2024 Handlers Course Recap

By Tom Smith, Wildrose Mississippi
Photos by Katie Behnke

The 2024 Basic and Advanced Handler’s Course was an overwhelming success! Clients from Montana, New York, Canada, and everywhere in between spent hours afield with their sporting companions learning disciplines from early lead work and pack mentality to running cold blinds across water with multiple distractions. We also had the pleasure of spending an entire morning working in the rain. Train as you hunt!

Handler’s Course is a “train-the-trainer” event designed to help everyone become a better handler. Classes focused on reading your dog, understanding canine communication, and then putting it into practice in the field. This seminar is great for new handlers and serves as a great refresher for seasoned handlers.

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Here are a few quotes from the weekend:

“Hey, just wanted to tell you what a great time Tammy and I had and we’re so impressed with how far Ryan has brought Jane along. We’re excited to be part of the Wildrose Pack. What a first-class organization. And along with Ryan, the other trainers Will, Bryan, and all the rest. Really cool how they knew Jane and just made us feel really comfortable.”

-Steve L, Kentucky

“I have been to every Handler’s Course since the beginning and 2024 did not disappoint. I saw lots of old friends and met some new pack members. I was reminded of a few things I have gotten sloppy on and I will be back next year to keep the streak alive.”

-Chris W, Louisiana

“Wildrose Kennels is simply the best. They have the best genetics, training and facilities. Wildrose dogs are so exceptional, so distinctive they are recognizable by their excellent manners and personality. I registered for the beginner handler class at Wildrose thinking the “Gentlemen’s Gundog” program would be structured around producing the type of dog a proper gentleman would most like to have. After taking the course, I realize the program develops the dogs into gentlemen and gentleladies that are an absolute pleasure to be around.”

-JJ A, Montana

WR Finn and I had a great weekend at the 2024 Advanced Handlers Retreat. This year was challenging and really put us to the test. We did really well on a lot of the drills and learned what we need to work on for next season. The Handlers Retreat is a great place to train and see where you are doing good with your training and where you need work. I have been to the Handlers Retreat each of the last seven years and every year I have learned something new. This is one of the weekends that I look forward to all year. It’s a great time working with great dogs, and with great people who all enjoy working and training together. There is no place I would rather be!

-Chris H, Mississippi

“The 2024 Advanced Handlers workshop was the best we attended by far. Each and every training scenario carried the theme of the weekend, the unseen. Training scenarios contained cold blinds, short/long bird, marks that become time delayed memories, walk-ups, off the ground finds and stop to the whistle for points and fun. True examples of adding complexity/distance or distractions and sometimes both to basic scenarios transitional work. And it elevated our game as well as we were exposed to areas we need to work on. In addition to working on our skills as handlers, these scenarios allowed us to better develop the relationship with our dogs. Where he gained trust in me, I gained trust in him, and we both gained confidence in each other. Banyan and I grew by leaps and bounds.”

-Maria P and Lisa J, Mississippi

The Slider

By Mike Stewart, Wildrose International

Photos and Diagram by Katie Behnke

Spring training for retrievers is here! Time to prep for the upcoming wingshooting season.  It’s never too early to start honing skills that will transfer well to the hunt.  It’s the same as a college football team conducting spring training and scrimmaging in preparation for fall game days.  Prepping for proficiency matters.

To begin, let’s consider the main mission of our retriever on a hunt – from game recovery to bringing back birds that would otherwise be lost.  Then think about how to retrieve multiple falls or more than one bird down.  The Wildrose Way is this: 

Distance – the longest bird down first, then work to the closest

Time – the first and oldest bird down to the most recent fall

The order of recovery is the best way to prevent game losses:  drifters, wounded swimmers, not recalling where the bird fell, etc.  Now, the gundogs may have another opinion.  They see the closer birds and may be locked in on that location or even influenced by old falls or distractors.  We need to train our hunting partners to trust us, as handlers, while ignoring their initial interpretation of the situation and trust that we will put them on the appropriate bird.  “Go where directed and you will be rewarded.” This trust is established well before game day through field training.  Trust, then respect.

We want to train to the point of being able to redirect our retriever’s attention away from shorter birds or distractions such as decoys, spinners, or old falls and take a direct line to recover the distant birds that are down as quickly as possible.

The Drills

To prepare, one excellent exercise is explained on page 173 of Sporting Dogs and Retriever Training, the Wildrose Way called the Inline Woodland Triple.  To set up a long bird/short bird down challenge, simply modify this known pattern which uses memories placed at fixed reference points.  Set up a circle memory with 3 bumpers down.

Instead of standing in the center of the pattern, move to the extreme left or right of one of the outside memories which sets up two bumpers that the dog must line past to pick the longest placement. Pick the bumpers 3, 2, 1…the longest to the shortest then invert and run the drill in the opposite direction. This is a long bird/short bird setup.

The Slider

With the dog at heel, the handler walks in a straight line across a field of short grass or bare ground.  Place seen memories using large white bumpers all in a straight line 12 to 15 yards apart.  Begin with 3 bumpers then advance to 4.

