Eleven years. That’s a long time to be without a hunting dog. Eleven years is also how long Teeko, a husky-look-alike mixed breed from uncertain progeny, has been with us. He was the perfect hiking and backpacking companion, never straying too far, friendly towards people and other dogs, and, a very commendable trait, alert during long, dark nights. His low growl when some, mostly unsuspecting animal approached camp would raise me from the dead, and there is a story about a night spent in prime grizzly country, a 3AM growl and a porcupine that I have to tell one day.
But he is not a hunting dog. He stumbles across the odd covey of huns, and I have seen him walk into the wind to flush them, but generally he is more interested in sundry other sights and sounds and smells. In his younger years he also refused to swim, which is inconvenient when hunting waterfowl, and despite trying, I could never interest him in retrieving anything, not even a stick.
These days, a knee problem has him hobbling behind me on ever shortening walks. Hopefully medication and a knee brace will keep him mobile for a bit longer.
Through some unforeseen circumstances, we ended up adopting another mixed breed dog. Hailing from a village some 250 miles North of Yellowknife, the first two years of his life will remain a mystery. We melted when we saw him. If ever there was a dog in need of a home, he was it. He has also flushed some birds, but like Teeko he does not seem particularly fond of water. He’ll run with me all day, and curl up beside me all evening, but a hunting dog he is not.
Eleven years is a long time to be without a hunting dog indeed; but I won’t be much longer. It’s just not the same, upland hunting or waterfowling, without a dog. You can find a bird, but you’ll walk past a whole many more. And even with a canoe or boat, and judiciously picking your shots, ducks will end up where they can’t be retrieved without swimming (which I have done), or they will fall where finding them is neigh impossible. The urge became too strong to ignore, and after a partridge, at my shot, fell into deep snow, and the dog on duty proved gun shy and refused further cooperation, it was clear that it was time. It was only a matter of selecting a breed, and finding a breeder.