This is the Fat Bird, Ugly Dog Podcast. I’m Al Franke coming to you from central Alberta, Canada, on Falconry Talk Radio. I’m a Longwinger, flying a gyr/peregrine tiercel over a German wire-haired pointer, on ducks and upland game birds. 

The goal of this podcast is to thrash out alternative viewpoints on topics ranging from training philosophy, husbandry, and health of birds and bird dogs to conservation and management of raptors, their main prey species, and the respective habitat that they rely on. 
 In addition, I’ll cover-off themes related to hunter ethics, fair chase, and access to public and private land. I’ll outline efforts that falconers can make to contribute to all of these topics of conversation.

Why “Fat Bird, Ugly Dog”? Well, as unfair as some make think, the “Ugly Dog” moniker reflects my preference for wire-haired pointers within the versatile hunting breeds, and Fat Bird reflects an ambition to fly my falcons as close as possible to what would be considered their natural or ideal body mass, and to do it in a style that mirrors the “wild mind set”, to borrow a phrase from Ed Pitcher!

I hope you’ll tune-in each week to listen to what I anticipate will be persuasive points of view for you to think about.  In Episode 2, Ed Pitcher is my guest, and using his book “The Flying of Falcons” co-authored with Ricardo Velarde as a jumping off point, Ed and I discuss his philosophy in general and the “wild mind set” in particular.