Today’s episode is with Erin, and her vizsla Roo @reddogcoffeeroasters, providing perks and bringing the community together over coffee. Hailing from Michigan, this duo loves to travel around the country for upland hunting.
Growing up, Erin was no stranger to high drive working dogs, having had family dogs and previously showed and competed in agility. So when she found Roo through a reputable breeder, she immediately began training Roo for adventuring and upland hunting. An American term, upland hunting is generally done for ground birds at higher elevations, as opposed to wetland hunting where ducks are more common. Pointer dogs, like Roo, are used to locate birds that hunters will then flush out. Other dog breeds are also used to flush, or cause the birds to fly out into the open.
Living in rural Michigan, there are many places to hunt, trail run, and mountain bike. Erin, also previously a professional mountain biker, loves to get Roo out on the trails. Some of their favorite places to go are Andrews University trails where they sponsor and help maintain the trails, Grand Mere State Park along Lake Michigan with some magnificent sand dunes, and Fort Custer Recreation Area which was converted from a military training ground.
For upland hunting, Erin and Roo are fortunate to have pheasant hunting within thirty minutes of their home on public hunting grounds. They also frequent northern Michigan for ruffed grouse. Last fall, they had the opportunity to travel to Crested Butte, Colorado to hunt dusky grouse, a bird native to the Rocky Mountains. In Wyoming, they hunted Hungarian partridge and sharp-tailed grouse. And in Alabama they found bobwhite quail. Speaking of Alabama, one of Erin’s all time favorite trail systems is at Oak Mountain State Park, just south of Birmingham.
When not out hunting or adventuring on the trails, Erin and Roo can be found at their home based coffee roasting business, Red Dog Coffee Roasters, established in early 2018. Being a vizsla owner, Erin was inspired to build her business with a major focus on the breed. Her business model includes community outreach with charitable contributions to multiple organizations such as the Vizsla Club of America’s All Star Review Hemangiosarcoma fund, and the Ruffed Grouse Society @ruffedgrousesociety. They also support vizsla rescue in many ways, through Airsong’s Angels, Inc. as well as Midwest Vizsla Rescue. A more extensive list of vizsla rescue information can be found on the RDCR website. Last but not least, having been a professional athlete, Erin created Team RDCR @teamrdcr to provide sponsorship to both amateur and professional athletes.
Her shout outs go to her husband, Roger, and to all of the athletes at Team RDCR @teamrdcr!
Thanks for listening!
Here’s a link to the U.S. State Parks Status during Covid-19
adventuredogpodcast.com 