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Gentlemen. I 'm sitting home on a Friday nite. I've read all the new posts. Stuck my nose in on a couple. Looked at my living room walls. A couple of LC Smiths, a lot of Brownings, a Winchester and two couches with dogs laying on them. Then I thought, what's the most important thing on the hunt? Not the shotguns, it's those friends I have laying there putting there trust in me. The one is to young yet, but the old dog depends on me for everything. Gentlemen, we are lucky to have something that serves us, asks no questions, we can holler at them and they come and lick our hand. They will work untill they almost die, and not except anything but a bowl of food and a little shake on the back. Man are we lucky. Where can you find a friend like that? What good would all those shotguns be, without these wonderfull animals?

*Last edited by revdocdrew on Sat Feb 10, 2007 6:18 pm; edited 1 time in total*

The closing argument by George Graham Vest (later a U.S. Senator) in the 4th trial of Lon Hornsby for shooting "Old Drum", the coonhound of his brother-in-law Charles Burden, held in Warrensburg, MO on Sept. 23, 1870.
http://www.warrensburg.org/old_drum%20vc.htm

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog."
"... a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintery winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a price. When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wings and reputation fall to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death."

Old Drum was immortalized in a statue on the Johnson County Courthouse lawn in Warrensburg on September 23, 1958.

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

Amen brother! 12 and 1 1/2 tears old!

Guest

I'm currently only the "uncle" to four bird dogs, and I couldn't agree more. At a recent gathering at one of my brother's houses, I was sitting on the carpet with my back against the couch. The 12-year-old Lew was on the couch and had her head on my right shoulder, the 11-year-old golden was snuggled up to my right side, and the 2-year-old Lew was curled up in my lap. I felt like the luckiest man in the world.

Member Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 3438 Location: Illinois

It's real easy to become attached to these faithful companions-----I even took my dog along on the first date with my now current wife Wink

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

Same here Hoa!!! Shocked

And the old one pictured at left is the one she took on our first date. Mine is dead, but I have the lil tyke on the right as my new pupil. Man, is she coming along!! Our first date was actually walking our labs! Dang dog, it got the ultimate revenge in the end. Very Happy

Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 76 Location: north Texas

Jig,

From the human companion of a wonderful but decrepit 15 year-old Nova Scotia Toller, bitter tears fall on this keyboard.

xtm

Joined: 11 May 2005 Posts: 124 Location: Kansas City

My wife tells anyone who will listen that if the house caught on fire and I could only save her or my dog she would be left behind. I say untrue I would try to save you both but the dog only weights 29 pounds and I do have a bad back.

I am my Father's dog...there is almost nothing I will do to get my Dad a downed bird - I have stalked downed ducks, waited out the tide and run up, around and down the incoming tide to secure a downed bird for the man.

He does not scratch my butt and I don't lick a hand or take up space on a floor. He does not have to clean up after me nor do I make a mess behind me.

I'll eat at his table and clean the guns before I go just for the pleasure of watching him miss/hit a duck/goose. we understand each other on a level that my siblings envy - I do not take my responsibilities/privilege lightly.

He tells me stories of hunts past and of tactics almost forgotten to technology. I tell him of hunts present because he won't go; we go together when we can and share the bounty of our efforts together.

Unlike a canine, I will out live my master but will lament the hunting partner long after he's gone - I do not look forward to loosing my favorite hunting partner but revel in every outing I have with him.

I know if I go before him, he would feel my absence most on our favorite stretch of marsh - I know I will.

Oldhunter,
Amen. You are absolutely right. My brittany has in the course of her duties bird hunting, stepped into a leghold fox trap, almost tussled with two porcupines, actually did tussle with a woodchuck, and ran like hell back to me after encountering a black bear. She is absolutely fearlesss (well OK, except for black bears), and totally dedicated to finding birds for me. She won't stop even when "dog-tired" until I force her back to the truck. When she sees me getting a shotgun out of the safe, she practically tackles me and won't permit me to leave without her. Where else do you get that king of totally unselfish dedication? Oh yah, did I mention she enjoys bird hunting?

