So my DH has been arguing with me for the last month about getting a bird dog for our family. This started after I took our Australian Shephard, Brooks, to the vet for his yearly checkup and to look at his back knee that we have already had to repair (to a tune of $1500). The vet has commented that Brooks may be needing a playmate because he is getting very bored in our backyard and becoming destructive. With me supposedly staying home from work this year, we thought that I would have more time to spend with Brooks, thus stopping his bad behavior, but it turns out that I am spending more time driving, then at home.
Thus my husband's obsessive-compulsive nature kicked in. With hunting season upon us, both for deer and birds, he was bound and determined that what our family needed was another over-active dog to add to our family. He justified it (to himself, basically), that the bird dog would have the energy for Brooks, plus as a "bonus" Jeff and Jarod could go walk the fields on the land that we have leased, or head to the preserve in Tecumseh for "exercise and bonding time" for all of them. Yeah - right. I really see my 5-year-old son walking for hours with my husband as he runs the dog in the field trying to kick up some birds to shoot. Then again, Jarod is just as obsessive-compulsive as his dad and loves watching hunting on TV, so he may really love it.
As an agreement, Jeff worked extra jobs on the side to earn the money for the dog. There was no way I would be budgeting that expense in. He earned his money and off we went yesterday for a day-trip to a town north of Joplin, Missouri to see the German Short Hairs at Muddy Creek Kennels. Thus Blaze has now entered our family. He really had a good temperment at the kennel, but he is not finished being trained. He is only 9-months old and started pretty well at pointing birds, not being afraid of being shot over if he is in pursuit of a bird, and has tracked some of the kill pretty well. But he is still a "pup" and has a lot of work to do. Hopefully Jeff can get him off to a guy he knows to finish him up by Thanksgiving next month.
Right now though, Blaze and Brooks are running non-stop in the backyard. Brooks is thinking he is going to be the Alpha, but in a few months time, I'm sure Blaze will come out ahead when he is fully grown. Now if my husband would just have the drive to work the extra jobs to earn money for a trip to Disney World, I wouldn't be complaining!
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