Well, my heart has been shattered into a million pieces once again. Just when I was beginning to pick up the pieces from Kenzie having to be sent on to enjoy chasing shorebirds in the sky, we had to take Drake to his very last vet appointment. Cancer sucks so very much though his particular form (mast cell tumor) didn't seem to be causing any real pain. That was the ONLY plus. But because of the location on his face, it was inoperable. The specialist we saw in February told me it was an aggressive form and that I had maybe six months. It went from a quarter sized ball on his face and not having spread anywhere to a racketball sized lump on his face and baseball sized lymph nodes in less than three months. Then I come home the other day and his face had basically just blown up. The tumor had ruptured it looked like under the skin and ulcerated in his mouth. I called Steve and told him it was time. He was up here the next morning. Not that letting go is ever easy but it hurts even more when your best friend still wants to play and eat and snuggle and overall seems to be okay, except for that one thing.
Drake was as much Steve's dog as mine. Drake lived with me, hunted for me, played with me but he was also half-brother to Mike, Steve's lab that passed a few years back. Steve's nephew also owned Drake for the first 4 years of his life. Steve's brother had bred the litter that Drake came from. And we spent many days hanging at the Sutton house. So he was very much also a Sutton.
Andy, Steve's nephew, duck hunted pretty heavily and he wanted a dog and along comes Drake. Andy put a lot of work into him, but then kids came along and hunting fell by the wayside. Andy felt bad that Drake wasn't getting the kind of life that he deserved so Drake was offered to Steve but because of his situation at the time, Steve really couldn't take him. So Steve offered Drake to me. I had Kenzie and always wanted my own duck dog so I said sure, but we gotta see how he gets along with Kenz. About two seconds into the meeting between dogs, Drake was mine. It didn't take much longer than that for Drake to decide that I was his.
He came home to me just at the beginning of turkey season that year and we spent a busy spring and summer working together. Drake needed a lot of work to get to where he would be a well-mannered hunting partner in the duck blind. That first season together started a hunting partnership that was beyond compare.
Drake's first two hunting seasons were on ducks in FL. He had the dubious pleasure of having to learn to hunt from decoy sleds, uncomfortable kayaks, float tubes, big boats and just standing in the water. We hunted a good deal by ourselves but we also hunted a good deal with Steve and Mike. Drake and Mike were an outstanding team. If you asked me, there wasn't a better dog team out there (ok...I admit I might be just a LITTLE biased).
When Mike passed, Drake had HUGE shoes to fill. I used to hunt upland with Steve and Mike out in WA and the year Mike died, Drake became an upland hunter. Mike was very sorely missed but Drake stepped into the hole that Mike left. I don't think we expected much from Drake that first upland season because he was 7 years old and just going on his first upland hunt. But he blew my socks away at how well he did. And continued to prove what an outstanding hunting partner he was through this last quail season. Arthritis may have slowed him down but he wouldn't let that stop him.
His first flock of birds that he turned on to also involved a great deal of whoaing him to let us catch up, telling him to wait before just indiscriminately crossing barbed wire fences and us just trying to keep up turned out to be a big flock of turkeys. But after that first flush, Drake was in love with this new game. There was just no leaving him behind without getting THE LOOK. After that quail, pheasants, sharptails, sage grouse, huns, ruffed grouse, blue grouse, woodcock and prairie chickens all came naturally to him. He turned on and it was ON.
From time to time as he got older, I would contemplate how I got him "so late" in life. I would wish that I would have had those four extra years that he lived with Andy. I only had 7 years with Drake but they were an incredible 7 years. He made our adventures possible and even more enjoyable. It wasn't just that Steve and I were hunting such incredible places and exploring new locations, because we certainly could have done it dogless. Drake was an essential key in making our adventures ADVENTURES.
Drake was an absolute little love slut. He wanted his hugs and was not shy about letting you know it. It made getting ready to go hunting interesting. Putting boots on especially. It involved lots of eye rolling on our part sometimes, and just figuring out how to make do and work around his goofy self. He was that way with a lot of our gear
And nap time often involved lots of cuddling.
Heaven forbid I leave the house or camper and not tell him where I was going. He never worried too much if I came home late so long as I told him I was going to work as I was leaving. If I forgot to let him know that I was going to work, he seemed to be sure that I would never come home to him. He always forgave me when I neglected to tell him where I was going though.
He always was an ass man. Many multiple birds, grouse especially, would come back missing tails. Quite often there was a comment that went something like, weeeellll it sure was a gorgeous bird and would have made a great picture if only the bird had a tail.
And lordy did he love his cookies. He seldom passed up the opportunity to ask for a cookie.
His last night and day were spent with lots of love and I cooked up a multitude of birds for him. He earned every last bird. Dinner was sharptail, breakfast was pheasant and then his last dinner was sage grouse and hun nuggets, with his own beer and followed up for dessert two hotdogs.
