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Got my first lab in 83 from a backyard breeding. Just wanted a hunting dog. Trained her to where she was a lot better than most of the dogs I saw in the refuges. Had a few since but just for hunting.
Got my first chessy almost 3 years ago. All my labs together never had the drive that this guy does. Decided to check out HTs this past spring. Been hooked since! Boy, what a hunting dog I have now, too!
BHB
Holy Carp Lanse, 1966???? I was 2 years old!Quote:
Originally Posted by lanse brown
I had a bl. lab as a child; Blackie by name. 11years ago got Blackie 2 and by 1995 was into HRC. My 3 yo has now got me into FT.
At the 1962 Nebraska Dog & Hunt Club Amateur ... my first licensed trial with a 2
year old Golden - RIPP'N READY - placing 2nd.
I was forever hooked ...
Bill Connor
I ran my first AWS is a working certificate test in 2002. That started the fire.
Irrepressible, little black puppy with eyes that sparked and burned, name of Indy Jones summer of 2005. He changed my life, literally. Now we have added a chessie and one more lab. If I could I would get one more, chessie, but that's not in the cards now!
For me it started when I was a kid. A guy we had help butcher our deer had a Golden named Gypsy. Whenever he came, she would sit and look for scraps. We had always hunted big game to that point, but never really birds. Well, Dad got to go out with Gypsy and that got things rolling. Gypsy ended up having a litter and Dad came home with one of the pups. That would have been around 1981. We called her Snuggles. She was the first retriever we had. Years later she had one pup, a little black cross. Not sure how, she had never gotten out while she was in heat. Some sneaky neighbor dog through the fence or something. Anyway, we called him Sambo, and dad said I could keep him. From there I have had a lab almost ever since. Mostly hunted with them, and have started to work on the HT game. Still got a ways to go, but enjoying the ride.
My husband blames my sister. In '88 we bought 120 acres with some ponds on it and my sister was in with a group that started an HRC club so they used the property. In "93 her male was used for stud and she got pick of the litter a black female that she gave to me. From that point on my husband says he has never had a decent Sunday dinner (training day) and no money. The pond have now become 3 with plans for expansion again in the spring. I am on my sixth lab all stemming back to that little black girl.
Got my first lab, Ben in 2001. Wanted a lab because I knew they were versatile and I wanted to do agility and obedience competition with him. Found the litter in the newspaper (before I knew any better) Boy did I get lucky. Ben's registered name is now HR GRACH4 UUD UROC UNJ About Time Ben UD SH AX MXJ OF CGC. He also got an HRC finished pass on our second try, has UDX legs and is one leg short of MX agility title. Don't know if we'll finish these due to his age, but he is doing great and still loves to train and work. He is a great hunting dog. Yes, he is versatile, and we learned all this togeather since I didn't have a clue when I bought him how to go about any of it. Learned by talking to people and watching at trials. We didn't even start field work until Ben was 5 years old. I could go on and on about him, but I'm probably already overly long-winded on this post. People saw Ben and started asking me to train their dogs. I ended up working at a local dog training facility (mostly pet training though) But learned a LOT. Now on my own. Still enjoy agility and obedience competition, but want to try the field trial game. New additions to the family are 6 month old Kona (Ironpaws Black Rock Time To Dream) and 8 week old Toby (no reg name yet) Lots of fun to come with these 3 wonderful boys!
I got the "retriever addiction" after a great duck hunting trip with my friend. We shot many birds but the last two are what amped up my addiction. My friend was wading out for the bird and stepped into a hole and sank over his head. All that was left was his hat floating on the water. Thankfully he was ok and I laughed pretty hard at him. Next bird I did the same thing. Ever since then I have been a retriever addict!!!!