dakota

When Tucker was three a good hunting partner of mine, Greg Allen, and I decided to breed Tucker to his bitch Moka. My wife, Barbara, picked our next hunting companion from the liter and named him Dakota. He, too, after about a year became quite a hunter and was soon out pointing chukars. Dakota had a lot of guidance from his dad. Dakota's range wasn't quite as big but he became a relentless retriever. If there was a bird down Dakota would find it. His only real fault was when there was a crippled bird going down a steep hill he would bark with excitement until he finally got the bird in his mouth. I'm sure people thought I was beating my dog. Dakota also some times liked to cheat a little and help me flush the birds. It was a fault I excused because he would always wait until I was ahead of him and than sometimes he just couldn't stand the excitement. Every dog is a little different and Tucker had taught me that if you just trust your dog things will work out in the end. As you can see it usually did.

tucker at 14

Tucker's almost 14 now but he hasn't lost his heart yet.

Whenever he sees the gun come out he's ready to go. I just have to be smart enough to take him on short hunts and he's happy with that. A good point and maybe a retrieve a week makes him perfectly happy. The rest of the time he patrols the area making sure the quail know he still has his stuff. He also enjoys sitting by my side enjoying the fire. A simple pet on the head let's him know he's still part of the team.

I sometimes see him dreaming and I hope his dreams are about how the two of us took care of each other when we were on the mountain. I know I quite often reminisce about those times.

tucker

I've been owned by several hunting dogs in the past but until Tucker came along I didn't really know what chukar hunting was all about. As a pup he was trained on wild quail around my place and immediately showed his instincts by holding point on quail at ten weeks of age. There was no pressure, just casual walks through the fields to introduce him to all of the sounds and smells. Before the chukar season we gradually moved to the chukar hills where he soon figured out how to extend the distance. At first it was hard for me to let him range but he soon taught me to trust him. he woluld hold birds from over 200 yards until I got there for the flush.

In his first year he retrieved over 100 chukars to me that were off his points. His retrieves were usually not directly to my hand but within a yard or two. Chukar dogs sometimes have very long steep retrieves and I always felt if I can't take two or three steps to help the dog get to me than I should stay home on the couch. Although to me Tucker was a long ranging dog(2 to 3 hundred yards) he seemed to be as uncomfortable when not being in sight of me as I was not being able to locate him. We truly soon became a team. I owe a lot to this dog for what he has taught me. Over 12 years he has been responsible or partly responsible for over 3500 chukars.