I remember..it was a warm Saturday afternoon in September, 1964 when Dad came home with a beautiful, liver/roan male Gsp. "Fritz" was 18 months old at the time and man, what a looker! He had a large frame, with gorgeous confirmation, and a gait that was soothing to the eye. Dad said he was out of "field Trial stock" and if he panned out, he would add a little more run to our line.
After working with Fritz in the yard for a couple weeks to become familar, Dad decided it was time to take him out for a run on some chuks. We headed out to our favorite spot and dropped the tailgate about 8:am and off we went! Fritz lit out with after burners aglow and we soon realized, we were dogless! We searched each and every side canyon until about 1:30 and then, without warning, Fritz came racing past us! Once again, he was gone in a flash!! Dad was cussin' like I'd never heard before (and he cussed a lot). Sometime later in the afternoon, we found Fritz locked up on point in a shallow bowl. I have no idea how long he'd had 'em pinned, but I believe to this day he was sleeping on his feet when we arrived! By now, Dad was so pissed, he couldn't focus on the job at hand. When the covey flushed, nearly 30 birds sailed away across the canyon completely unscathed! And this..from a "500 straight", trap shootin' fool! Took us another two hours to round Fritz up and we called it a day!
From that day on, we'd hunt Fritz in tandem with a 3-year old female we had named Babe. She was a close workin' (German bred) gal and she was as reliable as night and day! Every hunt from then on would go somethin' like this; we'd drop the tailgate, Fritz would rocket outta there, and we'd have a nice morning hunt with Babe! Later in the day, we'd come across Fritz "on point" and we'd get a chance to drop one er two for him! It seemed to work for us, well not really but, Dad had paid too much for Fritz to admit "he was a good fer nothin' runaway"!
Nearly every hunt with Fritz ended with Dad cussin, shootin' in the air trying to get Fritz to come back to the truck, and then us drivin' off slow for a distance down the dirt road until Dad spotted Fritz in the rear view mirror. He'd be runnin' for all he was worth trying to catch up! I loved that dog!
Rick
Please add your stories of "Old Dogs YOU Have Known".
Old Dogs I Have Known
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
When I was a child we had a Chessie called Brownie.
Great dog , except he almost drowned me twice.
He had a habit of bumping you on purpose as he went by.
He knocked me off the pier at Port Stanley one day. Almost the end of me.
He was my older brother's dog.
When my brother turned 18 he joined the RCMP. which took him away.
That dog would lie at the end of the lane way for hours every day , looking for my brother.
We found him dead one day - at the end of the laneway.
Great dog , except he almost drowned me twice.
He had a habit of bumping you on purpose as he went by.
He knocked me off the pier at Port Stanley one day. Almost the end of me.
He was my older brother's dog.
When my brother turned 18 he joined the RCMP. which took him away.
That dog would lie at the end of the lane way for hours every day , looking for my brother.
We found him dead one day - at the end of the laneway.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Maybe I can tell you about that one amazing bitch - Ferpie
This was in around 1954.
The bitch was kept in the back half of the wooden garage. A wooden divider and a wooden door made up her kennel bed with an exit to a gravel run.
I kept a dozen rabbits in a hutch back in the far end of our property. ( I was about eight).
One morning I jumped out of bed and ran outside to see if the pups had come.
What a shock!! All the pups were dead and they were covered in dead rabbits.
My dad had forgotten to put on the heat lamp. The bitch had chewed through the wooden door , killed my rabbits and put them on her pups to try and keep them warm.
Hard to believe but absolute truth.
Talk about a Mother's love...........
That was the only time I ever saw my Dad cry over a dog and over his mistake i guess.
This was in around 1954.
The bitch was kept in the back half of the wooden garage. A wooden divider and a wooden door made up her kennel bed with an exit to a gravel run.
I kept a dozen rabbits in a hutch back in the far end of our property. ( I was about eight).
One morning I jumped out of bed and ran outside to see if the pups had come.
What a shock!! All the pups were dead and they were covered in dead rabbits.
My dad had forgotten to put on the heat lamp. The bitch had chewed through the wooden door , killed my rabbits and put them on her pups to try and keep them warm.
Hard to believe but absolute truth.
Talk about a Mother's love...........
