopper’s sire was King, our white stud before Journey. King came out of Winnie’s very first litter, so there’s a whole lot of Wingmasters history sitting right there in this picture.

And Chopper has always been an absolute phenom in the uplands.

In his younger days, he won two BDC Super Majors and became a Reserve National Champion. He’s also gone on to sire some great pups—and at his age, of 10, he can still flat-out find birds.

I’ve co-owned the breeding rights on Chopper with his owner and my good friend Nick Nelson over the years. Nick was away, so Chopper and I got to play! 😁

Nice to have the chance to have the old boy back in front of me for a little while.

Sometimes it’s fun to forget about titles, breeding plans, colors and everything else and just grab an old dog with a pile of history and go hunting.

And judging by that tongue… I think Chopper enjoyed himself too. 😂

Good dogs never forget the game and age like fine w**e. 🐾

Mike Vaughn
Nick Nelson

10/16/2026

Friday Tidbit: When Talent Reveals Itself

I’ve watched enough dogs come through my hands over the years to know something about talent:

Talent doesn’t always reveal itself right away.

And talent by itself isn’t enough.

Two young dogs. Two scenarios.

The first one walks immediately catches your eye. Athletic. Fast. Great nose. Natural marker. Tons of ability. The kind of dog that makes you think, Man, this one could be special.

But he gets trained once this week. Maybe twice next week. Then life gets busy. A few weeks go by. Different standards creep in. Different expectations. Training becomes inconsistent.

Now give me the second dog.

Nothing about him immediately screams superstar.

He’s a good dog. Maybe even an average dog compared to the first one.

But five or six days a week, somebody shows up for him.

They train.

They build.

They make small improvements.

They fix little problems before they become big ones.

Week after week. Month after month.

Come back a year later and tell me which dog you want to hunt over.

I’ll take consistency over unused talent every time.

I’ve seen the exact same thing in martial arts.

Give me an incredibly gifted student who shows up whenever he feels like it. Naturally athletic. Fast hands. Great timing. Everything seems easy for him.

Then give me the student who has to work for it.

He’s there Monday.

He’s there Wednesday.

He’s there Friday.

He asks questions. He drills. He gets corrected. He comes back and tries again. He takes care of himself. He studies. He improves a little bit every time he steps on the mats.

Give me enough time with those two students and I’ll show you something interesting.

Eventually, people will start calling the second student talented.

But they didn’t see how that talent was built.

Now take the word talent away for a second and replace it with another word:

Passion.

Can a dog have passion?

Absolutely.

In dogs we often call it drive and trainability.

You can see it in the dog that comes out of the kennel asking, What are we doing today?

The dog that wants the bird.

Wants the retrieve.

Wants another repetition.

Wants to work with you.

That matters.

I would rather start with a dog that has drive, trainability and a desire to work than one loaded with natural ability that constantly makes you fight him just to get somewhere.

People aren’t much different.

Give me someone who is passionate, coachable, hungry to learn and consistent about improving themselves, and eventually I’ll show you someone other people describe as talented.

But here is where this gets deeper.

Who is doing the training?

Because talent can only be revealed by training good enough to uncover it.

You don’t really know what kind of fighter you have until you put that fighter through a legitimate training camp.

And I don’t believe you completely know what kind of dog you have until you put that dog through a legitimate training program.

Then eventually…

they have to be contested.

For one hunting dog, the test might simply be opening morning with its owner.

Cold water. Crippled ducks. Wind. Ice. Decoys. Multiple marks. Birds sailing into cover.

The owner has expectations, and now the dog has to perform when the training actually matters.

Another dog might be tested through hunt tests or field trials.

Another through upland bird dog tournaments.

Shed competitions.

Agility.

Different arenas.

Same question:

When everything you’ve trained meets the real world, what does the dog actually have?

I’ve seen dogs over the years that I desperately wished I could get my hands on.

I could see something inside them.

Sometimes the owner was completely satisfied with where the dog was—and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes they simply didn’t know another level existed.

And sometimes the dog had never been through a proven training program capable of uncovering what was actually underneath the hood.

That’s an important distinction.

Lack of development isn’t always lack of talent.

Now, if you ask me about scouting talent, that’s a different conversation.

That’s where genetics can let you jump toward the front of the line.

I study pedigrees because pedigrees matter.

They can tell me what came before the dog. They can show patterns. They can increase my probability of certain traits showing up.

