Right now our life revolves around training, training, training… Training a bird dog includes doing so many things I never dreamed I would be capable of. For Leo I would do nearly anything! When training a bird dog, well there has to be a bird, right? The whole bird thing is very very hard for me. I wish there was an easier way. A way to train my dog and give him what he needs without, well, a price to pay. But that is life isn’t it? It seems that everything good in life has a cost of one sort or another. To teach him how to hunt we have to give him a positive hunt environment. We have to plant birds knowing they likely aren’t going to survive the exercise. It goes against the core of who I am and how I live my life.
It’s very hard to go so hard against who I am, but it also forces me to question that line. Why is it so hard for me to psych myself into working with birds when I eat chicken nearly every day? At least our training chukars have a chance to escape, Foster Farms fowl are never given that opportunity.
This evening’s training was a perfect example of escape opportunities, tonight’s training bird had the perfect chance to get away. I went to get him out of the bag and he was able to get around my hands and fly across the field. What shocked me was Leo. I’ll be darned if he was able to zone in from across the field. Without us even getting anywhere near the bird Leo found the track and followed it right to the the spot. Super fast and crazy efficient. When the bird got away I thought that was it. I never dreamed he would pick up on it from nearly 100 yards away. I truly believe that nose is capable of breaking some records. What a remarkable gift we have in the sweet boy!
So there you have it. Life will always ask us to pay the price. For those of us willing the pay out is huge. Watching Leo do his thing is incredible! Watching his style while he does his thing, the feeling and energy is beyond expression. So if I have to come to terms with seeing some birds hurt in the process, well the price is high, but the payout means giving our baby boy the opportunity to be everything that he dreams of.
