Topbreak's Bailiwick (Bailey)

Scott Bell

Active member
View attachment bailey.jpg

It's been a couple of weeks now, so the sting isn't quite as intense, but I still hear her bark when I pull into the driveway and expect to stumble over her in the early morning darkness. She was way more talented as a retriever than I was as a trainer, but somehow we managed to make that work pretty well for a couple of years of running hunt tests, and we RARELY lost a duck when she was hunting with us. Granted, she would at times break, but that was only because she LOVED to retrieve and I think she felt I was more focused on scaring them away than actually hitting them with my shots. I'm convinced she would have run herself into the ground retrieving if given the chance.

I helped my dad train retrievers when growing up, but she was the first that was "my dog" and by far was the best first retriever I could have hoped to have, though her hunting and field trial days were limited due to hip dysplasia. She didn't get to hunt the last few years, and only to a limited extent for a few years before that, but it will still be painful when I head out for the first teal hunt in a few weeks and she's not following me to the door, wanting to go.

We'll miss you girl!
 
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Scott,
So sorry for your loss. Try to remember the good times, the times she tried your patience, and the times she amazed you when she brought back the ones you thought were lost.
Sonny
 
Sorry to hear about your loss, I lost my best recently, and still hold the door waiting for him behind my young dog . It gets better each day, but they do leave a hole when they join their old hunting partners in the great beyond
 
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