But understand something:

The pedigree shows you what could be there.

The pedigree doesn’t train the dog.

The names printed behind your dog’s name aren’t going to teach steadiness.

They aren’t going to teach handling.

They aren’t going to develop marking, searching, control or experience.

They aren’t going to teach them to use their nose and find birds in cattails.

At some point the pedigree stops…

and the work begins.

That’s when things get really interesting.

Because dogs don’t all reveal themselves on the same timeline.

I’ve watched a young dog and wondered:

Is this dog missing something?

Then maturity catches up.

Training catches up.

Experience catches up.

And one day…

BAM.

There it is.

The dog you were waiting for suddenly shows up.

I’ve also seen the opposite.

A young dog looks unbelievably talented from the beginning. Everything comes easily. Everyone thinks they’re watching the next great one.

Then maturity meets training…

and the dog plateaus.

And every once in a while, you get the special one.

The talent was there early.

The training keeps developing it.

The dog matures.

Experience piles up.

And instead of leveling off…

they just keep getting better.

Year after year.

Season after season.

Those are often the dogs that eventually end up in a Hall of Fame, collect high-level titles in one venue—or multiple venues—or become that hunting dog people talk about for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes there’s never a trophy involved at all.

It’s simply that old dog standing next to you on a November morning who has hunted so many birds that he seems to know what they’re going to do before they do it.

You watch him work and think:

How in the hell did he know that bird was going there?

Talent?

Training?

Genetics?

Maturity?

Experience?

Passion?

Yes.

All of it.

But there is one thing weaving its way through every part of that dog’s life:

Consistency.

Talent gives you potential.

Genetics can give you a head start.

Passion gives you the desire.

Great training gives you direction.

Experience gives you wisdom.

Maturity gives everything time to come together.

But consistency is what allows all of it to reveal itself.

Dogs or humans—it doesn’t matter.

Keep showing up.

Keep learning.

Keep training.

Keep getting a little better.

Because sometimes what people eventually call talent…

is simply what consistency finally uncovered.

This is the process.
This is Wingmasters.

Mike Vaughn

10/12/2026

Sunday Funday: Swag’s on the Board! 🐾🪶

Just a man, his dog, the Northwoods, and our first ruffed grouse together of the season!

Every bird is another lesson. Every mile is more experience. And every day in the grouse woods with a dog is a pretty damn good Sunday.

Sunday Funday, Wingmasters style. 👊🐾🪶

This is the process. This is Wingmasters.

Nick Nelson
Mike Vaughn

10/09/2026

Your Friday Tidbit: Two Dogs Harmonizing

There are a lot of ways two dogs don’t harmonize.

Run two young, untrained dogs together? Complete chaos.

Run a trained dog with an untrained dog? That’s a whole other Friday Tidbit.

Run two trained dogs that simply don’t complement each other? I’ve seen that plenty of times too.

Just because you put two dogs on the ground together doesn’t mean you’re going to witness teamwork.

In the hound and beagle world, they call three or more dogs working game together “the pack.” There’s an art to dogs learning how to work independently while still working toward the same goal.

Upland hunting is no different.

If you’re going to hunt two dogs together, they need standards. They need to understand the same rules. They need enough independence to hunt their own piece of ground, but enough experience to recognize what their partner is telling them.

Because when two good dogs truly harmonize on a running rooster…

There’s nothing quite like it.

If you’ve hunted birds long enough, you know the picture.

One dog gets birdy.

The other dog catches it—not necessarily the scent, but the change in his partner.

The tail.

The pace.

The head.

That little shift in body language that says:

“He’s here.”

Suddenly two independent dogs become a team.

One dog pushes the track and gets outsmarted. The other picks it up.

The rooster hooks left. One dog loses him while the other already knows where he’s going.

They start reading the bird.

Then they start reading each other.

Two dogs covering different pieces of the same field. Two noses. Two sets of instincts. Two pedigrees full of generations of traits coming alive right in front of you.

They’re competitive enough that they both want to be the one who produces the bird—but experienced enough to respect each other’s work.

Then that rooster finally runs out of options.

CACKLE!

Bird in the air.

Gun comes up.

Feathers fall.

Both dogs race toward the fall, but one gets there first. The other recognizes it, honors the retrieve, and they both come back toward you.

Those are the moments you remember.

Years later, you might forget which field it was. You might forget how many birds you killed that day.

