Long Days Hunt

Birddogs like these English Setters played a great part in my life when I was young. My dad always trained dogs and quail and pheasent hunting was something we enjoyed doing together. The problem with having dogs like this , they take a lot of work and that work fell on me. The kennels had to be cleaned everyday, the dogs exercized everyday and food and water chores as well. Our dogs truly had the life. They were fed the best food, they lived in heated dog houses, they got frequent baths and they got to hunt. If you have never been around hunting dogs you don't realize that the hunt is what they live for. They would skip meals and water to hunt. It's bred into each and everyone of them and it truly is a thing of beauty. My dad had a dog named "Lou" that was his pride and joy. They would spend their whole day working on retrieving and pointing and honoring other dogs. She lived for the joy of making him happy. I fed and cleaned and exercised her all week, but she was his dog and his alone. She would glow like a light bulb when he was around. When she died we never had another bird dog. I think the loss was just too much for him to handle and he never wanted to have that experience again. I don't hunt since my dad is gone. I think that the time we spent together on our trips was special and I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else. Hope you enjoy the painting and we will be back tomorrow with another post!