Dogs are Hunting Partners - Let's see 'em

Sophie was my first border collie that I bought just before I graduated college. That summer (1997) I introduced her to cattle and I learned how to work a stockdog by trial and error. I can easily say she was my best all around dog although she never hunted anything in her life. She tangled with another dog one time and broke her hind leg at the hock. It slowed her down a lot. We got one litter out of her but none of them were as good as she was. Here she is cheering up my youngest daughter in 2009 after waking up grumpy from a nap.

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Yeah i wish I could go back and let Sophie know just how much she meant to me...
 
I neglected to mention my kids' dog. Pandora. Their Mother brought her home as a puppy without consulting me. She didn't hunt, she had no stock herding drive, she didn't listen to me. So we never really bonded.
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She was interested in a turkey I brought home a few years ago

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And Last night she tracked and caught a tom I'd mortally wounded but needed finishing... The Story...

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Not a great photo, but this is my boy. He's a rescue mutt, but loves hunting birds and he's not bad at it. This was one of his first retrieves in the field.IMG_1468.JPG
 
This guy, Ikki, was my sidekick for 15 years before he passed a few months ago. Had a hell of a nose and retrieving instinct but when i got him as a pup I was in a city and not hunting so all his instincts went to fetching tennis balls. Always made a great partner in the woods and on the water though.
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Sadly had to make the decision to let my sidekick and best friend for the last 13.5 years go last week. Sadie had a large tumor attached to her spine and we didn't want her to be in pain. Really sucks knowing I won't be doing any pheasant hunting this fall with her.
 
Decided to bring Boone along the following morning after an evening bear hunt this year to keep me entertained on the solo pack out. He needed to get some exercise and I didn’t mind the company once the real work started.
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Here’s a few pics of my lab we went for a little hike to check things out.
 

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Not a bird dog, but more drive to water retrieve and just be in the water than the labs I’ve had. I think she’s a pitbull/otter cross.02DE8995-6D60-451C-9622-901755124A39.jpeg
 
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