But you’ll remember those two dogs working together.

You’ll remember loading them into the truck before daylight.

You’ll remember switching them out throughout the day—one dog hunting while the other rested.

And you’ll remember that last hunt of the afternoon when you finally dropped the tailgate and said:

“Alright boys…both of you.”

There’s also a practical side to owning two hunting dogs.

I would never want to own just one.

Dogs get sick. Pads get cut. Thorns find feet. Muscles get sore. One bad twist chasing a rooster can change a hunting trip you’ve waited all year to take.

I often hunt one dog for an hour, switch dogs, and then hunt them together later in the day. On a weeklong trip, that rotation helps preserve their bodies and keeps both dogs fresh.

Having two good dogs is more than twice the enjoyment.

It’s also an insurance policy.

If one needs a day off, your hunt doesn’t have to end.

And yes, I still love watching one great dog work a bird alone. There’s something special about a dog figuring it out completely on his own and earning those feathers in his mouth.

But there is another kind of pride that comes from standing in a field and watching two dogs you’ve trained become something together that neither one could quite be alone.

Eventually, the dogs get older.

The seasons pile up.

And someday you’ll find yourself thinking back to those mornings when those two dogs were in their prime, standing beside each other at the tailgate, waiting for you to turn them loose.

That’s hunting nostalgia.

So if you have one good hunting dog sitting beside you while you’re drinking your coffee this morning…

Maybe the question isn’t:

“Why would I need another dog?”

Maybe it’s:

“I wonder who his hunting partner is going to be?”

Sometimes the best hunting memories come in pairs.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Mike Vaughn

10/08/2026

🔥 TWO FINISHED WATERFOWL MALES AVAILABLE 🔥

These aren’t young dogs you need to spend the next two years wondering what they might become.

These are finished, high-powered waterfowl dogs that are ready to go to work.

Both dogs need the right home — someone who hunts hard, guides, competes, or simply wants a serious retriever standing beside them when the birds start falling.

THE BLAST’S RED JOKESTER “JESTER”

2-Year-Old • 65 lb Fox Red Male •

Jester is an absolute athlete.

He is an extremely accurate marker, runs straight lines on blinds, has a tremendous water attitude, and carries the kind of motor that makes you wonder if there is an off switch.

He has 4 Master passes and is capable of running big.

Jester wants work. He wants distance. He wants another bird. Locks down intensely on memory birds.

He is the type of dog that will die before he quits, and with his athleticism, he can work all day.

Because of his drive and horsepower, I believe his best fit is with an experienced handler, serious hunter, guide, or someone wanting to play around with SRS or Qualifying-level Field Trial work.

He has limited wild upland experience, but he has shown tremendous natural ability in Upland Bird Dog tournaments, making finals in the limited number of tournaments I ran him in.

Jester also carries a very strong pedigree, and his talent reflects it.

https://www.huntinglabpedigree.com/pedigree.php?ID=195092

Full disclosure: Jester’s OFA elbows came back with a Grade 1 elbow, which removes him from consideration for our breeding program.

That does not change the dog standing in front of you.

For the person looking for a high-powered working retriever rather than a breeding prospect, our loss could be your gain.

⸻

FIELD OF DREAMS I’M A WINNER’S GOT GAME “VICTOR”

3-Year-Old • 80 lb Classic Male •

Victor is a completely different package — a big, classic-looking retriever with a heart of gold and an enormous desire to work.

He is trained to a Master-level standard, running multiple marks and blinds.

His marking is strong. He started as a Field Trial Prospect so he can run big as well.

His blinds are smooth.

And when Victor hits the water, he hits it like a Mack Truck.

He is another dog that simply does not want to quit on a retrieve.

Victor also has a fantastic demeanor in the house, giving someone the combination many people are looking for:

Serious dog in the marsh.
Good dog when the hunt is over.

His best fit would be a serious waterfowl hunter or guide who wants a dog capable of handling demanding hunting situations.

He will do best with someone who already has experience handling a trained retriever — or someone willing to learn how to properly handle one.

Victor has limited upland training, so I would place him primarily into a waterfowl or guide home.

Victors sire is FC AFC Field Of Dreams I’m A Winner

⸻

THESE DOGS NEED JOBS.

I don’t want either one sitting on somebody’s couch wondering where the birds went.

They were built to hunt.

Built to retrieve.

Built to work.

Put either one in a duck boat, flooded timber, corn field, goose spread, or guide string and give him something to do.

