Sailor Overboard!

An afternoon of bliss with my new boy, Sailor. Tap on the first image and enjoy the slide show. Thanks to Tim – The Forester Artist – for the great shots.

Living Bliss

There is no greater bliss than live one’s purpose.

retriever, hunting, duck hunt, golden retriever

Blitz displays style, drive, steadiness and pinpoint accuracy to start the day.

Our retrievers are working retrievers. They are descendants of generations of canine companions that hunt with their human counterparts. When harvesting upland game or waterfowl, a working retriever is essential. Often, game lands in an area inaccessible to the human hunter. Enter the well-trained retriever to recover dinner.

The ultimate test for a working retriever is to work in a real time hunt and retrieve dinner for its family. There is a process to test these working dogs to a standard established to determine their readiness as a hunting companion.

In these tests, the retriever’s natural abilities and trained abilities are judged.

Natural abilities: marking and memory, intelligence, attention, nose, courage, perseverance and style.

Trained abilities: steadiness, control, response to direction, and delivery.

 Here are some snapshots of Tim, The Forester Artist, with the girls yesterday. It was a very difficult test. Twenty-eight dogs entered, twenty-one competed, only eight qualified.

Congratulations to Blitz on her first Senior Hunter qualifier.

retriever, hunting, golden retriever, hunt test

Blitz, a working golden retriever, shows nice style on her water retrieves.

blind retrieve, pheasant hunting, upland game, golden retriever

Blind retrieve: the retriever does not know where the bird is. The handler must guide the retriever with whistle and voice command.

blind retrieve, bird hunting, duck, pheasant

Teka shows speed and style on her blind.

duck hunting, waterfowl hunting, retriever, working retriever

Teka completes her land series.

working retriever

Teka is fast, that is because she spends more time in the air than most dogs.

marking retriever, duck hunt

Teka on the return with her first water mark.

Teka greets Kathleen, one of her people who came to watch her at the event. Teka properly loved up both Doug and Kathleen.

Teka greets Kathleen, one of her people who came to watch her at the event. Teka properly loved up both Doug and Kathleen.

akc rossette, hunting test, retrievers, senior hunter

Tim, The Forester Artist, with Blitz and Teka.

Good-bye Tom-dog

Golden Bo Thomas SH WCX“Our animals shepherd us through certain eras of our lives. When we are ready to turn the corner and make it our own…they let us go.” Author Unknown

Tom dog came home to a young 11 year old boy. Now 26, Tom's "boy" misses him the most.

Tom dog came home to a young 11 year old boy. Now 26, Tom’s “boy” misses him the most.

We knew this day was coming. The average lifespan of a retriever is 10 years. Tom-dog was 14 years, 8 months when we said good-bye today.

He came home to our youngest son many years ago and was the grand-pup of our first retriever. In the learning hands of a growing boy he was trained into an outstanding hunter and companion.

Stephen and Tom with Tim and Blaze following successful Senior Hunter Qualifiers.

Stephen and Tom with Tim and Blaze following successful Senior Hunter Qualifiers.

When his boy grew to manhood, left for college, got married and started his family, Tom stayed with us.  In the years that have followed, this magnificent family member has been greeted by 3 rowdy grandkids that he loved dearly.
Tom-dog always loved kids. It is only fitting that Tom-dog’s grand-pup, Jake, now resides with Tom-dog’s first person and family.

Tom dog (R) walks with Grandthing 3 and Jake (L) Jake is Tom dog's grand-pup.

Tom dog (R) walks with GrandThing 3 and Jake (L) Jake is Tom dog’s grand-pup.