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Category: Bird Dogs

Drummer in the Woods (in Virginia)

Drummer in the Woods (in Virginia)

Where have I been? Where to begin? It has been a very busy year. As I summarized in my Christmas letter, “Maddie returned from a year abroad working at Lego’s headquarters in Denmark in February; she took her dog Cabot (that we had dog-sat for 8 ½ years) in March; we lost old Cal in March; Maddie and her boyfriend Pat got engaged in August; we sold a house in Vermont in September; Karen and I were reunited and we…

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Saying Goodbye…Saying Hello

Saying Goodbye…Saying Hello

With the painful loss of a dog comes a fuller and more complete appreciation of the gift of companionship that you had. A couple weeks ago I made the difficult decision to put down our Brittany, Cal. Cal had just turned 16 and was failing. Despite his age and health problems, I still felt the part of Judas. Mostly blind and deaf, Cal came obediently over to the car door so I could lift him up to drive him to…

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Bird Dogs are more expensive than planned, Part 3 of 3

Bird Dogs are more expensive than planned, Part 3 of 3

Burdock was gone and my fragile marriage was restored. Since I had gotten rid of the new puppy, I asked Karen if she going to return her new shoes? To paraphrase, her response was, “no!” The Cold War was over, but was I happy? I really enjoyed Burdock and I was now bird dog-less. How could I ever grow up to have an outdoor blog without having a bird dog of my own? What to do? They say that money…

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Bird Dogs are more expensive than planned, Part 2 of 3

Bird Dogs are more expensive than planned, Part 2 of 3

Katie and me riding in the car… Katie:  “Daddy, we thought that Mommy would be really happy with the puppy, but she wasn’t.  She was really mad.  But it isn’t my fault right?  Because I’m just a kid.  You’re big and you should have known better.  Right?” Me:  “That’s right honey.  It is Daddy’s fault.  He should have known better.” Burdock was a good puppy.  He was very sweet and easy to house train.  I took a week or so…

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Bird Dogs are more expensive than planned, Part 1 of 3

Bird Dogs are more expensive than planned, Part 1 of 3

Back in our days in Virginia, when I was just a budding sportsman wannabe, I had a dream of having my own bird dog. I researched breeds and research breeders.  Occasionally, the anticipation of an event ends up being far different than the eventual reality of it. This is especially true if you don’t share your puppy plans with your wife.  Trust me; this I know. First, some background. My wife Karen had decided that she’d like to leave work…

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