Steve (Longbeardking)...
Pleased to read your young dog is doing so well. Youse guys are "tough" on those of us who have had some fine dogs.
I well-remember mine... "Murphy", an English Setter with a great "nose" for birds... she was a delight until some SOB stole her.
"Duke", a really smart German Shorthair, who would range out 50 yards or so which, when he first did it... I thought all-was-lost because he was gonna flush the birds outta range, but then, he got a "whiff-of-pheasant" and went a bit further out beyond the cock-bird, then turned and hunted BACK toward me, pushing the running bird in front of him and toward me until it flushed... not 10 feet away which made for an easy shot. We had some fine hunts together.
And then there was "Fred", the Brittany... liver & white... Gawd, I loved that dog! He was a true hunter without peer. That dog LIVED to hunt and no dog was ever a better "pointer"... and he would "flush-the-bird" on command. All I had to say was, "Get-'em-Fred" and he "rushed" in and flushed the pheasant or quail. When I came outta the house with a shotgun-in-hand, Fred would go WILD... jumping up and down at the kennel's gate, wild-eyed with excitement because he "knew" we were going bird-hunting. Fred lived to be 17 years old... and finally was so crippled up with arthritis that he struggled just to get up... and sadly, I could see in his eyes that he was in terrible pain, so I had to put him down... I sure didn't wanna, but I couldn't stand to see poor 'ol Fred in such pain.
I've never owned another dog... it was just "too much" having to put Fred "down".
Those three fine hunting dogs gave me a life-time of wonderful memories... never to be duplicated again.
"Treasure" those memories of those hunts with your dogs, my friends... I can tell you that they're gonna become some of your favorite and most wonderful memories.
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.
