The kennel
Owner & head trainer
For nearly two decades, Tyce Erickson has made his living training bird dogs. As the owner of Utah Bird Dog Training, he works with pointing dogs, retrievers, and family hunting dogs — and with the people who want a dog they can be proud of in the field and easy to live with at home.
He grew up in Orem, Utah, in a family of outdoor enthusiasts. His dad bought him his first shotgun at twelve, a Browning BPS, and by eighteen he had worn it out bird hunting. At fifteen he had saved enough for his own duck boat and trained his first black lab. He has been hunting pheasants, ducks, and big game with his dad and brothers for as long as he can remember.
That hunting life still shapes how he trains. He loves waterfowl and upland, and big game — especially elk and deer — is another major passion. Much of the year is measured by whatever season is coming next.
Tyce is a member and judge for the American Pointing Lab Association and has titled dogs from Junior through Master and Grand Master in APLA and AKC hunt tests. He has worked most of the pointing and retrieving breeds hunters actually use. Alongside the training program, he and his family raise field-bred Golden Retrievers and a small number of pointing Lab litters each year — which is why genetics and training get treated here as one problem, not two.
At home, Tyce and his wife, Rachel, are raising their five kids in Utah, where dogs, hunting, and time outdoors are simply part of everyday life.
He doesn’t believe there’s only one right way to train a dog, and he’ll be the first to tell you he’s still learning.
The team
Trainer · since 2016
Ian has been with UTBDT since 2016. He was a mechanic before the kennel talked him into training dogs — and he has been on the program ever since. He can put his hands on any dog we take in. Born and raised in south Utah County, he hunts a Brittany/Vizsla cross of his own and cares about sending clients home with a dog they can be proud of.
Trainer · since 2023
Orlyn grew up with dogs, hunting, and hard work — Utah born and raised, from a family of mink farmers. He came onto the UTBDT program in 2023 and took to it quickly. He is passionate about birds and big game, and on the side he raises French Brittanys. If you are looking for a good little Brittany, reach out to him.
Also from this kennel
Hosted by Tyce Erickson, The Bird Dog Podcast covers bird dog training, hunting, retrievers, pointing dogs, gear, and conversations with people throughout the sporting-dog world.
Listen to the Podcast