Ryan Miller shares his love of German Shorthairs through his pursuit of upland opportunities and through producing quality products for the pointer owner and quality puppies to help folks get started with bird dogs or enhance their string. This passion has grown into Relentless Bird Dogs, a family business offering Ryan’s custom kennel fans, dog supplies, and of course–puppies off their beloved dogs.
While Ryan grew up around dogs, they weren’t exactly of the pointing variety. His parents had an English Mastiff and a Pomeranian who quickly gave him his first lessons in dog behavior as he watched the Pomeranian, Sheba, boss around the significantly larger mastiff, Harley, and remind everyone she was queen of the house.
He loved dogs, and discovered the unique talents of pointers through his childhood friend Jimmy, who had a German Shorthair they would take out in the woods with them. Ryan had the idea he wanted one, but time went by.
Years later, while living in Arizona, Ryan was giving an Uber ride to a man who said he had a litter of German Shorthairs if Ryan knew anyone was looking. Ryan went and looked at the pups while dropping the guy off and decided to put a deposit down on the spot…and then go home to break the news to his wife Gina.
Ryan remembers bringing home this dog (Remy) a little over seven years ago and says that in the same way most everything has unfolded since with his kennel and dogs, it was like it just fell into his lap. As though the good Lord said, “You need a bird dog.”
Arizona had tons of wild birds, so Remy and Ryan started exploring together. Along with his natural instinct, Remy received training from several local trainers, and Ryan found himself learning as well, apprenticing with trainer Guy Mollicone.
Ryan’s enthusiasm was apparent, to the point that he began trapping pigeons at his house to take to the trainer and trade for training. They’d meet out in the desert and work dogs together, and over a year and a half, Ryan began to gain a deep understanding of dogs.
Then, 5 years ago, Ryan, his wife Regina, and their kids Kaia and RJ moved to North Carolina to escape the Arizona heat.
When he got to NC, Ryan was eager to continue working with Remy but wasn’t sure what upland opportunities existed in NC. He began posting in some Facebook groups asking about it and got a response from Kay Hoover, telling him about the eastern NC region of the National Shoot to Retrieve Association (NSTRA). He came out to watch a trial not long after and remembers Ted Purdie greeting him and engaging him upon arrival. He found himself enjoying the people and eager to participate with his dog. He still continues to do so years later and his involvement has only grown. He now serves as a judge and is secretary for the region. His wife Gina is also going to judge some this coming year as a way to give back.
Although Remy was the founding member of the Relentless Bird Dogs pack, it has grown significantly and now includes Remy, Roxy, Chief (Deceased), Gracie, Rogue, Ellie, and Scout. Remy is now 7 years old, but when he was a year-old Ryan and Gina heard about a black roan female in Oklahoma. Ryan had always wanted a black roan and he and Gina were soon packing up the car and heading to Liberty, Kansas as a halfway point to bring Roxy home. Roxy is a true gentleman’s hunting dog and complements Remy’s explosive full-steam-ahead hunting approach.
Around this same time, Gina saw Chief posted on Facebook. He had been a guide dog and was being retired now that he was 12 years old. He needed a soft-landing spot to live out his days, and after Ryan went and saw how incredible he was in the field, he became his new hunting companion and couch resident. After his life in the outdoor kennel, the transition to the couch was a big deal for him. He and Ryan shared wonderful hunting adventures in Arizona before he started having seizures and had to be put down.
When Chief passed away, Ryan and Gina purchased Rogue, a liver roan female from a breeder in SC. She is four years old now and has found her niche as a mom, producing great hunting puppies.
At that point, Gina said no more dogs…and then they saw Ellie posted by a lady down in Mississippi. Her husband had cancer, and they were selling Ellie as a fully trained bird dog needing a new home. The next morning, they had decided to move forward with her, and Ryan and his son RJ were in the truck going to pick her up.
