My Bird Dog, Toby, Loves His Work and is a Joy to Watch.

After our terrier died three years ago, I began visiting the Animal Humane Society shelter on a weekly basis. Most of the dogs up for adoption were too large and too noisy for me. One day, I saw a cocker spaniel which seemed about right. But, I thought I would sleep on the decision. I hesitated. The next day, I went back to the animal shelter to find the cocker spaniel had been sold. But in its place was a handsome field bred English Springer Spaniel almost entirely white in color, except for a brown mask and brown ears. Someone was thinking about adopting this beautiful dog, but hesitated. In their hesitation, I asked the attendant to bring the dog to me. After spending time with the dog, I realized this was just the dog I wanted. About $225 and some required paperwork later, I was the proud owner of an eager three year old bird dog.

In the days that followed, it became clear to me that this dog was incredibly intelligent and eager to please his new master, provided I met his needs. Apart from food, water and shelter, its most compelling need was to fetch anything I might throw for him (preferably a tennis ball) so that he could eagerly retrieve it for me, so that I could throw it, so that he could retrieve it......You get the picture! We were going to forge an incredible partnership, but it was clear he needed exercise, and he needed to hunt birds.

There is an old joke about a man who was so stingy, when he found an expensive cigarette holder and a lighter, he felt compelled to take up smoking. My field bred English Springer Spaniel now named Toby unknowingly compelled me to take up pheasant hunting. You know, it is amazing how a somewhat impulsive parting of $225 can lead to the parting of many more dollars. Toby needed to be spayed. He needed shots. He needed a dog license. He needed two kennels: one for the back porch, and one for traveling in the car. He needed a collar and a leash. And dog food....and more dog food. I needed to buy just about every book in print about English Springer Spaniels, their care and their training. Not only did I purchase such books, but I purchased books about training a bird dog. Books like The 10 Minute Retriever, Urban Gun Dog, and Hup! I began subscribing to a magazine called Gun Dog Recognizing my dog had had some previous training, I even spent a pretty penny boarding him at a kennel for a month and having a professional dog trainer introduce---or reintroduce---Toby to hunting birds.

Of course, I had to buy a dog whistle and a leather lanyard as well as a blaze orange hunting vest. I even bought three or four expensive rubber bird dummies as well as a half-dozen cheaper plastic throwing dummies. Since I had not owned a shotgun for many years, I bought a Browning Citori over/under 12 gauge shotgun. Then of course, I needed to get back into good shooting form. So I bought a case of Remington shotgun shells and began going to the shooting range to target shoot some clay pigeons. Come hunting season, I had to buy a hunting license. The costs kept rising and many of the costs repeated each year. I even paid the veterinarian to clean Toby's teeth. The bill was a shocker to me! So I found spending about $5 a month on sliced up beef marrow bones did wonders at cleaning the tartar from his teeth. I supplemented these with some dog biscuits, and special oral care dog food. I haven't yet begun brushing his teeth, however.

Costs be damned! Let me tell you something. There is something beautiful and magical to see a well bred and well trained hunting dog run back and forth in front of you while you are walking through a farmer's field, the two of you searching for ringneck pheasants. Your dog's incredible sense of smell and sight, and his stamina and determination, working together with your whistle commands and your hand and voice signals yields up the prey. This prey is then taken by your hand-eye coordination utilizing the incredible craftsmanship and technological know-how built into a finely made shotgun. A coming together of animal and human, thousands of years of genetic selection and some modern technology is, indeed, miraculous.

Finally, to witness the joy and enthusiasm of my dog, Toby, as he does the work for which he was bred gives me inspiration to use my own God given talents in employment which gives me joy and satisfaction!