So now he is gone, except for the memories that we made with him. My shattered heart will someday find its way back to being mostly whole. I will always miss how every single time I came home, no matter how long I was gone, he would be so excited that he would bounce like he was on a pogo stick. He would always give me his hugs. No matter how bad a day I was having, he always made it better. Hug your dogs tight fellas and give em lots of cookies, we truly do never get enough time with them. And he certainly deserved better than cancer.
I will miss you big man. You truly were Da Bombdiggity. And you had it all: looks, smarts, a great nose and the biggest heart anyone could ever ask for in a dog. Wait for me and someday we will chase birds again together with Mikey.
With a broken heart,
Dani
Drake was as much Steve's dog as mine. Drake lived with me, hunted for me, played with me but he was also half-brother to Mike, Steve's lab that passed a few years back. Steve's nephew also owned Drake for the first 4 years of his life. Steve's brother had bred the litter that Drake came from. And we spent many days hanging at the Sutton house. So he was very much also a Sutton.
Andy, Steve's nephew, duck hunted pretty heavily and he wanted a dog and along comes Drake. Andy put a lot of work into him, but then kids came along and hunting fell by the wayside. Andy felt bad that Drake wasn't getting the kind of life that he deserved so Drake was offered to Steve but because of his situation at the time, Steve really couldn't take him. So Steve offered Drake to me. I had Kenzie and always wanted my own duck dog so I said sure, but we gotta see how he gets along with Kenz. About two seconds into the meeting between dogs, Drake was mine. It didn't take much longer than that for Drake to decide that I was his.
He came home to me just at the beginning of turkey season that year and we spent a busy spring and summer working together. Drake needed a lot of work to get to where he would be a well-mannered hunting partner in the duck blind. That first season together started a hunting partnership that was beyond compare.
Drake's first two hunting seasons were on ducks in FL. He had the dubious pleasure of having to learn to hunt from decoy sleds, uncomfortable kayaks, float tubes, big boats and just standing in the water. We hunted a good deal by ourselves but we also hunted a good deal with Steve and Mike. Drake and Mike were an outstanding team. If you asked me, there wasn't a better dog team out there (ok...I admit I might be just a LITTLE biased).
When Mike passed, Drake had HUGE shoes to fill. I used to hunt upland with Steve and Mike out in WA and the year Mike died, Drake became an upland hunter. Mike was very sorely missed but Drake stepped into the hole that Mike left. I don't think we expected much from Drake that first upland season because he was 7 years old and just going on his first upland hunt. But he blew my socks away at how well he did. And continued to prove what an outstanding hunting partner he was through this last quail season. Arthritis may have slowed him down but he wouldn't let that stop him.
His first flock of birds that he turned on to also involved a great deal of whoaing him to let us catch up, telling him to wait before just indiscriminately crossing barbed wire fences and us just trying to keep up turned out to be a big flock of turkeys. But after that first flush, Drake was in love with this new game. There was just no leaving him behind without getting THE LOOK. After that quail, pheasants, sharptails, sage grouse, huns, ruffed grouse, blue grouse, woodcock and prairie chickens all came naturally to him. He turned on and it was ON.
From time to time as he got older, I would contemplate how I got him "so late" in life. I would wish that I would have had those four extra years that he lived with Andy. I only had 7 years with Drake but they were an incredible 7 years. He made our adventures possible and even more enjoyable. It wasn't just that Steve and I were hunting such incredible places and exploring new locations, because we certainly could have done it dogless. Drake was an essential key in making our adventures ADVENTURES.
Drake was an absolute little love slut. He wanted his hugs and was not shy about letting you know it. It made getting ready to go hunting interesting. Putting boots on especially. It involved lots of eye rolling on our part sometimes, and just figuring out how to make do and work around his goofy self. He was that way with a lot of our gear
And nap time often involved lots of cuddling.
Heaven forbid I leave the house or camper and not tell him where I was going. He never worried too much if I came home late so long as I told him I was going to work as I was leaving. If I forgot to let him know that I was going to work, he seemed to be sure that I would never come home to him. He always forgave me when I neglected to tell him where I was going though.
He always was an ass man. Many multiple birds, grouse especially, would come back missing tails. Quite often there was a comment that went something like, weeeellll it sure was a gorgeous bird and would have made a great picture if only the bird had a tail.
And lordy did he love his cookies. He seldom passed up the opportunity to ask for a cookie.
His last night and day were spent with lots of love and I cooked up a multitude of birds for him. He earned every last bird. Dinner was sharptail, breakfast was pheasant and then his last dinner was sage grouse and hun nuggets, with his own beer and followed up for dessert two hotdogs.
So now he is gone, except for the memories that we made with him. My shattered heart will someday find its way back to being mostly whole. I will always miss how every single time I came home, no matter how long I was gone, he would be so excited that he would bounce like he was on a pogo stick. He would always give me his hugs. No matter how bad a day I was having, he always made it better. Hug your dogs tight fellas and give em lots of cookies, we truly do never get enough time with them. And he certainly deserved better than cancer.
I will miss you big man. You truly were Da Bombdiggity. And you had it all: looks, smarts, a great nose and the biggest heart anyone could ever ask for in a dog. Wait for me and someday we will chase birds again together with Mikey.
With a broken heart,
Dani
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