That is where these dogs belong.

Ten K each

🎥 Videos available upon request.

I — along with several trainers and colleagues — will be traveling extensively over the next month, so delivery or meeting somewhere along our travel routes may be very easy to arrange.

Serious inquiries only.

If you’re looking for a finished retriever that is ready to step into the blind and go to work…

Here are two of them.

Texts or Phone calls preferred
608 445 6149

10/02/2026

Friday Tidbit: Instilled In All Of Us

I find it fascinating what we grab onto in life.

The habits. The traditions. The lessons. The places we go when we need to reset. The things we refuse to miss.

Somewhere along the way, certain things become instilled in us.

Some of it starts when we’re children, long before we’re old enough to understand why. Family traditions. Work ethic. How we treat people. How we handle adversity. What makes us feel alive.

But growing up also means learning to decipher what deserves to stay instilled in us—and what needs to be let go.

I’m still working on that every day.

Because not everything that served you in the past belongs in your future. And sometimes the things you intentionally practice today become the very things that define you tomorrow.

For me, I can smell the fall leaves and see the colors changing, and something immediately wakes up inside me.

Hunter. Gatherer. Outdoorsman.

Instilled in me.

I would never miss Wisconsin’s opening gun deer season.

Instilled in me.

I would never miss the BDC National Championships.

Instilled in me.

More recently, the Ringneck Festival has become one of those traditions.

Instilled in me.

But sometimes it’s the smaller things that tell us the most about who we are.

When I feel out of sync, I go get grounded with my grandparents.

Instilled in me.

When I need to be alone, I take a walk. And if it’s fall, there’s probably a gun in my hand and a dog beside me.

Instilled in me.

When a dog comes into my care, I feel an obligation to develop that dog to its fullest potential.

Instilled in me.

For over a year, I’ve worked to make better food choices.

Instilled in me

Writing and working out every Monday through Friday morning.

Instilled in me

And I absolutely love my 4:00 a.m. mornings. That quiet time when the rest of the world is sleeping gives me a chance to think, write, plan my day, and prepare myself for whatever problems might come.

Instilled in me.

The spirit of being a martial artist since I was a kid.

Instilled in me

But maybe one of the greatest things dogs have ever instilled in me is patience.

People tell me all the time, “I don’t know how you have that much patience.”

Dogs taught me.

You cannot rush understanding. You cannot force experience. You cannot skip every step and expect the same result.

And when I teach people with their dogs, that same patience matters. I have to teach the dog. I have to teach the handler. Then I have to patiently help the two learn how to work together until they finally sync up.

That lesson reaches far beyond dog training.

Maybe that’s the real Friday Tidbit:

Pay attention to what you are instilling in yourself.

Every morning you get up when you don’t feel like it—you’re instilling something.

Every time you choose patience instead of frustration—you’re instilling something.

Every time you keep a tradition alive, spend time with someone you love, walk into the woods, train your dog, take care of your body, or simply stop long enough to appreciate where you are—you’re instilling something.

Eventually, enough repeated moments become habits.

Enough habits become character.

And enough character becomes who you are.

So keep the good things that were instilled in you.

Have the courage to let go of the things that no longer belong.

And intentionally instill more of the things that make you feel grateful, grounded, excited, and alive.

Because maybe gratitude isn’t just appreciating what you have.

Maybe gratitude is recognizing what has been instilled in you—and being thankful for the people, animals, experiences, traditions, and moments that put it there.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Mike Vaughn
National Bird Dog Circuit
Huron Ringneck Festival & Bird Dog Challenge

09/25/2026

Your Friday Tidbit: Default to Ultimate Control

In Waterfowl. In Upland. In Life.

Today’s Friday Tidbit is a little different.

No long write-up. No polishing it up.

Raw and Real Friday — straight to the point, podcast style.

When things start getting fast, chaotic, emotional, or out of control, you need somewhere to return to.

A default.

In dog training, your default gives you a place to reset the dog and regain control.

In hunting, your default gives you a place to reset the situation before things unravel.

And in life, it’s really no different.

When everything starts moving too fast, find your default. Reset. Regain control. Then move forward.

Because sometimes ultimate control isn’t about doing more.

It’s knowing exactly where to go when things start going wrong.

🎙️ Raw and Real Friday.

Find your default. Reset.

