December Joy All Star: Tracy Bailey

Tracy Bailey grew up in Grass Spring, TN on a small farm out in the country. He’d always had a working dog by his side, only back then it was a heeler helping him with his daily chores. Tracy always went to church. One Sunday morning, after church, a few men had asked Tracy if he’d like to go coonhunting with them. He had heard of the sport and had heard of people competing and winning big tournaments with PKC and AKC in his area, but he had never really had much of an interest. He decided to go with the group of men from church just for fun and he was instantly hooked. It wasn’t long after that Jimmy Pratt came by and gave him his first hound. Ever since then, Tracy has followed his hounds in the woods, leaving a breadcrumb trail that his sons would soon follow.

Tracy started competition coonhunting in 1993. He quickly learned the ropes and by 1994 he had qualified for the PKC World Championship, doubling up in the first night. He did not make it to the finals that year, but he did make quite the statement for being so new to the game. This year, making it to the finals with GCH Wipeout Power Slam (or Bolt as they call him at home) was one of the biggest moments of Tracy’s career as a handler.

The pup was born at Tracy’s house and he had sold it to William Wood once old enough. He noticed the pup was a little more on the wild side and thought it would cause more trouble than anything so he didn’t want to keep him. However, Wood came back and told him that the pup was going to be a good hound one day and that they needed to work together to train him. That’s where their partnership began and they started to work together.

When Tracy started his journey of becoming a houndsman, he started looking for a high-quality dog food that would supply them with the energy that they needed as well as keep them at a healthy weight. His buddy Steve Yant suggested Joy Dog Food and when he tried it out, he was instantly impressed. They were able to run all night long, their coats were nice and shiny, and he noticed they were putting on weight and packing on muscle.

“My dogs don’t only look good on Joy, they perform good on it, that’s why it’s the only food I feed them”

Tracy Bailey

Tracy Bailey started buying pallets at a time to sell to local friends and family. Then as the demand for Joy went up, people started traveling from all over to find Joy Dog Food. As time went on, Tracy became a consistent dealer for Joy Dog Food and now supplies people with Joy throughout the Decaturville, TN area. If you are looking for Joy and in this area, please call Tracy at 731-8453195. Or you can visit our dealer locator at joydogfood.com or call us at 800-245-4125 to find a dealer near you!