Thread: What do I do?

Seriously considering a change to a different breed.... pointer, setter, versatile, different spaniel? where do I go... here is my conundrum.....

I have had the pleasure to work with hundreds of dogs over the past few years... over the past 11 years I have owned a dog that represents everything I ever wanted in a dog... the "dog of a lifetime" if you please... for a long time I enjoyed him and did believe my joy in running him harboured a huge amount of kennel blindness, as all dog owners should, or do have, I believe... I was actually a bit shocked when a dog handler who I personally rate above all others I have seen, and who has judged more spaniel trials than anyone else I know of in the last 20 years publicly rated him as the best spaniel he had seen run, the fact he passed his abilities on to progeny only cemented his position... Yes, I think the sun shines out of his arse and it's been an opinion which has been agreed upon by many people who watch him go and so I conceded and take pride in what I have been extremely bloody fortunate to walk behind him and feed him for the past 11 years... he’s been and is, my pride and joy..... But now, he's 12... He’s deaf... I can still hunt him with hand signals (regretting not teaching him a "come here" hand signal though before the old bastard went deaf....) Will never make that mistake again.

He's sired about 80 or more puppies... I never took one... dickhead is all I can say... I had a better plan... I bought the bitch I thought would produce the best cross from him and had in mind my pup I would get and it would be better than anything he had already produced... which includes FCH's and sires of FCh's...

Two attempts, no go... looks like that plan is f****d.... Sad

So, I still have the bitch, she's a delight, easy to handle, fully trained, does all I want, hits cover... but she doesn’t hunt like him.... nothing I see, other than one of his sons.. Hunts like him... his progeny hunt almost like him, but only one hunts like him....

The bitch doesn’t... I like her a lot but she isn’t him, she doesn’t hunt as hard as him and I want to walk behind another one like him... a dog that puts chills up my spine, has me shitting myself he's gonna kill himself in the pursuit of game and come up trumps... It's hard to describe if you haven’t had it, but I don’t want the rest of my gundog life to be a nonstop walk saying to myself... "I wish he'd hunt like Brick"... guess that's being a dickhead and being ungrateful I had “him” to start with... talked it over with the Mrs tonight... she couldn’t help much... she just said “You’ll never rate another one above him, just be glad you had him”... Total logic, but I’m not ready to run dogs against a benchmark they can’t meet. I need, really need to have another one like him, one that makes me sweat and worry and then take pride in his abilities when he shows it to whoever is watching.
So where do I go... he’s a lot of what gave me the chance to be a pro trainer... pro-trainer? Funny old term to some... like the gutless wonder who mouthed off about me at the hunt tests yesterday... has had a dozen chances to say that shit to my face but took the option of doing it when I wasn’t there... Glad a couple of people who have seen my dogs, my results and what I do put him straight... but I’ll offer him this... YOU WILL see me at a trial again, YOU WILL see me face to face, YOU WILL have the chance to say it right to me... But I wouldn’t bother... I’ve seen your dog run, it’s nothing much, has done nothing much, isn’t well trained... you haven’t come close to what I have achieved and you are gutless.... ... grow a pair and learn to say things to people’s faces. I did my first pigeon trial in 1986 and my first live game trial in 1989... You might have missed some of my better runs... I think I have seen all of your runs and none of them were better than much. Gutless people talk behind peoples backs... have some balls and say it to my face... I really won’t give a shit, you don’t warrant enough of my respect to care, but at least you’ll have shown some spine... right now just a gutless loudmouth with nothing to back his opinion... Take your pick of which one of my dogs you want to run that thing of yours against... I’ll get in an independent judge and see how it goes for you... Pratt! , talking it up behind my back... GUTLESS! Grow a pair!
So, what do I do... I am thinking within the next couple of years we’ll put old Brick to rest under the tree we’ve chosen on his favourite drive on Equine Estate... that’ll leave me with the wee girl, I think she’s sweet, but maybe she’ll do better with someone else.... so do I try to find another springer like the old boy, try a cocker, a pointer, setter, versatile, am I old enough for a Labrador... what do I do... maybe it’s time to just be glad of everything gundogs have done for me and to walk quietly away to enjoy other things... I don’t know... thoughts?