Gundogs And Snakes
When it comes to gundogs and snakes, know your enemy and be prepared. For many of us, September means the first hunting of the season: doves, teal, prairie grouse. September also means warm if not downright hot weather—and the need to be aware of the health risks...
The Art of Pointers and Flushers
The wind shifted overnight, and those northerlies sure cut yesterday’s highs in half. Replacing the hazy hot and humid was dog running weather; mid 40-degree highs, moderate humidity and a consistent, light-variable breeze. Carried on the wind was more than scent, and...
When the Hounds Bark Treed
“They’re treed! Let’s go, let’s go, lets go!” shouted my dad while taking off at a fast trot. I did my best to follow. My six-year-old legs were not long enough to equal my Dad’s stride, but I followed as best I could at a near all-out run. Soon, Dad was a hundred...
Call to Glory
They mended our imagination. The most astounding canine players ever to grace the century-and-a-quarter theater of American pointing dog trials. Can we help but suppose which was best? Sioux, La Besita, Palamonium. Luminary, Red Water Rex, Native Tango. Toe the...
Shadow the Wonder Pony
Shadow is living proof that a pedigree is just a piece of paper, and that there’s ultimately no substitute for heart, guts and desire.
Old Dog
The light in the old dog’s eyes fell, and he dropped loosely back from the gate of the kennel run. He had reared . . . trembling . . . begging with all the equity of his years . . . hoping against hope to go. But the man he adored most in the world had offered only a...
Patsy & the Princes: A Classic Story by Archibald Rutledge
The daughter of Carolina Frank is a princess by right. I became Patsy’s when she was only four weeks old, and she already showed her blue blood and all it means in a pointer pup. Sensitive, patrician and affectionate, she was not happy unless she could curl up...
In the Field Trial Kingdom, Labs Rule
The Labrador retriever’s distinctions are many. If there’s one arena in which the Lab is utterly and incontrovertibly dominant, it’s retriever field trials. The most popular purebred dog in America; the most popular gundog, too: the Labrador retriever’s distinctions...