Old dogs

Grady turned 8 years old ten days ago. I don’t consider him an old dog yet, but some of his actions have already become old dog habits. Not in his hunting abilities, but in his closeness to me around the house. Since Jake left us on Oct. 27th last year, Grady is always by my side wherever I go. Right now, he is beside me as I type. He was never that way before. In fact, he was kind of standoffish around the house and would rather be left alone. Jake was the affectionate one.

Jake was diagnosed with diabetes in the last two years of his life. Although he was always the affectionate one around the house, he became more so in those last two years. He was my eighty-pound lap dog throughout his life, but became more so as he aged. I don’t know how to explain the change in Grady after Jake’s passing except to say he knows I need that special dog’s love around the house as much as I need a great hunting companion.

I’m not complaining about it. I like having something needing me that much. I surely loved it from Jake. His last season was all cuddling. He had lost most of his mobility in his back and hips, so he didn’t hunt anymore. But we made up for it in couch time. After he passed, Barb and I took a ten-day hunting trip with Grady, hoping to keep busy enough to forget some of the pain from his loss. It worked some, but we were surprised at how Grady had changed at home. He definitely was missing Jake and made sure to help Barb and me through the grieving Process by demanding more attention on him around the house.

He also decided to stay by my side in the camper after our hunts.

Now comes the next phase of Grady’s life. How to put up with another dog in his life. Will he feel like there is some competition for Barb’s and my attention around the house? Will he be as willing to show her how to handle birds in the field? Barb and I have been through this transition several times, but it will be a first for Grady. I wonder if he’ll be as willing to let Layne out front in the field as Jake was to him? There are lots of questions to be answered in about five weeks.

The breeder’s name for telling the pups apart was Picabo. This is her at ten days when she first opened her eyes. Barb has already named her Layne. Yes, I said her. She will be the first and probably my last GSP female. Barb has always wanted a female, but I always wanted to be on the macho side and have a tough male. I know it makes no difference, and I’m excited as heck to give her a chance to show me how good a gal can perform. Here she is at two weeks, making her first crawl across the kitchen floor.

It’s hard to imagine her as my last “reigning chukar champion”, but I’m sure she will be. And I pray that one day she will be there for me when Grady passes. I dread that day but know it’s inevitable. She will be out there on our first hunt this year as I shoot my first shot at a chukar. The shell will be filled with the ashes of four of the finest chukar dogs ever. Tucker, Dakota, Riley and Jake. If I’m very lucky, two birds will hit the ground and Grady will be retrieving a bird for me with Layne close behind with hers.

Here’s to great times.