#puppyporn
By Bruce Ross, Executive Director bruceross@wi.rr.com
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s December, 2020 Newsletter edition.
It happened kinda sudden.
This spring we put down Tar, my very first Labrador, in her 13th year. Then, during the first week of the regular season, her 10-year-old half-sister, Callie, blew out a knee ligament. That ended her season, and for other health reasons, probably her career. The shadows of these sudden losses darkened my favorite time of year and were just one more aspect of a year I bet we’re all anxious to put in the rear-view mirror.
Calypso (Callie) with the results of her very last retrieves
Salty Ole Tar
You may remember that last month’s issue featured an article from Dr. K.C . Brooks on “The Importance of a Dog”. Brooks’ life changed after getting his first hunting dog – realizing that “I enjoyed my dog’s retrieves more than decoy set up, shooting prowess, or lack thereof, or my daily bag.” This rings true for many of us.
Ted
With that in mind, last week Pam and I began the hunt for our next canine buddy in earnest. Shorthairs have owned me before, and while I ‘m pretty sure I’ve made the switch to labs for good, the idea of a pointing lab intrigued me.
I was referred to Justin VanDeHey at Cooperstown Kennels, and we sorta fell for one of his stud dogs, “Ted”. Ted looks great and has a preeminent accomplishment record in the field. And it didn’t hurt that “Splendid Splinter” is part of Ted’s official AKC name – which is the name I gave to the duck skiff I built a few years ago, and which I still use today[1].
Justin had no pups immediately available. Like hunting and fishing licenses, and all things outdoors, COVID seems to be good for dog sales and manufacturing a pup has its own timeline. But Justin was able to make some recommendations of litters sired by Teddy that might still be available. A series of peculiar circumstances gave me some options, and I had our pup in our house the very next day! A fine pointing dam – Star– of Black Partridge Kennels had whelped my new buddy 7-1/2 weeks ago, who was now ready for a new home.
The pup arrived four days ago, but since it happened so quickly, Pam and I were at loggerheads over naming rights. As a result, the pup went several days as “A Dog has No Name” [You probably have to be a fan of Game of Thrones to get it.] [2]
Pam with an unusually subdued Tack.
Pam has finally relented to my preferred name, “Tack”. As a long-time sailor, my dogs’ names have nautical connections. Here, tack is the term for when a sailboat changes course by putting its nose (that is, the sailboat’s bow) through the wind which, to me, completely captures the movement of a dog coming into a scent cone. Perfect, right? I don’t get what took Pam so long to see it.
So now begins the journey of cultivating Tack’s potential. I hope I don’t screw it up.
Expect to read stories of Tack’s adventures in future issues of this newsletter.
[1] Justin’s kennel name – Cooperstown – is a clue to how he names his dogs. The AKC name of Ted is Cooperstown Splendid Splinter… Baseball Hall of Famer Ted William’s nickname.
[2] My son Ian suggested “Valar Dogaeris”.