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HAS HIS DAY, EVERYDOG
rB7 TomKeer
sof our countryarea naturalfit for samebirdsand bird dogs. doss.RichmohdCounty, Countv,North Carolina, darolina,is one of theni. Robert Ruark,widely known for a career of outstandingvvritingincludirg TheOldMan and the Boy,worked"asa newspaper#ringer in the town of H6mlet.The nearbytornmof HofTmanis the home of the /. RobertGoidonSandhillsFieldTrial Ground, a 58,000acretract of longleafpines,lovegrass, and a bobwhitequailcourse.& r * * & * & * e & & *'* &.&* For decades,some of the most famous bird dogs have run the course,and malry a young pup hascomeinto his own here.EvenNew EnglanderCorey Ford headedto North Carolina in the winter when his grouseand woodcock coverts werefrozensolid.Richmond Counfy is more coastalplainsthan Piedmontwhich makesit to birds and bird dogsas George'sBank is to fish and fishermen. I had cometo the town of Ellerbeto visit my wife'sfamily,which is big enough for me to wish that they all worenumberedjerseysand that I had a teamroster.On this Februarytrip we kept dinner to a shortlist of UncleHerbert,Aunt Annette,and PastorWa1me, anotheruncle.After dinner we headedacrosstown to visit with our good friend Bill Webb,who wasgoing to let us run our setterson his farm. The best way to describe Bill Webb is to borrow the description usually reservedfor Mark Twain;"known to everyone,liked by alli' He'sa lawyerby trade. A long time ago,Bill'sgrandparentsraisedpeaches,tobaccoand a wide variety of cropsthat rangedfrom sweetpotatoesto peanuts.Through traditional farming practicesBill has transformed the farm, and created a quail Valhalla in the process.Therearecoveysofwild birds scatteredthroughout the fieldsofEgyptian wheat, milo, wiregrass,broomsedge,Johnsongrass, and bicolor lespedeza.The WebbFarm is so perfectit causesthe heart of eventhe most discriminatingquail hunter to flutter.
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At the Webb Ftrrm there are dogs, lots of dogs.Most aremuscularpointersbut thereare setters,too.Headguideand dog trainerWade Meachumtrainsthem all,andhe comesby his loveof bird dogshonestly.His father,in addition to being the pastor of the Methodist Church was a renownedbird dog man. That meant when PastorMeachum steppedinto the pulpit on Sundaymornings it was common for parishionersto heara sermonliberally sprinkled with bird dog, quail, and gunning references. \t\4renWH. Auden said,"in times of joy, all of us wishedwe possessed a tail we could wagi'I am positivehe wasdescribingmy wife perfectly when she rnet Albert, an English setter,during our visit. Albert wasBill'sstateIy five-year-oldtricolor, and he could barely walk. A torn ligament in his front leg con-
ENGLISH SETTER ALBERT
fined him to hobbling about ir.ra knee-to-fbotcast.It's alwaysa difficult decisionof what to do wher.ra working dog comesup lan-re, but in this caseAlbert waswell caredfor by Bill and Wade. It'sa good thing my wife doesntplay poker becauseshe'dlose everyhandshewasdealt.It wasall overbut the shoutingwhen she laid eyeson old Albert. Therearepoints in life that just standout frorn all others,and this wasone of them. Angelawassmitten. That feeling is probably what prompted Bill to recommend tl-ratwe bring Albert home to Massachusetts, and exposehim to a softer, gentler life. Bill thought it might be good if Albert enjoyedthe cool oceanbreezesin the summer,and becamepart of a covertrotation for grousein tl-reuplandsand for woodcock in the lowlands.We could return in the winter for bobwhite. Compared to the long days that hed become accustomedto, Albert would be a dog of leisure.
I was flatteredby Bill's generosity.What a kind thing to offer, and it made some sense.Then I ran some quick numbers.Two female setters,two heat cycleseach per year, threeweeksat a clip and it aii addsup to l2 weeksof madness. With a busy careerand two kids in middle schoolthe last thing I neededwas to spenda Friday night apologizingto the neighborsfor a dog barkingnon-stop.Itd be easierto breed our dogs with someoneelse'smale and forgo the stressand strain.Call me a stick in the mud, but I said no. We went on with the hunt and had a greattime. And while nobodysaidboo aboutmy decision,I could tell that therewasa pall in the air. A few months passedand Bill calledwith ar.rupdate.The vet had given Albert a clean bill of health. His cast was
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removedand the new project for Bill and Wade was to rehabilitateold Albert. The setterwas six yearsold now and, sincehe was hobbling, they started with short conditioning sessionswhich involved a lot of swimming in the ponds. Bringing him back was a slow project,but after being cooped with a cast in the kennel Albert was a good studentand happyto be liberated. \A4rile Albert was rehabilitating in Ellerbe, North Carolina,there was a parallelchangeand
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CLOCKWISE FROMTOPLEFT. BILLWEBB,BOBWHITE, A POINT DURING THEHUNT,MORGAN ANDALBERT
26 RGS I www.ruffedgrousesociety.org
development going on in our Massachusetts home. My daughterMorgan had taken quite a liking to bird hunting. Her interestpiqued in the summer when I beganworking out the dogsfor the upcoming season.Morgan was fourteen, a perfecttime to get fully involved.Shejoined me in working them out three times a day,cooling them off in the ponds, and feedingand groomveterans,and ing them. Our dogswereseasoned it was a good placefor her to start learning.
