Mitchell’s Mike Musick helps hunters maximize experience as a gun dog trainer

MITCHELL — Numerous bird and waterfowl hunters will say that one of the most satisfying parts of hunting is seeing their dog at work.

Watching a dog point a pheasant or retrieve a duck from the middle of a pond can be exhilarating for the owner. But an untrained and undisciplined dog can easily make for an unenjoyable hunting experience.

That’s where Mike Musick steps in.

Musick is the owner and operator of SoDak Labradors and Gundog Kennels, a dog training and breeding business he’s been running since the early 2000s. Annually, he tends to train 30 or more dogs per year to be field-ready and breeds his own labs about every other year. Although he felt that eventually, this is where his passion for dogs would take him, it didn’t become a reality until 2000.

Before then, he worked for his family business in Florida, but his calling was to work with dogs. When his parents bought farmland and planned to build a house just west of Mitchell, he decided to come with them and pursue the trade. It’s same property where he lives and runs the business today.

He first started by learning from well-known trainers in Minnesota. That included world-renowned trainer Tom Dokken, owner of Dokken Dog Supply and Dokken’s Oak Ridge Kennels, the largest gun dog training kennel in the northern part of the United States.

“When I finally decided, I was just going to try to meet some trainers that were doing it,” Musick said. “I met Tom Dokken, and Tom invited me to Minnesota. I went over there and visited with him and some other trainers, and found somebody that needed some help. I just went to work for him for a little while, not Tom, but some other trainers. When they said, ‘Do you feel like you want to go on your own and come back to South Dakota?’ I said yeah. I didn’t really plan on staying. I just wanted to get some experience.”

He started his own training business in 2000 and since then, he’s established himself as one of the most respected trainers in this part of the country. He said he’s trained dogs for customers in South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming and other surrounding states.

Although every dog is different, Musick’s primary training program’s primary focus is to get dogs prepared to hunt pheasants and cover all the basic skills needed to perform well in the field.

“I call it a basic gun dog program,” Musick said. “For most guys who just want to hunt pheasants, I can get them ready in six weeks. And not every dog is the same. Sometimes they can learn a little quicker, sometimes it might take another week or two just depending on the dog. If you start at the right time, it’s easier. If you start them when they’re younger, normally. Then sometimes, you get a dog that’s just got a problem that you’ve got to get them over, like gun shyness. That takes a little longer, but once you get past that, they normally learn pretty quick.”

Within the basic program, Musick trains the dog how to handle a bird, how to retrieve and how to stay focused in the field just to list some of the more specific training principles. There are other smaller focuses within the six-week program though. There are also other training services listed on Musick’s website Sodakgundogs.com.

But in reality, it all comes down to what type of training the dog requires. Every dog is individualized and no two are the same. Discovering what type of help the dog needs is a skill Musick developed over his two-plus decades in the business.

One of the big challenges he deals with on a consistent basis is retrieving drive for certain dogs.

“It’s just you learn how to read that dog and you know where it’s lacking and you just know what it needs,” Musick said. “It either needs more discipline or it needs more drive and retrieving desire. Retrieving desire is a big one. They have to want to retrieve. In order for that dog to be a good retriever and bring birds back to you, it needs to just be able to retrieve too.”

Musick elaborated and said it’s especially a problem with older dogs who didn’t learn to retrieve when they were younger. He further emphasized the importance of training dogs earlier in their lives.

“Not every dog will like the game of fetch,” Musick said. “You can have a good hunting dog that will retrieve game but doesn’t want to play fetch. It’s usually an older dog that didn’t learn it when it was younger. It didn’t learn that game of fetch. It’s an older dog when you’re trying to train it. And it gets it, but it doesn’t enjoy it as much.”

Although at this point in his career, the training and breeding business is still his priority, Musick has branched out into other endeavors relating to the gun dog industry. This includes becoming a local representative for health and wellness company Life’s Abundance. The company makes wellness products for families, cats and dogs, but Musick tends to focus specifically on the dog aspect. Especially when it comes to dog food.

Musick began to pay closer attention to the food he was feeding in 2022 after his seven-year-old lab fell ill. The dog developed a cancerous tumor near the spine that limited mobility as it grew. Musick eventually had to put the dog down as a result.

The personal experience inspired him to be more mindful of what dog food he was using. He became increasingly concerned with certain chemicals and harmful ingredients used in some dog foods after conducting further research.

“It just really hit home because I had been feeding a premium food and I switched to a lesser quality food that was cheaper,” Musick said. “It was just a big mistake. I wished I’d never done that. But it’s like this, I got an education again, and I want to try to bring awareness to the issue and help people find safer food.”

In the end, though, the need for a specific gun dog trainer may seem unnecessary to some. Some owners can successfully train their dogs by themselves with no added help, but it’s far and few between. Training a dog unsuccessfully could also all but make the dog unable to hunt entirely.

Musick said dog trainers are critical to hunters because they should expect the best out of their close companions. A trainer gives an owner the best chance for their dog to succeed and to stay safe in the field.

“They might have had a dog in the past that they trained when they were younger when they had a lot more time and that dog turned out to be pretty good,” Musick said. “But now they’re busy with a job or a family and they just don’t have the time to get the dog in the field. Well, the first time they take it hunting, it’s not going to know what a bird is or what the field is and it can get hurt in the field.”

But Musick said he also has advantages over other trainers. He specifically said how he truly takes extensive care in working with each dog because he runs a smaller operation than bigger kennels.

“I’m spending more time with that dog and I basically treat it like it’s my own,” Musick said. “I’m tailoring the program for that dog. So if I get the dog when it’s older and I see this dog needs this or that, I know what to do. I believe that all dogs should start with a good introduction just to the field, all the sights and the sounds that they’re going to get and socialization with the other dogs is really important.”

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