11/02/2026
As one chapter closes, a new one begins. This is true for Scott Ward and for Texas Duck Dogs.
Scott Ward is transitioning to a new phase of his dog training career. Congratulations on his new endeavors and y’all support him in his in-home private lesson dog training business. He’ll be based in the East Texas area.
Texas Duck Dogs will be turning the page completely on it’s Hunt Test program, focusing all of our attention and resources on our Field Trial program. Wade and Lauren Cashion are excited to see where this will lead. We want to make the most of this opportunity by pushing “all in” on our field trial program and seeing how far it can go. Our goal is to make Field Champions and National Champions, and we feel like we have the dogs, the grounds and the clients in place to make it happen.
Eliminating the hunt test program will reduce the overall work load of the kennel by 16-18 dogs. With this reduction we will be able to concentrate our resources and time on the field trial program and winning. Quality over quantity.
We don’t want to do anything without God’s help, so we ask that everyone lift up a prayer for healthy and talented dogs, for hard and focused training, and for all the right clients to make it to our kennel.
The hunt test program was a lot of fun and we made so many great friends over the years! When I (Wade) first started training, the idea of an AKC Master Hunter seemed like a far-off dream. Many helpful mentors along the way like Chet Beaty of Waller, TX and Pam Wilson (who was a member of my church in Katy, TX at the time) made quite a few meaningful contributions to my growth as a trainer. Chet taught me many things, but “always have your whistle around your neck” and how to deal with a “no-go” on a blind are two very important lessons.
When Chet said “you know how to deal with that no-go right”, I just nodded my head and smiled… little did he know I had never even heard the term “no-go” before 😂… later that day I made sure to work that term back into our conversation, trusting he would elaborate on the subject… and he DID!! A gem of training wisdom was implanted in my brain, and I still use the method effectively to this very day. Thank you Chet!
My first Junior pass came when I was running an 8 YEAR OLD DOG!! Cowboy…. The original Cowboy for us. He was such a wonderful dog for me. The judge that day for our first Junior pass ever, was Pam Wilson. It was a rainy March day in Giddings, TX. Grey skies for miles… but the dog and I were smiling ear to ear. He was so excited to get those birds. A dark yellow male lab, some would call him red, 8 years old but all muscle (because I hunted a lot back then), with a solid grey muzzle and grey feet from his age. . It was a sight to see. 30-year-old Wade and 8-year-old Cowboy, earning our first Junior pass. I’ll NEVER forget that day. The skies may have been grey, but the sun was shining brightly for Cowboy and I.
Now, can you imagine my surprise, when 4 weeks later, on a Sunday morning, who would walk through the doors of my church??? That very same junior judge, Pam Wilson, and with her husband Dale. They became very supportive and encouraging members of the church I pastored there in Katy, Tx. Pam showed me what a blind retrieve was with her dog Gracie, taught me about the “no toe budge” sit standard, and then made the big leap from AKC Hunt Tests into the world of AKC Field Trials. . The interest was piqued, and ideas of one day running a field trial started to emerge, yet I had never even ran a dog myself on a “blind retrieve”.
Pam was the one who introduced me to Chet…. Chet must have seen some potential in me, or at least enough energy and ignorance that he knew I needed help, because he made a call to a lady I had never heard of ….. Who was that, you ask? Well she had trained and handled the all time high point yellow female in AKC history! Gracie! Sylvia McClure, that’s who! And wow…. What a world of knowledge and opportunity did she bestow upon me. I will be forever grateful and indebted to her for making some absolutely amazing contributions in my development. Sylvia opened many doors for me. Sylvia, if you read this, “THANK YOU!”
Sylvia wanted me to watch a trainer named Danny Farmer do basics… I didn’t know who Danny Farmer was and I was very uneducated on basics… at that point I had read a couple of magazines and watched a VHS tape (yes VHS, about 12 years prior, but that is a story for a different time) and Sylvia had told me about a DVD that Danny had made, so I bought it and watched it.…. But that was nothing like watching a living legend at the top of his game do what he does in person, with many telling me he’s the best in the world at what he does.
Going to Danny’s a couple mornings a week changed the way I thought about dog training. It made my head hurt a good bit, because I wasn’t doing it the same way and I knew I needed to make some adjustments. . But a whole new world had been opened up to me… with that new world, came a calling. . It’s a long story, one I need to write down for everyone to hear one day, but at the core of it was two words …. spoken with authority and meaning, spoken to me, spoken to my soul . . . “JUST TRY”…. When I heard those words, everything changed. I knew at that moment that running AKC Field Trials would be in my future. There is a lot more to the story, but at the heart of it are those two words, “JUST TRY!”.
So with the Hunt Test program coming to an end, and the Field Trial program becoming the focus, I feel a deep sense of inner peace that my calling is being fulfilled. It’s time to JUST TRY, with full effort, with one focus and without all the distractions.
So here’s to the next year, or 10, or 30! Blue ribbons or bust!!
Thanks for the encouragement and support!
Wade & Lauren Cashion
**Pictures below of Scott’s new business and his last 3 Master passes with us. Then Wade with his 2019 Master National passes, and the 4 dogs that he ran in 2025 to become the No. 1 derby kennel in the USA that year. The pictures tell a story!
