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I got out this weekend and went pheasant hunting. For the past 9 years I have had the utter enjoyment of hunting with a great little yellow lab. This year however will be her last.
After taking her out for only two hours in the evening on Saturday and watching her suffer immensely (arthritis and a torn muscle) while hunting her heart out I decided that there was no use in forcing her to hunt for me anymore. Although I was elated that we were able to get up several pheasants.
I tried to help my wife understand the loss but she can't. I don't want to ask for any sympathy from you guys all I want is to hear about your great dogs if you will read about mine. You have to have loved a dog to understand the loss of as great of a hunting partner as she's been.
I got her in 94 and she was the runt of the litter. Not one of the other 11 pups in the litter was ever ammounted to anything hunting wise. She lacked the inbred ability to hunt that some labs have, but she made up for it with desire. I have watched her work out hundreds of pheasant trails with her nose to the ground and her tail going a hundred miles per hour. She learned to be patient and knew if she kept at it she would find the bird. On saturday she was in her finest form even though she would walk at my heels until she scented a bird. She worked out 7 trails and flushed 15 birds in just over an hour on Saturday night.
Last year she flushed 9 roosters out of the thickest overgrown area I've ever hunted this was after 5 other guys with dogs had just gone through the same cover. She loved to do it and knew that the hunts were getting close. She would sit by the gate and whine every day for a week before the pheasant hunt started. Aren't dogs the best.
I took her fishing several times but she loved the water too much and she always thought we were playing fetch when I was casting. I only took her tubing once and she thought that she needed to be in the tube with me almost causing me to tip. I will still love those ruined trips. Although she was a great ice fishing partner.
I only hope that I can replace her with another great dog but not until she's gone it would be unfair to her. Now if you'll share about your favorite dog I think that will be a good tribute to our best friends.
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I've got a 7.5 year old chocolate lab, my son took him out hunting yesterday and he came back limping. I knew it was going to happen because that is one of the problems that labs have but I was hoping it would take a few more years. He is an outside dog and when I put him in his pen he keep whimpering and I could tell he was in pain. Not only was his hip bothering him but a few weeks ago his pen mate died and he is lonely. So I brought him in for the night, my wife did not like that much but whats a guy to do. I know I'll get another dog!!!! It sure is hard when they pass on but they sure are fun when they are pups. I have just the opposite opinion about getting a new dog before the old one is gone, I think the pups can learn a lot from the older guys and I think they will help in the training as well. Just my opinion though. WH2
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Earlier this year i adopted a mini dauschund to be a indoor house mate for me and he has turned out to be the best dog i have ever had. he only likes me he really wont let anybody elso touch him but he is starting to tollerate my gf, when i adopted him i was told that he was taken from a puppy mill just outside of nephi and when they got him he was almost bald. i think i have been the first to be a real friend to him i think in the puppy mill he was abused bad and thats why he is so scared of people, i was the first to give him a treat that was a peice of a hot dog kinda ironic because his name is frank and he loves to play. sometimes i have a hard time believing that such a kind and loving dog could have been brought up like that and still be as nice as he is, he will never bite any one. but thats enough about my dog lets hear about some of the other members dogs.
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I posted some pics of my little girl, I hope you all saw them. Even though I got her for my wife's birthday she can't get enough of me. I've trained her from day one. She's only six months old and already behaves quite well (except when someone new comes around, she goes nuts!). I'm working on the stay command so that when she comes fishing with me she won't ruin the fishing. She loves the water, got in all by herself at about 12 weeks. She loves to go hiking and won't wonder off far at all. I wish I hunted because she could be one heck of a hunter and I know she'd love it. I'm looking forward to some great years with her and I hope the lab joints don't kick in too early. She's my first dog, and I could never imagine how someone could get attatched to a dog as much as I am.
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[cool]I have long believed that dogs are better people than humans. I have never known a human to give such total love and devotion as the average dog...without expecting anything but the same in return.
I come from a large family and we are all "puppy people"...as TubeBabe likes to put it. Over the years we have all had our stories of adorable dogs who lived out their alloted years and left us in tears at their passing. I don't think any true human can graduate from life without having had and lost a special furry friend. Some folks handle it better than others, but if you are not affected when you have to say goodbye to your canine buddy, then you are not qualified to own a dog.
Our longest lasting "association" was a ginger cocker named "Hey You". She loved to travel and loved to flop in the water whenever we hit Strawberry...especially on a hot summer day. She was an excellent beggar and knew how to count the folks leaving the table...and who was the easiest touch for leftovers and handouts. At the advanced age of 18 1/2, everything started falling apart at once. The decision was hard, but necessary. Grandma paid for a spot in the pet cemetery, with a nice headstone. Not sure whether that made it easier or harder on the kids. But, several months later, in a newspaper piece on pet cemeteries, there was a picture of that headstone..."HEY YOU".
Here's something I thought some of you might enjoy:
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 4]GOD AND DOG[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3]On the first day of creation, God created the dog.
On the second day, God created man to serve the dog.
On the third day, God created all the animals of the earth
(especially the horse) to serve as potential food for the dog.
On the fourth day, God created honest toil so that man [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3]could labor for the good of the dog.
On the fifth day, God created the tennis ball so that the dog [/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]might or might not retrieve it.
On the sixth day, God created veterinary science [/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]…to keep the dog healthy and the man broke.
On the seventh day, God wanted to rest[/blue][/size][/font]
[blue][size 3]…but He had to walk the dog.
[/size][/blue]
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Brings back memories of my last 2 labs. I plan on getting another when I move into a place I can keep one.
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As always you bring a  to my face when you write you are truely gifted.
I am the proud owner of three dogs, One Aaustralian Shepard/Border Collie mix named "Cheyenne" my wife and I spent 1 year traing for search and rescue only to bail out just before certifying because of the time limitations on family.
And two Dashounds
"Hoggle" who is an incurable treat hound and coffee buff, and who is almost as big around as he is long,
and "Tinker" who is the lover of the family, an undenyable lap dog who will sneek into your lap without you knowing until its all too late. She too is an uncurable treat hound.
Our dogs are precious to us and the the two dashounds replaced the one we lost to a brain tumor 3 years ago after being our friend for 14 years.
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maraboujigs,
I'm with you guy!!!!!!!!!!! I know the hurt!!!!!!!!!!!! I lost my best friend and companion a couple of months ago and still can't talk about it very well so I'll just offer my posts "For Bud's friends" last post 9/18 (his picture is there) and "Jordanelle without Bud" last post 9/19. I've got a new pup (Sparky) now which helps with the healing. I still miss Bud terribly.
I will offer this. That dog of yours wants more than anything, and I mean anything, for you to be happy and if he could talk would say - get a pup and maybe I could help a little with the training and how to show you love!!!!!!!!!!!! Hey boss, I can still go fishing and ruin your fishing day - how about it? Swimming is good for my aches and pains!!!!
[  ][ ]Leaky
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A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the
scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He
remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for
years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of
the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was
broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing
before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like
mother
of pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.
He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a
man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out,
"Excuse me, where are we?"
"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.
"Wow! Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.
"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought
right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open.
"Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler
asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and
continued the way he had been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came
to
a dirt road which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had
never
been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a
man
inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.
"Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there". The man pointed to a place
that
couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in."
"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to the dog.
"There should be a bowl by the pump." They went through the gate, and
sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside
it.
The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then he
gave
some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was
standing by the tree waiting for them.
"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.
"This is Heaven," was the answer.
"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road
said
that was Heaven, too."
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope.
That's Hell."
"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"
"No. I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they
screen out the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."
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