To offset the purchase price, they bred her to Buzz, a dog owned by Jody Bass of Cripple Creek Kennels. One of the dogs in that litter was a sweet little pup named Scout, who was originally purchased by a family in Wilmington. They got Scout home and realized with their young kids they couldn’t keep up with his energy, so as part of the puppy contract, they returned him to Ryan.
Ryan was going to just find another home for him but decided to take him out to trainer Eric Walker’s place to see what he would do on birds. He was so impressed with Scout’s first response and how he locked up on the point that they decided to keep him. Scout is 3.5 years old now and has finished some training and dived into field trials.
With Scout, the Shorthair clan was complete. However, there was one more dog in the mix who didn’t have the characteristic spots: Gracie. A chocolate lab that Ryan originally planned to use for some retrieving work, Gracie now lives with their daughter Kaia, whom she has always loved.
With their dog family full, Ryan has been working on his bird dog supply business and has especially focused on building unique custom fans to keep dogs cool on warmer hunting days.
He first had the idea to make fans when he was living in Arizona and dealing with the heat there and monitoring dogs in the dog box. He knew Ruffland sold fans, but he thought he could make one that would be more effective and have a dial to provide users greater control over the speed.
Ryan has been willing to put in the work and started out making fans with a baseplate of diamond-plated aluminum and cutting it out by hand with a jigsaw. He now uses Starboard as the baseplate (the material most people recognize as being used in cutting boards for commercial fishermen). He loves how indestructible it is and has put that label to the test—including trying to run over it.
The idea to use Starboard came to him at one of his favorite places: Waffle House. He was eating a meal there on his own at the counter and struck up a conversation with the man next to him. The man mentioned he made parts and stuff with Starboard and a CNC machine. Ryan started telling him about his fans and joking maybe he should try that out. He later went home and did just that, ordering some precut Starboard from a company in Florida to start with and then later buying his own CNC machine, which then led to the long process of learning how to use it.
In the past two years, his fan orders have taken off. He started with making them for Ruffland kennels and dog boxes, but now also makes them to fit Gunner kennels, TransK9, Impact crates, and custom orders.
Ryan continues to innovate too, and is currently working on testing new battery sources to find something that would be rechargeable and still powerful.
His fans currently all have to be plugged into a 12v source, although he makes several different adapters to power the fans, ranging from a Dewalt to Milwaukee battery setup. Those work well enough for now, a fact testified to by a trainer outside of Nashville who uses a Dewalt battery and said he ran his fan off it for 29 hours before turning it off.
Ryan has shipped fan orders as far as Norway and Canada. Most of his orders come through their website, but he has started traveling to events as well. He just attended the inaugural Bird Dog Bonanza in Tennessee to display his fans and enjoys the people he is meeting along the journey.
The fans are a family affair. His son RJ accompanied him on that trip to TN and has learned to use the CNC machine. His wife Gina also helps pack the fans and is a steadfast supporter, even when he is spending long hours in the garage while also working a full-time job that involves managing 23 people.
As he continues to grow his business, Ryan purchased a laser engraver to make dog collars. In addition, he is a dealer for Garmin, Dakota, and Dogtra.
And if you ask about the American Flag in his business logo that appears on all his products, he’ll tell you he is just a red-blooded American who loves his country and believes that the flag ought to be front and center of everything.
While his son and wife enjoy the company of all the GSPs and help support the fan and bird dog supply business, his daughter Kaia is also working with dogs as a trainer in Pennsylvania. Kaia started out working for a pet resort and when her natural abilities and understanding of the dogs were observed she was promoted to a trainer position. She now works for Cold Creek Dog Training and goes in-home to help dogs and their owners. She and her lab Gracie have done some dock diving and recently started a disc event club with a local friend.
Ryan’s love for his family and his dogs is apparent, and he enacts the “Relentless” motto in his desire to innovate and grow his business. Check out their website here and order a fan today: www.relentlessbirddogs.com