I'm lucky to have had a lifetime full of great dogs since I was a child. Currently I have a 13 yr. old black lab(Goose) still in good shape and sharp. His partner is a 9 yr. old GSP(Ned), they have been a team since Ned first hunted @ 10 months! One points , one picks up nobody infringes on the other guys job ! These two dogs will forever live in my heart. I also have 2 Britts that are almost 1 1/2 . Thier brothers named Brown and Mugs. They have been and are still being trained to hunt down a field like a zipper! They have worked on planted birds and wild birds for the first time this year. Yeah, what good would these shotguns be without dogs. Wish they lived longer. Smile

....I was dogless for nearly 15 years.....when old John, the rooster rootin yeller lab died, I just couldn't get another, I loved him so, and about that time (early 90's), I began hunting with Jeff who always has 2-3 setters goin', so I brought the guns, he brought the dogs.....but about 4 yrs back, my son, then 10 began asking for a dog.....so I finally broke down and now there is Jackie, the sweet little black lab of British extraction ( a little calmer, don't need the collar so much anymore)....this was her first season (she just turned 2)....and I had forgotten how much is left out of the equation without your own hound....she is a brush bustin' birdy little unit who actually obeys me, stays close, and is relentless until that bird takes flight....and quick to bring it to hand....I simply love her, and so does my boy.... she also loves the ducks and geese (jump shoot), but would rather be active afield after those cockbirds.....as would I....hee hee Smile

.....

Member Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 602 Location: western pa

Like the rest of you guys, I've outlived a beagle, a real springer( not the kind I see nowdays), Dad's Gordon setter,2 blacks and a yellow labrador,and now I'm on my second Chesapeake.I don't care how long it's been since they've been gone,you miss every one of them.If I can get her to hold still for a minute,I'll post a photo of the current brown dog in a little while.

Member Joined: 01 Dec 2006 Posts: 524

I have had Labs since my early 20's, I'm now 48.
For most of those years I only had one at a time.
But right now I have two. If I could do it all over again I would never have had only one at a time. I think two is the ideal number.
Not only for us humans, but also the dogs.

Each one has become a full fledged dearly loved member of my family.
As my coffee cup atates; "Please let me be the person my dogs think I am". They are the only beings totally designed for unconditional love which should NEVER be taken advantage of. Always set your dogs up for success in their training and realize that if they dont "get it" its because you need to be smarter as a trainer. Very seldom does a Labrador not learn out of sheer belligerence, although they will test you as their worthy leader. The best way to make them not question your leadership is through fair, consistent and solid leadership. My best training techniques I've learned over the years have always made the dog learn without him/her even realize they were being trained. Recently, I have developed just that in a new teechnique for directional hand signals. Its a play on the Wolter baseball technique, but puts them into motion much faster and easier.
Too bad I didnt learn it until one of those light bulb moments that just came to me in the course of training one day. Now my 1 1/2 year old can stop, turn wait for directional changes. She never failed - ever, with this new approach. I will gladly share with anyone who is in that mode with their dog.
its almost too simple. The only key is that your dog has to know first that a single whistle blast means stop and face me. Obviuosly the dog has to retrieve and have basic obedience down cold.

Finally, you also have to know the correct way in which to deliver directional signals to a learning dog, which is done with a bit of body english at first.
All this is accomplished while they are haaving fun doing what they love best, fetching. Training for me has always been as much about training myself as it has been about the dog. And, devising training methods with which you make it very difficult for the dog to fail is a big part of that.
An example of this would be playing early fetch games with your pup in a narrow hallway. Do you think that pup won't go straight out and straight back while on, or even off lead? Very simple, yet very well thought out too.
Sorry to ramble on about training. What I really mant to say in this response is that I love my Labs and couldnt imagine life without them.
Also that I will never be without a Lab or two in my life.

There at my feet as we speak, waiting for what joys and fun I may bring to them today. Both with one eye on me as they pretend to nap.
If I even flinch, both of them, even the one with cancer and a badly arthritic shoulder ravaging her body, will be up in a snap ready to go.
The 1 1/2 year old is so far the most difficult, but rewarding Lab I've had yet from a training standpoint. She is hotter than any I've ever had. The trick has been to play to her strrengths. When she's all done, I believe she will be the most magnifcent, stylish and smartest dog I have had yet.
She's also the only one in which I've had to use "the collar".

She's like a stick of dynamite. But thats what I was looking for in this particular dog. My good pal Fazio breeds for field trial stock and she fits the modern definiton to a tee. Perfect to test me and help me grow as a trainer.

Member Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 46 Location: Illinois

While in Florida this week, my breeder called me to inform me that my puppy had been born. It will be the nephew of my 10 year old GWP who is laying at my feet as I type this. The good news sure made coming back to cold Illinois a little easier to take.