Posts from — May 2008

Tonight I’m keeping it short but thought I’d share something very common to us Brittanys owners.  That is they will point the darndest things.

Sarah sleeps at my side every night and by day she points and attempts to retrieve the following: frogs, lizzards, crawling bugs, flying insects, squirrels, rabbits, various tweeties, mourning dove, released pen raised game birds / pigeons, mice, etc.

Sarah destroyed my new chain saw storage box this past weekend.  Why?  Because she saw a mouse run into it (it was out in the yard where I left it which was my fault) and was trying to get it out!  She dragged, chewed, barked and everything else she could do to evict the poor mouse.  I am convinced the mouse died of a heart attack and couldn’t leave if it wanted to!  My wife allowed this as if it was entertainment, now we no longer have a functional chain saw storage box.

Oh, did I mention she loves to hunt upland game and does it properly?  She only gets to do that a few months per year so in the off-season, you can find her about the farm terrorizing critters breaking all the ‘real’ pointing dog rules. 

Her frantic activity searching for critters in the summer is interspersed with moments of splashing and cooling herself in what we have dubbed the ‘galvanized pond’ (a throwback to the Beverly Hillbillies referral to the pool as the ‘cement pond’).  

I have a large 6 foot round galvanized stock waterer that we keep filled with clean water and a chlorine pool float.  Yes, a pool float.  The dogs jump in and out of their pool so much that I feel it necessary to keep bacteria at bay.  The pool is strictly for the Brittanys.  The dogs love it!  It also doubles as a way to rinse stuff off of your dogs coat.  When they come out, they smell like pool water! 

Our horses have their own stock water tank though Sarah often visits it too.   I’m not quite sure what the horses think of that.  I think it must be a real inconvenience for the horses when she hops into their tank while they are trying to water!

Give your dog a treat for me and when you pat ‘em on the head, tell ‘em “Dave says good dog!”

The ‘addiciton’ I ask about is that which pertains to Bird hunting and Brittanys (or any breed bird dog).  What causes us to be so avid about bird hunting with our canine partner?  What drives us to go afield on cold blustery days then want our partner to join us fireside?

What causes grown men and women to devote so many hours to pursuing birds?  Is it really about the birds?  (speaking of folks who hunt birds with bird dogs).   Many bird hunters speak of hunting with deep conviction.  I know these folks and speak to hundreds of them every year.  They are truly excited about pursuing upland birds.

Tall stories are told about ‘the greatest hunt’ and the toughest species to ever hunt with a simple two holer and dog.  It is quite easy to listen and become enthralled by terrific stories of upland adventures.  But on closer inspection, there is a common thread woven into the very fabric of each and every story told…

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