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When we first moved to our present property in Black Forest, Colorado, we inherited a dog with the house. It was a mutt in every sense of the word; a labrador hound mix.   The face looked like a lab, but the body was short and squatty like a basset hound. Quite a funny looking dog.

No one would have wanted this dog and that’s probably why the owner wanted us to keep it. His name was Ebony, based off his color. You guessed it—very black. But I soon fell in love with this little dog. Eventually he went blind, and we had to put him down. But I was hooked on all things dogs.

 

Too Busy to Train a Dog

As my hunting life progressed in Colorado, I soon began hunting pheasant. When I hunted with guides who had trained bird dogs, I realized that I enjoyed watching the dogs find the birds as much as the shooting. I considered the possibility of training my own bird dog.

I didn’t think I had what it took to train a dog to hunt. It seemed complex, time consuming and I was a busy church planting pastor. How would I find the time to really develop a good hunting dog?

 

Working with Instinct

But as I studied the ways of a well-trained bird dog, I discovered that the key to training dogs, any dog for that matter, was working with their instinct. In other words, in the case of bird dogs, they already had within their heart and spirit all that was needed to be a good hunting dog. The job of the trainer was to find that instinct and work with the dogs’ God-given abilities.

Working with the abilities already ladened within the dog was a game changer for me. As I watched videos, read books, and talked with dog trainers, I began to grow in confidence.

 

Gracie

When I bought my first bird dog, a yellow labrador retriever, we named her Gracie. She lived up to her name—full of grace and love. I discovered that it became a joy to work with Gracie’s instinct to smell, find, and flush game birds.

I trained Gracie from the perspective that deep within her heart, she had everything I wanted in a bird dog. My job as a trainer was to bring out the best in her. From my consistent commands to how far she roamed on a hunt, I worked with her instincts. I soon found that Gracie loved hunting birds.

Gracie loved hunting pheasant more than I did! Even when I was exhausted from all the walking, she was always ready to go and hunt up another bird.

I cannot ever remember getting upset or frustrated with Gracie. She more than exceeded my expectations and became a great hunting dog.

Through our love for Gracie, all my boys learned to hunt. All these years later, I’m still brought to tears when I think back on all the adventures we had together.

 

Pastor Steve