This is Aldo and me on a Montana back road in Fall 2022. This was Aldo’s first season and a life-changing one for me.

The first decade of my professional life was spent in uniform, serving first as a Combat Medic and later as an Infantry Officer during the Global War on Terror. While those years taught me composure in high-stakes environments, they also ingrained a “mission-first” mindset that made the transition to civilian life a significant challenge.

I then stepped into the fast-paced, high-pressure arena of Enterprise GovTech SaaS. While successful, the stress was familiar and relentless. I found myself working for things that were important to other people, heading toward a burnout that felt inevitable, all while feeling listless.

Circa 2012, here I am standing with a Husky mine detection vehicle. My first assignment as a combat medic was with a route clearance unit.

In 2022, I got my first bona-fide gun dog puppy named Aldo. Training him wasn't just a hobby; it was a life raft. He forced me to be present, to slow down, and to trade the glow of a laptop for the horizon of the prairie. Aldo was the bridge that helped me move from the rigid structure of the Army and the relentless demand of enterprise tech to intentionally architecting a career in consulting. I sought a path that traded the corporate grind for professional autonomy, a move that finally afforded me the margin to prioritize my wife, my dogs, and the days afield that keep me grounded.

Gun Dog Yoga began in 2022 on pen and paper as a private pursuit to document my thoughts and process the lessons learned during those miles in the field. Over time, it has evolved into this website, a digital scrapbook and a public journal. This website is my creative outlet; it is where I share the stories of the road, the photos that define my seasons, and the "meditations" on what it means to be a modern hunter in a high-speed world. This space exists to archive my experiences and, hopefully, offer a moment of reflection for others walking a similar path.

Today, I am not a traditional professional trainer with a 40-run kennel. I am a student of the uplands and a steward of the bird dog’s potential. Because I have navigated the stress of the boardroom and the battlefield, I understand the immense value of the time we spend with our dogs. I’ve realized that for the modern bird dog owner, the greatest luxury isn't gear or gadgets - it's uninterrupted time afield.

I am an active member of NAVHDA, a founding member of the Kansas chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and I have pursued wild game across the landscapes of my home state of Kansas as well as Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming. While much of my time is spent solo with the dogs, I am occasionally joined afield by my wife, whom I love dearly; her presence reminds me that the best hunts are those shared with the people—and dogs—we value most.