header

All of Charlies' Cowdogs are registered with the
Hangin Tree Cowdog Association Inc.
If you buy a dog from Charlie you will receive a registration certificate.



This is Charlie Trayer

Charlie Trayer
Charlie Trayer

Charlie Trayer was born and raised in the Flint Hills of Kansas. For 40 years Charlie managed the Cottonwood Ranch only a short distance from where he was raised.

In the heart of the tall grass prairie the Cottonwood Ranch runs 350 to 400 moma cows plus about 1500 yearlings on summer grass.

Nearly all the work was done by Charlie and his Hangin' Tree Cowdogs plus some good horses.

There is the fact that Charlie Trayer is a rare mixture of modern rancher and old time cowboy – a man who is equally at ease discussing stocker cattle growth strategies as he is on his horse sorting cow-calf pairs in an open 800 acre pasture.

Charlie, an honest and patient man is a respected cattle rancher, horseman, dog trainer, and clinician.

After 40 years on the Cottonwood Ranch, Charlie decided it was time to slow down.

He retired from the ranch and moved south to Texas where the winters are not so harsh and cold.

Charlie bought a small ranch near Seymour TX. The ranch has excellent facilities and is perfect for raising and training cowdogs.

When it comes to cowdogs Charlie Trayer has pretty much been there and done that.

Charlie started using Hangin' Tree Cowdogs in the Flint Hills to gather the large herds of yearling cattle at shipping time.

At first when Charlie started using the dogs no one believed one man and a few dogs could gather and pen large herds, 100 to 500 head of yearling cattle. From the first gather years ago until this day Charlie and his dogs have been successful.
Charlie and his Cowdogs
Charlie and cowdogs

Charlie Trayer has gathered and penned cattle for the Cottonwood Ranch and neighboring ranches countless times without ever a failure.

On one instance Charlie and his dogs penned over 800 head of yearlings, without any trouble, in a very large pasture, that was notorious for troubled roundups.

In his travels around the country doing clinics and demonstrations and helping cowboys with their dogs, Charlie has had many opportunities to test his dogs in many different parts of the country.

He has gathered and loaded into a stock trailer, in the pasture, spoiled, renegade steers that had avoided capture for long periods of time.
Charlie Trayer and Gary Ericsson
Charlie Trayer and Gary Ericsson

Charlie has gathered cattle and worked Hangin' Tree Cowdogs with Gary Ericsson in southern Oklahoma in a lot of different types of terrain, some extremely brushy and tough.

Charlie Trayer and his Hangin' Tree Cowdogs have gathered and penned cows in the Osage Country of Oklahoma where some times the blackberry vines were so thick a horse could not get through but the dogs got the job done.

They have penned large herds of wheat pasture cattle in Western Kansas.

In the Piney Woods of south east Texas, Charlie and the dogs gathered and penned, with 100% success, spoiled cows with calves on them that were notorious for never being penned at one time. The conditions of this gather were extremely difficult. Much of the time Charlie’s horse was walking in water and the dogs had to work in water and very dense brush.
Charlie with his Cowdogs
On the Job
Charlie with his Cowdogs

Charlie Trayer and his Hangin' Tree Cowdogs have gathered and moved cow-calf pairs for Sarah McGinnis in Missouri.

Charlie and his Hangin' Tree Cowdogs have gathered cows in the mesquite country of west Texas.

Charlie and his dogs have gathered stocker cattle in Mississippi and Florida.

Charlie now raises, trains and sells “The Ultimate Cowboys Dog”, the Hangin' Tree Cowdog.




Charlie and Cisco
Charlie and Cisco

In this photo you can see Charlie wearing the shoulder holster he designed for the Tri-Tronic transmitter which enables you to have both hands free when riding your horse.

We proudly use, support, and sell Tri-Tronics products and have for years.

Click here for more information.


Template Design
Copyright© 2009 Charlies' Cowdogs