In August 2003, Jay’s love for the outdoors, hunting and dogs led him to buy his first hunting dog, a Labrador Retreiver, from Mike Stewart’s Wildrose Kennels in Oxford, Mississippi. Thereafter, Jay became passionate about training and handling well-bred gun dogs, and Mike Stewart, a renowned trainer, became Jay’s mentor.

In 2005, Jay became an associate trainer for Wildrose, giving him more opportunities to perfect his training and handling skills, while working with Mike. He also was able to spend more time with Mike on a one and one basis and learn from him. Another benefit that came with being an associate trainer was the opportunity to meet Wildrose partners from the UK. One of the partners that has been very influential to Jay is Nigel Carville of Northern Ireland.