What Does a Pro Gundog Trainer Keep In His Truck?

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Written By: Zach Miller


"When it comes down to the equipment a professional gundog trainer utilizes, it can certainly make a vast difference in terms of quality and dependability. In this article I want to break down the items I carry in the cab of my pickup truck as a professional gundog trainer."



We should understand that in most cases, a trainer will have a pickup truck and then the dog rig itself, this is commonly the large stainless steel boxes you’ll see rigged onto the rear of a truck rolling down the highway. As extensive as they can be, today we are discussing what is stored in the cab of the truck. While there is no standard established for what should be in one’s cab, these are the items I like to carry in preparation for anything the dogs or the environment can throw at me.


  1. First Aid Kits


You’ll notice, there is an “S” at the end there, I keep a standard first aid kit for humans under the seats and I will also keep a canine first aid kit, of larger nature, stashed behind the driver seat. This is number one on my list for a reason, your kit should be consistently well stocked and updated on necessary items. I ensure the bag is easy to see and ready to grab and run with when needed. Inside the bag I have a large quantity of items for the most common injuries. These include but are not limited to, bleeds, broken bones, snake bites, stomach issues, etc. All of these are marked within the kit itself so when a stressful situation presents itself, they are easily recognizable, if a kit is too complex, so becomes the task under pressure. 


  1. Water/Food


Water is typically stored in large quantities within your gundog rig in a stainless steel water storage tank. However, with my cab I keep drinking water and a small amount of dog food for the moments when we are on the road and cant access the main storage, or we are out around feeding time and the dogs need to eat. In the southern climate areas, water is something you can never have enough of!


  1. Weapons/Ammo


A gundog trainer is a tough title to hold without the first part of that. My back seat is typically folded up and I have an L.L. Bean storage section that I install that completely opens up my back seat. Within that section, I store my training shotguns and ammunition. My shotgun is always unloaded and stored in the LLBean section while my blanks and live ammo is stored in a YETI hard case behind the passenger side for safe storage. Any time you are handling live or blank ammunition, ensure it is stored in a dry and enclosed area, most commonly stored in ammo crates of hard cases. When it comes to weapons/firearms, check with your local police departments to ensure you are within all legal rights and possess all the necessary permits to have that weapon legally in your vehicle.


  1. Attire


Gundog training has the handler outdoors almost on a constant basis. That being said, mother nature can throw anything and everything at you, the question is, can you sustain? When it comes to attire I have a few pieces of clothing that I never leave the house without. Rain gear top and bottoms, I have two rain jackets, one is more of a lighter top for drizzles, and the other is more of a “duster” style for the true downpours. Along with these I have a pair of rain bottoms that will always make life easier. This gear is stored on the door panels for ease of access.

The next piece of attire I keep is some Filson Double Tin chaps. When working in the field, you will catch onto a ton of stickers and the like, a dependable pair of chaps are worth their weight in gold in the field. Alongside these I keep a set of handler jerseys for different applications, these are vented in the back and I keep a white and camo colored in my other door panel. Lastly, a solid sunhat for those cloudless days is a must have in the field. 


  1. Spare Parts


This is what takes up 90% of my storage space within my cab, the extra STUFF. There are a lot of breakdowns in the field of the mechanical type and there is nothing worse than driving an hour to your spot and not having the one o-ring to make the session happen. I keep a ton of spare parts such as o-rings, gas canisters, tools, batteries, charging ports, collars, and about 500 other things I can’t come up with a name for. These are all stored in a multitude of compartments in my cab for those Oh S**t moments.


In conclusion, what you store in your pickup is to your liking and while there are plenty more items I can list here, these are the big ticket items that everyone should have if they are getting into gundog training. I find that the items we keep become more of an accumulation rather than a strict list of stock items. The moral of the story here is much like other articles, bring what is needed and be resourceful.

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