Dog-Gone

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270 – February, 2025

By Chris Robinson

It’s a decision virtually every dog owner has to make at some time because, sadly, a dog’s life span is roughly a decade of a human’s. The only fault dogs have is that their lives are too short, way too short when you have a really good one.

I’ve been fortunate to have several good ones along with a few that were not so good including one we called “Valley Boy” because he was such a flake when we weren’t calling him “Bonehead.” Even more exasperating, he was the son of arguably two of the best dogs in the breed at the time proving, once again, that genetics is an art, not a science. He could do such spectacular work, it would take your breath away; then turn around and fail to make a retrieve that a six-month-old puppy could handle with ease. He was an enigma that I and a few professional trainers could never solve.

But, among the really good ones I’ve owned, some have been better waterfowl dogs than Bo while others have been better upland dogs. None, however, have been nearly as proficient at both while also being the perfect pet dog as was Bo. And, in the slightly more than ten years we were partners, he influenced my life in ways not very many humans have done. Still, when the time came to end our partnership, even though I knew it was the right thing to do, I couldn’t ask him if it really was the right thing to do.

Click here to read the complete article
270 – February, 2025

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