Happy Limits, everyone! 🦆🐕

Mike Vaughn

09/24/2026

Happy 9th Birthday, Cowboy! 🎂🐾

Hot off the press — a Cowboy daughter just earned her Grand title. And fittingly, she’s also a Journey granddaughter. Congratulations Bennett Sheltra and Roux!

That news couldn’t have come at a better time.

Because when I think about Cowboy turning 9 today, I don’t just think about the dog standing in front of me. I think about the impact he’s made behind him.

When you start with a stud dog dream like Journey, eventually you realize something:

At some point, people are going to start asking, “What do I breed my Journey female to?”

Myself included.

Then Cowboy came along.

Looking back now, knowing what I know today, I realize just how fortunate I was that the right dog showed up at exactly the right time.

And Cowboy didn’t take long to prove himself.

He went 13 for 14 in one summer on his way to earning his HRCH and MH titles. One week later, he won his first BDC Doubles Super Major.

His BDC career was impressive. Cowboy made finals almost everywhere I took him and eventually became a Reserve National Champion.

Ironically, one of his greatest strengths was sometimes his greatest weakness in tournament hunting.

Cowboy was a pointer.

He earned his GMPR, and his point was so strong that when I ran him as a flushing dog, getting him to break point could cost us precious time.

But as impressive as Cowboy was himself, I believe his greatest contribution has been what he has produced.

That’s where Cowboy became bigger than Cowboy.

When bred to Journey females, the combination produced phenomenal dogs. Cowboy added his athletic build, extreme intelligence, level-headed temperament and that powerful natural point.

Breed him to a flusher, and some of the pups would point.

Breed him to another Pointing Lab, and you better be ready for pointing dogs.

For years, I watched those genetics show themselves over and over again.

And as a trainer, I loved Cowboy pups.

Someone would call and say, “I have a Cowboy pup…”

My response was pretty simple:

We’ll find you a spot.

Because I knew what I was probably getting.

Cowboy also had a way of winning over everyone around him. Throughout my travels, he lived with different people, and everybody fell in love with him.

Then my friends Kelly took one set of pictures of him that seemed to set the internet on fire.

And I understood why.

Cowboy looks like a little bodybuilder — about 67 pounds at fighting weight, put together exactly the way I like a Labrador to be built.

His pedigree gave breeders in the Pointing Lab world another direction to go, and watching his influence spread has been incredibly rewarding.

But this birthday means a little more to me.

Because in January of 2026, we weren’t thinking about titles, breeding or tournaments.

Cowboy was fighting for his life.

A grass seed had migrated through his body and made its way into his lungs.

There was a point where all I wanted was my buddy to make it.

Through a lot of care, a lot of hope and a whole lot of prayer…

Cowboy made it.

That experience changed what I wanted the rest of his life to look like.

I retired him from tournament hunting. His hunting will be limited. He’ll still get to bring birds to the gun in the wild, he’ll continue to breed females, and most importantly, he’ll get plenty of house time, love and the good life.

He earned it.

But the Cowboy story isn’t finished.

Elon is now our next step in continuing that special Cowboy × Journey combination, and we’ve made the decision that we also want to keep a male directly out of Cowboy.

Because by the time that young dog grows up and proves himself, Cowboy will be around 11.

That’s the thing about breeding dogs that I appreciate more every year.

You can’t stop time.

You can only do your best to preserve the pieces of the great ones that are worth carrying forward.

Journey taught me that.

Cowboy reinforced it.

And someday, I hope I’ll look across the field and see a young dog do something that makes me smile and think…

“Yep. That’s Cowboy.”

Nine years.

Countless birds.

Titles.

Finals.

Puppies.

Grandpups.

Friends.

Memories.

And now another Cowboy daughter earning her Grand title.

That’s a pretty good birthday present.

If you own a Cowboy pup, grandpup, or have ever had the chance to hunt, train or spend time with Cowboy, drop your pictures and Cowboy stories in the comments. I’d love to see how far his influence has traveled.

Happy 9th Birthday, Cowboy.

You were the right dog at the right time, and you’ve given me more than I ever could’ve asked for.

Love ya, Buddy. ❤️

The great ones don’t just leave memories.
They leave pieces of themselves in the generations that follow.

This is the Process. This is Wingmasters.

Wingmasters
National Bird Dog Circuit
Master National Retriever Club

Address

Wausau, WI

Telephone

+16084456149

Website

http://www.theblastwsk.com/

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