In October we went to our New Hampshire grouse and woodcock coverts. Every weekend, Morgan was awakeand ready in the predawn darknessway before her alarm clock rang. Sheneither complainedabout the chalIengesofa grouseand woodcockcovert, nor bemoanedwater going over the top of her boots while fording a seep.She rememberedher riding glovesfor when the temperaturesdropped,and an extra pair of sockswhen her feet got wet. She fit her hunters'safetycoursein aftersoccer practiceand beforehomework, and by the end of the seasonshe had borrowed one of her mom's shotguns to carry unloaded through the woods. Somemore practiceon a skeetfield and shewasgood to go. All the while therewassomethingthat kept naggingat me. Truth be told,I liked Albert too. He was growing on me. I wouldnt saythat I was sold on the idea, but I wasnt as closed off to it either. Maybe that'sall it took, seeinghim one time. MaybeAlbert wasjust that kind of dog. Well, grouse and woodcock season ended up north and in December we were ready to head back to North Carolina.We decidedthat Morgan was going to accompanyus on her first quail hunt. I thought shedenjoyhunting with Bill and Wade,and take specialcomfort in hunting an area where her family grew up. Shedget to seea professional kennel with dozensof dogs,and different breeds,too. I figured shed enjoy hunting without getting all tangled up, and bombing around in a quail wagonis alwaysgreat fun. Within a half hour of arriving she asked to see the famous Albert that her mom ravedabout. Bill and Wadeintroduced Morgan to Albert. He was fit and trim, moving all around and wagginghis tail. Settersas a breed are biddable dogs, and he was happyto get a pat. Muyb. he was thinking that he was going to load up and go hunting. Or maybehe had a good sense about Morgan.
Like beesand honey,peasand carrots, and cookies and milk, so it was with Morgan and Albert. Morgan loves dogs, but therewassomethingaboutold Albert that just clicked.It was love at first sight, just like it had beenwith Angela. A little time passedfussing over the dog before we regroupedto hunt some birds. I had loadedour dogsinto the kennels on the mule and Wade added a few of his pointers and his favorite Irish lab, Finn. Then I surprisedeven myself and said,"Id love to seeAlbert work. Can we take him out this morning?" 'Albert? He's already loaded up. It's his day to work." When Wade smiled I laughed.\t\4rat are the odds of our arriving on a day when it was Albert'sturn to run? Clearly it wasmy lucky day,and I vowed to buy a lottery ticket on the way home. I just knew I would win big. Bill let us put our dogs down first. They found and pointed a bunch ofbirds. The heat was about 45 degreeswarmer than what they wereusedto, and after an hour they started to tire. We watered them, and it was Albert's turn. He was paired with a good looking all white setter named Bubba.They worked well as a team, and I watched closely as Albert worked the fields. His focus was sharp, his drive was intact, and he put on a halfdozenmiles of running without so much asa limp. I liked the way he quartered,he was patient around birds, and his points were staunch.AII of Bill and Wade'sdogs aregood, and Albert was really good. After our hunt, Bill pulled me aside and asked again if I would like to take Albert home. It was a causefor celebration when I said yes. I had changedmy mind for a varietyof reasons.A third dog, and a male, would makelife around two unspayedfemalesa ruckus for a few times a year.Retooling vehiclesto accommodateadditionaldogs would be a shift, too. Expandinga kennel would require time that we didnt have, but we would make it. What made the decisionfinallv is that
faith, hope, and charity overruled logic and practicality. I had faith that when Morgan told me she was going to rise to the challengeand take total careofAlbert that she would follow through. She was like her mom, committed,and for me that was a conviction without fact. I had hope. I tossed out any of the doubts or worries that come from another dog becauseI knew that after the initial adjustment everything would work out just fine. Peopledont alwaysgetwhat they want, but they get what they need. The magicis when what you getwhat you need which is alsowhat you want. That was the casewith Albert. And that charity didnt just come from Bill giving Albert to us. It came from his understandingthat there was a much bigger purpose at hand. It camefrom feeling that it wasnt just the right thing to do - for a girl just getting into bird hunting it was about as warm, generousand joful a gift asa gift could be. I'm just glad Albert wasrit a Tennessee walker. I know I'm not the guy to try and work with old Albert. Hes got a way of doing business,just asI havea way of doing business.I dont have the aptitude to change the old boy from a professionalhunting dog who runs 13 miles a day into a house dog who lives in a kennel and hunts aggressively for a few months of the year. That job is bestdone at the handsof someone far more capablethan me, I can think of no one better suited to the task than Morgan. We left Bill Webb and the farm, and Albert for that matter, too. Not for good, just for a while. We had someprep work to do before bringing Albert home. There was a yard to clearand someland to level. A concrete foundation needed to be poured.We'dneedto reengineerthe truck with kennelsso that we could accommodateall the dogs. A dog box would go in Morgan'sroom, and therewould be new collarsto buy.The owner'sname on the brassplatewould not be mine. It would be Morgan's.Well be picking up Albert soon and I cant wait. *
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