Welcome to Iron Oak Dog Co.
I'm consolidating brands as we move forward with a renewed vision and sense of purpose for our work with dogs. Baltimore Dogworks and The Gundog Workshop will be consolidated under the banner of Iron Oak Dog Co.
As time permits, I'll be moving blog posts from each site over to the new one, adding an online store for equipment (we're authorized dealers for Dogtra, Ecollar Technologies, and Martin System, as well as some of the best leather goods you'll find anywhere), and adding online courses.
The site will become the main hub for online training materials for clients and that are shared in my capacity as a regional rep for KlM-GNA, and training director and president of the Potomac NAVHDA chapter for next year.
I'll be applying for a kennel license through KlM-GNA so that we have the option of expanding our breeding program as demand increases not just for our breed, but for our specific approach to raising puppies and preparing them for hunt tests and hunting.
Next hunting season we'll be offering at least one curated wild bird hunting camp, including lodging and meals, for our gundog clients who are interested. It will include webinars on e-scouting, boots on the ground scouting, and critical information about the species we’re after. Our aim is to take all the guesswork and intimidation factor out of being a wing shooting wayfarer.
Check out the new site and let me know what you think!
https://www.ironoakdogs.com/
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The new name "Iron Oak '' comes from the oak tree also known as a "post oak". It is durable, hardy, and utilitarian. There is beauty and dignity in it's simplicity and it is strong, adaptable to many environments, and resistant to the elements.
I've never been drawn to competitive dog sports. Instead of trying to align the stars of the right dog, the right environment, and the right judges, I've always been more invested in training as a means to an end, training to a standard, and using training as to make a dog more than they would otherwise be on their own. I like usefulness and variety more than specializations and extremes and I don't care for the culture of playing all the approximating games with these dogs and rarely actually hunting them.
Whether companion dogs or hunting dogs, I pride myself on my ability to produce repeatable, reliable results, with any dog.
The post oak, or Iron Oak, is a good representation of what I strive to bring to the dog world: reliability, utility, and consistency.
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I chose a hand drawn logo to represent our move to a lower volume, more bespoke approach to training dogs and coaching people. As I get older, I value relationships more, and look forward to serving a smaller, highly dedicated client base at a deeper level.
The Greenman, or folate head, is a symbol of rebirth and the cycle of new growth that takes place with the seasons. I can't think of a better representation of what we do with our dogs.
Dogmen measure their lives not in years, but in seasons marked by the dogs under their stewardship. The spring of puppyhood, the blazing summer of adolescence, the glorious fall of a dog's prime, and the inevitable sting of winter.
Within each dog's life we relive the seasons year after year as we prepare them during training season, campaign them through tests, and then move on to the most important and enriching part... hunting them on wild birds.
And so the logo is a dog version of the Greenman, symbolizing all of the above.
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Bringing it all together, I'm working on bringing a modern, elevated experience to clients who want to live an intentional and adventurous lifestyle that deeply involves their dogs.