Out of Office: Brad Henion

My dad used to raise German shorthaired pointers and was an avid hunter. So, [when I was] somewhere between 10 and 12, I started training [and] hunting with him. … I’ve been training ever since, so 40 years now.

It’s fun to watch the progress, to watch the dog develop [and to] develop that connection with the dog. You really become like one together in the field as you hunt. … The passion for me is, you take a puppy that’s eight weeks old, who just has instincts, and you mold them into your hunting partner.

I use positive enforcement for my training. … You [have] to start by building a bond with them. That’s why all my hunting dogs are house dogs, too. … They see you as like the leader, the pack leader. … [Once the dogs have] developed that sense [of] camaraderie and attachment to you, that’s been my key to success.

In Michigan, we hunt a lot of wooded area, dense thickets for grouse. … You need a dog who works very close to you, or else [they will] disappear into the woods. And then we’ll go out west to North Dakota and South Dakota. [The dog] will hunt large, open fields for pheasants [in] corn fields, bean fields and grass fields.

I had one dog, Dory, who won multiple hunting awards [at] the Great Lakes Sports Dog Association. … The number of people who have come up [to me] and want to work with Dory or work with me because of that exposure and what I developed with her in that training, I think that’s probably one of my proudest moments.