That was the only time I ever saw my Dad cry over a dog and over his mistake i guess.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
It was "Deer Hunt" 1971. My Step Dad's family had gathered down in Flat Canyon (Central Ut) for the annual week long hunt. Opening day saw 4 nice bucks taken down low in the Juniper covered foothills just above the alfalfa fields. Yes, it was going to be a memorable hunt for sure!
About 4:pm the second day, my Uncle returned to the main camp to tell us he'd made a poor shot on a nice buck about 3 miles back in Timber Canyon. We all gathered our gear (including flashlights) and headed up the canyon. "Stump" tagged along as he always did. Stump was an eight year old, three legged Border Collie. He was well known in our group for his trackin' ability and he rarely came up empty when he set his nose to the track. We hiked for an hour and a half to reach the spot my uncle said he'd taken the shot. We found very little blood but, that didn't seem to matter much to Stump! He headed up a draw in a hurray and we thought the search would be over quickly. Well, we lost track of Stump when darkness set in and after searching two hours in dark to no avail, we headed back to camp. Well, all except ol' Stump!
The next morning at the first hint of light, we were awakened by the soft barking of our friend ol' Stump. Some of us got up and dressed, still exhausted from the search the night before. Stump was showing a lot of anxiety so "unc" said we needed to follow him! We did and about two hours later, Stump delivered us right to a beautiful typical four point buck! The buck was still warm and had made it's way half way down the canyon towards our camp. To this day, we believe ol' Stump rounded that critter up in the night and drove him back towards camp as far as the animal could go before dropping dead! Atta boy Stump!!
About 4:pm the second day, my Uncle returned to the main camp to tell us he'd made a poor shot on a nice buck about 3 miles back in Timber Canyon. We all gathered our gear (including flashlights) and headed up the canyon. "Stump" tagged along as he always did. Stump was an eight year old, three legged Border Collie. He was well known in our group for his trackin' ability and he rarely came up empty when he set his nose to the track. We hiked for an hour and a half to reach the spot my uncle said he'd taken the shot. We found very little blood but, that didn't seem to matter much to Stump! He headed up a draw in a hurray and we thought the search would be over quickly. Well, we lost track of Stump when darkness set in and after searching two hours in dark to no avail, we headed back to camp. Well, all except ol' Stump!
The next morning at the first hint of light, we were awakened by the soft barking of our friend ol' Stump. Some of us got up and dressed, still exhausted from the search the night before. Stump was showing a lot of anxiety so "unc" said we needed to follow him! We did and about two hours later, Stump delivered us right to a beautiful typical four point buck! The buck was still warm and had made it's way half way down the canyon towards our camp. To this day, we believe ol' Stump rounded that critter up in the night and drove him back towards camp as far as the animal could go before dropping dead! Atta boy Stump!!
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Wow. What a story.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Wow! She sure tried..didn't she!Sharon wrote:Maybe I can tell you about that one amazing bitch - Ferpie
This was in around 1954.
The bitch was kept in the back half of the wooden garage. A wooden divider and a wooden door made up her kennel bed with an exit to a gravel run.
I kept a dozen rabbits in a hutch back in the far end of our property. ( I was about eight).
One morning I jumped out of bed and ran outside to see if the pups had come.
What a shock!! All the pups were dead and they were covered in dead rabbits.
My dad had forgotten to put on the heat lamp. The bitch had chewed through the wooden door , killed my rabbits and put them on her pups to try and keep them warm.
Hard to believe but absolute truth.
Talk about a Mother's love...........
That was the only time I ever saw my Dad cry over a dog and over his mistake i guess.
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Whew!!!! That sounds alot like the first time we hunted our Fritz!!!! Wonder if it is the name 
brenda
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
HA! Could be!snips wrote:Whew!!!! That sounds alot like the first time we hunted our Fritz!!!! Wonder if it is the name
Brenda, that dog in your avatar pic sure has the old Moesgarrd look. What are the lines?
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Thats too funny 
Could be a whole new thread! The dog in my Avatar is a Wire:) See the fuzz?
Could be a whole new thread! The dog in my Avatar is a Wire:) See the fuzz?brenda
Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Nope, didn't see the fuzz! Goin' in for cataract surgery in the mornin'.snips wrote:Thats too funny
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Re: Old Dogs I Have Known
Howie, finding the dog curled up in it's sleeping spot; it doesn't get any better than that. I hope that if I try to live right, I will get the same ending for my pup.
Really enjoyed reading all the stories.
Cary
Really enjoyed reading all the stories.
Cary