This post will obviously bring about different feelings from those who know all too well what it is that I will be writing about. These are the days when having good bird dogs loses much of it's luster. It is the day we OWE to our friend, our partner, our pet.
It dawned on me the other day as I told someone that I soon had to say goodbye to my girl of 15 plus years, that it was O. K., "she's just a dog".
At first, I was a little offended, I mean come on, give a little compassion here. I just smiled and agreed and carried on my way... Thinking the whole time, "it's just a dog".
Hmmm, just a dog.
The mom to 4 litters of pups with owners that cannot believe the gift they were given. Yep! 37 happy families. Could of easily been 10x that. She sure gave the world good pets, great friends and fabulous hunting partners... yep! Just a dog...
She was my son's best friend growing up. We had acreage and friends needed to be shipped in for play time. But Breeze was always available to play with Hunter. A couple hours in the sand box... a little time running under the sprinkler, sharing lunches outside, sleeping on the front porch for hours while Hunter napped waiting patiently for him to come back out... yep! Just a dog...
She stepped up in a big way at 5 years old to be my lead 'go to' dog after having to put 2 titled kennel mates down in the previous 2 years. I gave her little credit for her hunting abilities as my other dogs were incredible... well she showed me what 5 years of pent up desire looks like. Her waterfowl skills were superb on her first real day out hunting. She laid on a floating bog for 2 straight days and completed some amazing retrieves. Her upland skills while utilized minimally in the past, came through like a polished all-pro... and I never had to use a collar or correct her. She knew what it was that made me happy... yep! Just a dog....
She so eloquently slipped into old-age. Still hunting at 12
