This post is really long. I am trying to simultaneously describe the events surrounding getting Lindy, Lindy's background, and how this whole hunting thing started for me. Each topic probably deserves its own post, but I guess I can do that later, if needed? Oh well, grab a glass of wine or your favorite beverage!
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Six months into Reading, and really unimpressed with a guy I was dating (he always took me to this random bar like a half hour from my house), I think I was ready to add in something I had been waiting a long time for--a dog.
Choosing a Brittany was a somewhat easy choice for me--a smaller hunting dog that would be a great hiking companion. I completed my adoption application online. I had my home visit with a very nice man & his wife (more on this later). Waited. Sent emails. Waited. Waited. More emails. Waited. Usually a pretty patient person, four months later, I didn't have a dog.
It wasn't until a Friday that I had a conversation with my local NBRAN coordinator about a group of 11 dogs that were taken into rescue. This rescue group is called the NBRAN Indiana 11. The group of dogs were left for an estimated two years by a man that would periodically drop off bags of dog food. The house was boarded up. The good thing is that they don't associate their abandonment with humans because the human was never around.
Warning: This is a graphic video
Pennsylvania was getting several of the rescues but they needed some time with their fosters to assess the depth of behavioral and health issues and prepare them for adoption. Sadly, some of the pups in the rescue are placed with permanent fosters. My heart still breaks thinking of these dogs.
If you can stomach the video, you will see Lindy at 1:48. I look at pictures of her right out of rescue and cannot believe she is the same dog. Physically she looks totally different. Her coat was so short she looked like a GSP.
In fact, this is sort of where another instance of serendipity occured for me--I was taking Lindy on a quick walk when I was stopped by a man that asked me if she was a GSP. I laughed a bit & we got to talking. I told him I wanted to get her e-collar trained to hike with her. He suggested I contact a place called Pheasant Valley Farm because they helped him train his dog.
"The Rest Is History" as the say? Not so fast.
I eventually connected with the owner of the farm & I took her out for her first assessment.
When I pulled up to the farm I was greeted by this beautiful plot of sunflowers. The sunflowers, my favorite flower, I had hoped were a sign of something positive to come.
Their concern was that her background & behavioral issues would prevent her from being training on an e-collar.
When I pulled up to the farm I was greeted by this beautiful plot of sunflowers. The sunflowers, my favorite flower, I had hoped were a sign of something positive to come.
Their concern was that her background & behavioral issues would prevent her from being training on an e-collar.
Lindy came with some baggage from her abandonment. Physically she still had signs of having a recent litter (see photo above), her fur was splotchy and totally bare in some areas, and finally, she also has a deformity on her rear that may cause UTI's. Behaviorally she was incredibly submissive, often submitting to me even putting on a leash, had significant confidence issues, as well as abandonment anxiety. It was funny--her foster family, who I absolutely adore, was describing these things to me and my main concern about her was the UTI. None of her "baggage" scared me. This is an important aside.
Some folks say that I come across as very confident. I suppose in many regards, I am. I further suppose I also know myself well enough that when I am in a totally new environment, I just don't react. But apparently my face says it all. This is another important aside.
So I took Lindy to Pheasant Valley for this assessment of whether or not she could actually be e-collar trained. I remember not having not even one premonition about how things would go. I think I was preparing myself for them to tell me she was too submissive or that we were too bonded. You see, I hand-fed her for several weeks to help build our bond.
"Upland bird" was definitely not on the radar.
I follow them down to their training field, which I fully expected to be similar to a baseball field, but felt more like Anne of Green Gables meets corn maze. Again, I literally had no good clue of what was going on other than I wanted to hike with her.
It was then I heard more new terms: "chukar", "scent tracking", "scent cone". I tried to keep up... sharing that she was described by her fosters as "birdy" but that I didn't know what that actually meant. I told them I didn't even know what a chukar was. I didn't!
"Upland bird" was definitely not on the radar.
I follow them down to their training field, which I fully expected to be similar to a baseball field, but felt more like Anne of Green Gables meets corn maze. Again, I literally had no good clue of what was going on other than I wanted to hike with her.
It was then I heard more new terms: "chukar", "scent tracking", "scent cone". I tried to keep up... sharing that she was described by her fosters as "birdy" but that I didn't know what that actually meant. I told them I didn't even know what a chukar was. I didn't!
Told yinz it looks like Anne of Green Gables! At least, thats how I described it to my father who later told me they are actually "hunting fields".
Lindy was very receptive to Karen, the lead trainer. During this first session, we had her on a long training lead. They encouraged letting go of the leash, so we did.
Well, I don't think I was prepared for what was about to happen. And it's not that she bolted & we couldn't find her. In fact, it took about 5 minutes for her to build the autonomy.
As she is building this autonomy, Mark and Karen start saying more words--"tracking", "scent cone", "locked in". Again, I still thought we were talking about the e-collar training.
Well, no. A bird goes flying out from where Lindy was.
As she is building this autonomy, Mark and Karen start saying more words--"tracking", "scent cone", "locked in". Again, I still thought we were talking about the e-collar training.
Well, no. A bird goes flying out from where Lindy was.
Part of me wishes I was writing this blog last year as it was happening, because (1) I had no clue what kind of bird it was (a chukar) that flew through this "grassy stuff" (it's called sorghum) and (2) I could probably recall the details more closely.
This is the first bird Lindy was ever exposed to. Probably goes without saying that I also learned what a chukar is!
One detail that I 100% recall are the owners saying "She's a hunting dog" and laughing. This is where I think I am told that my face said it all... "What the hell did I just get myself into"... Then she finds another bird. And she's hooked. And I think I am still trying to process a lot of this. We eventually get her back and I think I was just stunned. Because "I don't hunt" I told them.
Every training the entire summer went exactly like the one I just described. I also learned the term "head shot"--I didn't have to google that.
Every training the entire summer went exactly like the one I just described. I also learned the term "head shot"--I didn't have to google that.
We spent the remainder of the summer getting her e-collar trained, which she did very well with. It was through them that I was able to locate a place that I could consistently run her off leash. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't 100% out of my element. I didn't feel scared about it. I just wasn't confident I had the knowledge or skill to provide for her what she needed.
More importantly is the transformation that has occurred with Lindy as a result of this training. I left there with the skills, knowledge, and wavering confidence that I could give her the life she needed.
In fact, a few times I thought to myself "Maybe Lindy would be better off with someone else, someone who knows how to hunt".
More importantly is the transformation that has occurred with Lindy as a result of this training. I left there with the skills, knowledge, and wavering confidence that I could give her the life she needed.
In fact, a few times I thought to myself "Maybe Lindy would be better off with someone else, someone who knows how to hunt".
Boy, do I have great memories of going through that training with her. I think I saw her come out of her shell through training at the farm. It was easy for me to help rehabilitate her through hunting and her natural prey drive.
If I reflect on my first year with her--a good diet that I supplemented with one egg per week, daily off-leash exercise, and hunting have been the key to help rehabilitate significant health issues. Her coat had fully regrown by Christmas. She is no longer submissive. Confidence issues are gone. Abandonment anxiety is minimal. I have a totally "new dog".
Here she is a year later. She looks like a totally different dog.
On Lindy (Part 2): Patience and Persistence for Her & Me will be my next blog post. I think I will dive into how things came full circle with the incredible folks that did our home visit, what it was like to start a new hobby, and some of the highlights and bloopers from the first two years hunting (spoiler alert: one time I accidentally put the shell in my shotgun backwards).
I hope you guys liked this post! I took extra time to proofread, unlike my first post!
