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What is the Greyhound Protection Act & how it can affect you! Get involved today!

Hosted by Tyce Erickson — professional bird dog trainer and owner of Utah Bird Dog Training.

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About This Episode

In the episode I sit down and try to give a brief overview and explain the Greyhound Protection Act and what it is. I also, go over how they are trying to make using, "live lures" for dog training illegal. This can be a problem for people that train dogs. This could affect anyone that wants to have a bird dog and train that dog with live birds. Below, is the link to let your legislators in your state that you can use to let them know that we want the wording "live lures" removed from the bill. We must maintain our hunting heritage and freedoms. Please take a minute today to send them your opinion and let others know. Thanks and have a great day! Link below! An amendment to the House Farm Bill (HR 7567) proposed by animal rights groups threatens the future of AKC performance events and recognized hunt training techniques. Please join AKC and leading sportsmen’s organizations in defending responsible dog enthusiasts, sportsmen and trainers. Please contact your member of the U.S. Congress and respectfully ask Congress to remove language derived from the “Greyhound Protection Act of 2025” (HR 5017) from the Farm Bill before final passage. Scroll down for easy ways to make a difference. Why This Matters While the stated intent of the Greyhound Protection Act is to address concerns related to commercial greyhound racing, the provision attached to the Farm Bill is overly broad and risks eliminating or banning standard training and event practices for certain field trials, performance events, lawful hunting with dogs, and other widely accepted training methods used by responsible dog owners and handlers. AKC is a participant in affiliate advertising programs designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to akc.org. If you purchase a product through this article, we may receive a portion of the sale. In fact, the amendment goes well beyond “commercial” greyhound racing – which currently only exists in one state; it also bans live lure training, use of live lures, and open field coursing events involving live animals. Because these terms lack clear statutory definitions, they could be interpreted in ways that affect lawful hunting activities and traditional dog training methods. For example, controlled exposure to live birds, or other game animals, is a widely accepted and essential component of preserving unique breed characteristics and training bird dogs, retrievers, hounds, and other working dogs. Dog trainers and hunters commonly use farm‑raised birds such as pigeons, ducks, or pheasants to teach scent recognition, steadiness, retrieval skills, and humane handling of game. These practices help ensure that hunting dogs perform their work effectively and minimize harm to wildlife during hunts. Without clear exemptions, prohibiting the use of live animals in canine events that showcase breed characteristics, responsible hunting, or dog training could effectively eliminate long-standing, responsible training methods. These restrictions could easily be interpreted or amended to severely impact or eliminate: • Field trials, • Hunt tests, • Earthdog competition, • Barn Hunt, • Nite Hunts, and • Other organized dog sports/events that are conducted under carefully controlled conditions. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Introduce your dogs to guns and start them out right or help

Questions about the training topics in this episode? Tyce works with bird dog owners and hunters through Utah Bird Dog Training. Reach out to work with him directly.

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Transcript

Full transcript for Episode 48: What is the Greyhound Protection Act & how it can affect you! Get involved today!.

Tyce

Hey everyone, welcome to the Bird Dog Podcast. My name is Tyce Erickson. Today I want to talk about something that's been circulating online and directly affects everyone who trains or hunts with dogs — the Greyhound Protection Act. I dove into this before recording so the information I'm sharing should be accurate, but I'm not a lawyer, so I'd encourage you to look into it yourself and take action if it concerns you.

The Greyhound Protection Act of 2025, sponsored by a Democratic representative from California, was inserted into a larger piece of legislation called the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026. The bill number is HR 5017. The organizations backing it include Grey2K USA Worldwide and Animal Wellness Action — groups focused on ending greyhound racing and, more broadly, what they call animal welfare concerns in dog-related activities.

Greyhound racing itself is essentially already gone — it's been banned in about 40 states, and only West Virginia still has active tracks. On the surface, this bill targets that remaining racing industry. The concern for hunting and dog training comes from the specific language buried in it. The bill makes it unlawful to engage in "live lure training" — and the definition of that phrase is broad enough to potentially cover using live birds in dog training.

If you train bird dogs — upland dogs, retrievers, versatile breeds — you use live birds. Pigeons, pheasants, ducks, chukars. That's been part of the process for hundreds of years. It's not entertainment; it's how you build drive, develop pointing instinct, train retrievers to mark and handle. If this live lure language passes into federal law, it could affect anyone using live birds to train dogs, including professional trainers, hunt test competitors running live-bird tests, and field trial participants.

The tactic being used here is familiar: take a bill that sounds like it's about one thing — greyhound racing, something most people have no stake in — and insert language broad enough to reach into your world without you noticing. If it gets attached to a major farm bill and passes, it becomes federal law, and the enforcement implications could be significant.

What can you do? Contact your representatives. Let them know you're aware of this language and that it matters to you. Support organizations like Pheasants Forever, NSTRA, AKC, and other sporting dog groups that are tracking this legislation and pushing back. Don't assume someone else will handle it. These bills move when the public isn't paying attention.

I don't know exactly where this stands right now, but I think it's worth knowing about and worth making noise over. The hunting and dog training community has a voice — use it. Thanks for listening.

Tyce Erickson

Tyce Erickson is a professional bird dog trainer and the owner of Utah Bird Dog Training in Utah. For nearly two decades he has worked with pointing dogs, retrievers, and family hunting dogs — helping owners build dogs that are capable and enjoyable in the field. The Bird Dog Podcast is an extension of that work: honest conversations on training, hunting, breeding, and everything that goes into a life spent working dogs.

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