For A Love Of Dogs

[Mobasser]

I've made post about dogs before, and I'm still a dog lover. With good treatment, every dog I've ever had, has returned this good treatment, with loyalty.                    With fall coming up, I'm always reminded of my granpa,. He was a farmer here in Missouri, and an avid quail hunter, during the late fall. My grandpa always had three or more bird dogs on the farm, and most were usually given to him. They were the runts of the litter, and were never expected to be good hunters.

             Most of the hunters dismissed them as weak, too small, timid, and would say they were gunshy. My grandpa knew better.                                                           Here's how he trained them: he kept some wings from the qauil, from the year before, and froze them. He would thaw one out, and tie it to a piece of fishing line about 4 or 5ft long. This went on the end of an old cane pole about 10ft long, which hung in the barn.                                        Getting the pup out in the yard, he would give them a good smell of the wing. At first, all the pups would just try anything to get the wing. Every time the pup made a lunge for the wing, he would jerk it away a few feet. After a few times, the pup would start to approach slowly, and wait cautiously for the wing to move again. Without realizing it, the pup was learning to go on point, and stand still when he caught the smell of the quail wing.                                                             Over several years back in the 60s, I watched my grandpa take the frail, weak pups, and turn them into outstanding dogs.                                                            Our best one ever was an English Setter named Butter. Butter was born with a slight yellow tint to her fur, and didn't have the proper look of an English Setter. I entered Butter in the pup class in a field trial her first year. The day was hot. They would plant dead quail in a field, and see how good the pup could locate them, and hold on point. That day, there was a large hatch of yellow butterflies in the field. Butter approached the birds slowly, but couldn't keep her attention on them, and would chase a butterfly.                                       The man who was running the field trial told me" son, you better take your butterfly dog home, she'll never be any good". At 12 yrs old, I was devestated. My grandpa said " don't worry, she needs a little time".                           We worked with Butter through the whole summer. The following fall we entered her again in the first year class. She took first place, and outperformed every dog that was there. Many were expensive, full bred pointers and setters. Some guys offered to buy Butter from granpa, but he'd have none of it.  That hunting season, my granpa, dad, my older brother, and to an extent  me, shot full limits of quail on many days,with Butter leading, and the first on point every time. When Butter retrieved a quail, my grandpa would kneel on one knee, and open his hunting coat. Butter would drop the quail into the pocket of his coat every time.       She had a great, long life on the farm, and loved being in the field every year. It was a huge loss to all of us when she passed on.              My grandpa loved all of his dogs, and gave them only the best treatment, almost spoiling them. He took the runts, the losers, and the dogs that nobody wanted. Through kindness, and good training, he turned them into loyal, trustworthy champions.                                                Years after, I realized he taught me a huge lesson through all of this. Get a dog, any breed, and treat him with kindness. He'll return this kindness with a trust and loyalty that is second to none. This is why Ive been a dog lover all my life, and will be for the rest of my days. They are, and always will be, our best companions.

[A-Jay]

Nice Read Sean ~

Thank You for sharing this.

I think you know where I stand on this deal.

We've successfully re-homed many dogs who had previously been deemed

vicious, destructive and or flat out no good.

Some were days from being put down.

Even kept a few.

#fosterfailure

They might not be 'perfect', 

but neither am I.

A-Jay

 

[GaryH]

Great post. I too would much rather spend time with my 4 legged best friends. They give way more then you can ever return.

[NavyToad]

For some of us, the degree of our affection for dogs can’t be explained.

[gim]

I find myself enjoying the company of my dog more than the company of other people more and more lately.  The best part about being a dog owner is their unconditional love.  My 9 year old british lab has the SAME reaction every time she sees me, whether I'm gone for a week, a day, or half an hour.

 

Training is very important to me, especially for a hunting dog.  I did some of the training myself, but since I live in a suburb there is only so much I can do.  I can't fire a 12 gauge in my back yard.  So I sent her to basic gun/bird/obedience training at 5 months.  It paid off big time.  She has been a pheasant hunting machine since her second season.  The first season was a bit rocky but she figured it out about halfway through that season.  It helps that I have access to private land that often has a lot of birds.

 

I have hunted with other dogs including several pointers.  I am not a big fan of them for pheasants.  The 6 pointers I have experience with were all males that were not neutered and they were very poorly trained.  A couple of them borderline ruined the hunt because they didn't listen, roamed too far, chewed up birds, and showed aggression around other dogs, including mine.  Let's just say they weren't invited again.  Telling a pretty good friend that their dog isn't welcome on a hunt is a very difficult thing to do, but sometimes you gotta shoot a hostage.

 

I take my dog with fishing regularly.  Even though she mostly sleeps out there, she is excited to go with every time.  If only I could train her to take photos now.

[jimmyjoe]

Funny, but if you treat people the same way that you treated those dogs, you get the same results.  ?        jj

[Mobasser]

7 minutes ago, jimmyjoe said:

Funny, but if you treat people the same way that you treated those dogs, you get the same results.  ?        jj

jj, I always try and do this too. For the most it's true. I've known people that I've treated very well, and have been let down by the way they've returned my good treatment. Never the case with my dogs. They always appreciate and return the good treatment- in they're own way.

[jimmyjoe]

3 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

 I've known people that I've treated very well, and have been let down by the way they've returned my good treatment.

 

Yes, I think there's a famous instance from long ago illustrating your point.      jj

[GreenPig]

  I've owned so many great dogs. I miss all that I've lost. I thought I'd reached a point that I could train them to do just about anything. I put out 22 pallets of sod trying to train these girls with no joy. I mean they didn't lay one roll or square.