February Customer of the Month: Flatline Retrievers “Dead Bird” LLC

Our February Joy Customer of the Month is a new kennel of ours that has recently switched over to Joy Dog Food in the past several months. Flatline Retrievers “Dead Bird” LLC is a retriever kennel in Blytheville, AR owned by Matt Emerson. Matt has an assistant trainer Gary Holmes who helps with training. The two are dedicated to the dogs they work with and want the absolute best care for them; which is why they switched to Joy Dog Food.

“Our previous dog food we were feeding was not holding up anymore and they were starting to lose weight and we were noticing some real loose stools”

Matt explained when asked about why he made the switch.

“We went to our local feed store, Stromire’s Sales, and Julie, the owner, talked to us about Joy Dog Food and how great it was and how we would end up feeding less of it than the stuff we were feeding now. So we decided to try it out. We instantly noticed a difference in their weight and stools. The dogs look so much healthier now and they are performing better on Joy than the other brand. We are extremely happy.”

Matt has been an avid duck hunter since he was a teenager with a dog hunting by his side retrieving his ducks for him. However, when he was about 20 years old, the chief of police in his hometown was starting a K9 training program and needed an assistant. He wanted Matt to help him with this and taught Matt everything he needed to know about K9 obedience as well as retrieving. The next thing they knew; they were so busy they needed to split the program and Matt decided to take on the retriever program as he had a personal connection with the retrievers and gun dogs with his passion for duck hunting. He started small, with only 3 bays in his kennel, and slowly worked up to 25 bays. As time went on, Matt needed to hire an assistant which is where Gary came in. Gary has over 10 years of experience in training dogs. He has worked with his personal dogs and other people’s dogs. Although he is part-time at the kennel, he is committed to each dog and treats them as if they are his own, and looks forward to seeing their progress. 

Matt and Gary offer a variety of services. They offer gun dog training, basic obedience, deer shed/ recovery, advanced gun dog training, and a started dog program. They do some traveling for hunt tests with UKC and this year they will have two dogs up for Grand.

Flatline Retrievers has come a long way since the very beginning, they have been through some hard times and good times just like any other company over the past several years. Matt explained that there was a time that he had thought about walking away years ago:

“It was the support of my clients that kept me going, and I am happy that I did because we are now busier and better than ever before”.

The hard work you put into a business and the commitment and passion that you put into your work will always give back in the end. Joy Dog Food is proud to be fueling this crew of dogs and we look forward to growing with Flatline Retrievers and seeing them at the hunt tests here soon! Click here if you are interested in having your dog trained by Matt and Gary at Flatline Retrievers! 

Do you want to get your gun dog fueled by Joy? Click here to find a dealer near you!

January Customer of the Month: Kevin Mathis | Go The Distance Mushing

Our January Customer of the Month is Kevin Mathis with Go The Distance Mushing from Monona, IA. Although Kevin did not grow up in the dog sledding community or have anyone in his family before him mush dogs; he has always had a competitive spirit. Kevin grew up
competing in bull riding in rodeos all across the country. He’s always loved the challenge and even more than that; he’s always loved animals and the outdoors. Now that Kevin has a family, he works hard on trying to instill the same values of a love for the outdoors and a good challenge in his children. His son picked up on these values, including his love for animals, especially those of the working kind. Kevin had come outside one day to find his son had tied up a sleigh to his golden retriever and heeler and was playing in the yard with them. He thought it was the funniest, yet sweetest thing; however, he didn’t want him to get hurt
so he got him a proper dog sled.

Lo and behold the retriever and heeler wanted nothing to do with leading a sled. So they got some dogs that would. Suddenly this becomes a fun hobby for Kevin, and he starts to enjoy it himself. He enjoyed the challenge of the sport itself and working with the dogs to create a unified team that would perform well enough to start competing in races. Of course, being in Iowa, they didn’t have much snow, so he had to improvise every now and then and put some wheels on his sled so he could train for the races they would have up north.

When Kevin started racing, it was never about winning trophies or money; it was more about the challenge with, not only a new sport entirely, but the challenge against Mother Nature. The dogs were bred to survive in this weather, they were bred to burn this much energy, but this was pushing it to the absolute limit for Kevin, and he loved every minute of it. This is Kevin’s 7th year of mushing and racing, he has competed in 3 races in Maine, Michigan, and Montana that were 300 miles each. He has done a few 100-mile races here and there. The big race he’s been working towards has been the Iditarod in Alaska which is 1,000 miles here in 3 years. All the races and puppies he’s having now are what’s preparing him for that big race.

Salesman Josh Michaelis, being an avid outdoorsman and working dog enthusiast himself, was eager to see the Go The Distance Mushing Kennel. He reached out to Kevin to set up a meeting and gave him a couple bags of Super Meal 30/20 to try out. Kevin switched his dogs over and he was happy with the results, and even more so with the customer service.

“The Super Meal is working great with the dogs, they look good and are performing good and I was extremely impressed to have a company reach out to me. I like that the distributor, Hall Roberts’ Son, Inc is local and it’s all very easy for me to get and is also helpful with customer service. There’s a lot of support with Joy Dog Food.” – Kevin Mathis, owner and founder of Go The Distance Mushing

If you are located in Iowa and wanting to become a Joy Dog Food Dealer, reach out to Hall Roberts’ Son, Inc at 563-864-7421