May Customer of the Month: Champion Feed and Pet Supply

Champion Feed and Pet Supply began in 2005 as a joint venture. They offer a wide range of farm and pet supplies and feed, including Joy Dog Food. They also offer a variety of home goods, gardening supplies, and even apparel; a little something for everyone!

Their professional staff is on-site available to assist with: 

• Nutritional advice and analysis
• Loading bulk orders 
• Customer support on products

Besides their professional, welcoming staff readily available to assist their customers at any time, they also host events with special guest speakers, along with discounts, door prizes, and giveaways! They host clinics and events often so follow their Facebook to see when their next event will be!

They also offer discounts on bulk orders and can put in special orders for products at no extra cost. Champion Feed also delivers to select customers- for more details on deliveries please call 740-369-3020.

Champion Feed and Pet Supply is a proud Joy Dog Food Dealer located at 2524 State Route 37 E Delaware, OH 43015. If you are interested in purchasing Joy from them today- give them a call! 740-369-3020.

April Customer of the Month: Conecuh Sausage

Conecuh Sausage is a family-owned and operated business outside of Evergreen, AL. When the business began back in 1947, they dedicated themselves to making high-quality meats. Although they have grown over the last 75 years, shipping their products nationwide to big retailers and chains their tradition continues. They hand-select each seasoning, ingredient, and smoke over a hickory fire to produce an outstanding flavor that stands out from all the rest; that’s the Conecuh Sausage way.

Conecuh Sausage has a gift shop in Evergreen, AL where they not only sell their outstanding meats but an array of premium bbq and outdoor accessories to keep the WHOLE family smiling this sunny springtime season – including your dog! They offer coolers, grills, hunting products, outdoor games, and of course, JOY Dog Food!

Stop by and shop their gift shop and sample some Conecuh Sausage Mon-Sat 7 am – 5 pm. Don’t forget to grab your dog a bag of JOY Dog Food (and maybe sneak them a sausage or two if they are being good).

March Customer of the Month: The Bicknell Bunch

Jay Bicknell has three sons and three daughters that he has raised out on his beautiful farm in Kentucky with his wife. Jay works at a wastewater treatment plant as a plant manager and spends all his free time training working dogs; mostly bird dogs and retrievers. To fully understand how Jay Bicknell and the Bicknell Bunch got to where they are today, we must go back to where it all started.

Jay bought his first dog in the 3rd grade from his neighbor for $175. It was a pointer named Jake (he would go on to name his first born son Jake) and he worked that dog all the time. Every chance Jay got he would be out in the fields hunting bobwhite quail with his dad and grandfather. His mother would always get on to him and tell him to keep the shell in his pocket until the dog was pointing at the bird. He had difficulty with the dog at first due to his age and small voice, however, his dad helped, and over time; Jake and Jay got into a pattern and flowed effortlessly. Jay also ran some hounds throughout high school, but his true love always lay with bird dogs. Jay always hunted with a dog by his side and never had the desire to hunt anything that didn’t include a dog next to him. 

After his college years when he got married, his wife wanted a dog of her own or a pet; she said wanted a lab. They had setters and pointers and she had wanted a pet for herself. This had struck a lightbulb moment in Jay’s head. He thought “why yes, we could get a lab and I could teach it to duck hunt with me”- it was genius. He found a breeder’s ad in the classifieds for some lab puppies in their area and he went and picked up a female not too long after his wife had made the comment. He named her Teal and they got to work on basic obedience and some retrieving. He went to a local library to see if they had any content on training and turns out they had some old VHS tapes on retriever training! He watched them over and over and worked with Teal repeatedly. Once she was older, he took her out to hunt tests and eventually it was time to take her duck hunting. Training Teal was the beginning of Jay’s passion for training dogs and truly working with them as a career. She set the bar for so many others and although she may have trained him at times, with every dog after it got better. 

Jay studied Wildlife Biology in college and worked as a Wildlife Biologist for years studying the conservation of bobwhite quail, however after having six children and training dogs, he decided to switch jobs to work for the water department instead and he is now working as the wastewater treatment plant manager. He did back away from training dogs for the public a little bit, however, he has now started back and is currently working with a Weimaraner to do horseback field trials and a labrador retriever to find water leaks at his water plant. He still studies bobwhite quail, however, it’s more of a hobby now. Besides his job at the water plant, he spends most of his time training dogs at his farm with his family. He creates content on the various types of dogs he trains over on his YouTube channel the Bicknell Bunch which you can watch and subscribe to by clicking here – Jay also has many retriever clinics and hunts coming up with some local charities that you may want to stay in touch with on his page! 

To fuel your dogs with Joy Dog Food; click here to find a dealer near you! Jay Bicknell and his crew all feed their dogs with Joy and they have noticed a dramatic difference in their coat and performance! The dogs are working harder than ever before and they look good too! Jay used to feed Joy years ago but his local feed store stopped carrying it so he switched to another brand. Once he noticed a local feed store pick it up again, he started feeding it again as he remembered it always being a great feed!

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