After the last bumper is dropped, you should have a line of obvious bumpers all in a row.  Walk past the third bumper placed (last one down) to begin the drill.  The objective is to line the dog past the shorter 2 bumpers to recover the longest (first one placed).  Set the line for the dog as close to the bumpers as possible given the dog’s level of ability.  As success is achieved, a tighter, closer line may be accomplished. With proper alignment, the dog may well see the longest bumper and that’s ok. The objective is for the dog to take the indicated line and ignore the shorter bumpers:  a direct line to the correct bumper with no suction to the closer ones or switching.

Making the Pick

Select which side of the lined bumpers to set the dog up on.

1.  You, the handler, are between the dog and the bumpers.  This is a bit easier.
2.  The dog is between you on one side and the line of bumpers on their other side.  Now, you have a bit more suction for the dog to deal with.

Redirect the dog’s attention away from the closer bumpers with the command “no.”  Take two short steps forward to set up the dog’s alignment to the longest bumper.  Make sure the tail, spine, and nose are aligned in the desired direction, then your arm extends. The objective is for the dog to focus attention forward afield to establish his/her line toward  the longest target.

Pick each memory in descending order.  If the dog deviates, prepare to stop and recall.  Make this a lining drill rather than a handling one.  A primary reset (see page 164) may be in order. If problems occur initially, widen the angle away from the bumpers lined.

After retrieving bumper 3 then 2 leave the final bumper (the one closest to your position) as a denial.  The handler picks this one up as the dog sits and watches.

Next, add 4 bumpers to lengthen the distance of the first retrieve. After successfully working the dog from both sides of the lined bumpers, move the location to open woodlands, bare ground, and on a windless day, even involve both shallow and deep water, always using very obvious white bumpers that the dog must ignore to make the longer picks.

The Slider will improve a dog’s lining skills despite influences, thereby increasing the success of quick game recovery with fewer losses on the hunt.

‘Aim well, muchachos & muchachas.’

WILDROSE ABIGAIL REGINA

By Emily Preece

13 AUGUST 2010 – 4 MARCH 2024

After reading an article in Forbes Magazine about Mike Stewart’s successful business of importing and breeding English and Irish Labrador retrievers here to the US, my husband contacted Wildrose Kennels in Oxford, MS early in 2010 to learn more.  We subsequently put our name on the waiting list and were notified in late summer of that year that we would be able to select a puppy from a Molly X Ruff litter that had whelped on August 13^th. The appointed delivery date would be October 1^st.

We’ll never forget  ‘Puppy Picking Day’ at Wildrose Kennels!  Our selection was a pudgy little black female with freckles on her tummy, that we named WR Abigail Regina.  The first thing Abby did right then and there was put her paw print on our hearts.  Later that afternoon, we departed Oxford and made the non-stop flight in our Cessna back to Abby’s new home in Kerrville, Texas to start what would be over 13 years of adventures.

Abby adapted quickly to our lifestyle, which included summertime motor home trips, and yearly winter visits to our home in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. The topography and climate in southern Sonora, Mexico make it very suitable for bird hunting; and migrating white-wing, mourning, and Asian ring-neck doves frequent the many local ranches where sorghum and ‘maiz’ are the main crops. Water retention ponds and naturally growing mesquite provide the perfect field conditions for lots of world-class bird action. The dove season generously allows hunting from late October into early March. Local organizers do provide all-inclusive “destination” bird hunts for visitors, but Bill’s Mexican visa status allows him the privilege of securing a permit for both gun transport and hunting, so he and Abby had the luxury of enjoying a couple of outings per week south of town.

On those mornings there was a noticeable change in Abby’s demeanor. Once the hunting boots, gun, and gear came out from the ‘bodega’, and her initial tail-wagging excitement had subsided, Abby put on her “business” face and was ready for the drive to the fields. She always stood up in the rear (folded down seats) of the truck; paws on the console, scanning the early morning skies for the early fliers. Without any formal training, Abby still knew well enough what her job was. It was always extra thrilling to watch her run down a “cripple”, or bring back a “double shot”. Her nose did all the work, and it seemed her eyes never left the tip of Bill’s shotgun. The “bird boy” that would accompany them always had an easy work day with Abby doing all the retrieves.   

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When the day’s limit had been bagged, and the gun had been returned to its case, Abby knew her job was finished, and she could relax at Bill’s feet while he enjoyed a cold refreshment and light conversation with the rancher and his family. The 25-minute drive back to Alamos gave Abby some well-deserved rest time, and she would curl up in the rear seat and dream of the birds that had gotten away that day.

This was Bill and Abby’s routine for the past 12 years.  Abby “retired” on March 7^th, 2023; with 5,724 retrieves to her credit! The remainder of her days were spent in the comfort of our company, where we made sure she still had opportunities to indulge her senses. On March 4^th, 2024, Abby, Bill, and I made one last visit to her favorite ranch to place her in the shade of a grand old mesquite tree where she and Bill had watched thousands of birds fly. Her paw print is now tattooed on our souls, and we will always be grateful to Wildrose Kennels for the opportunity to enjoy such a faithful adventure dog!

Astraglen Nisha “Heather”

Jere Nash and Holly Wagner have welcomed two of our retired Mama dogs into their home.  Below is a letter we received about Heather and Cassie.

Greetings,

It is with great sadness that Holly and I report that Heather left us yesterday for the great duck blind in the sky.  She almost made it to 14.

Since adopting her from you in the fall of 2018, Heather had been my constant companion at the office, outside working in the yard, or in the backseat running errands.  Perhaps her favorite pastime, though, was enjoying long backrubs from Holly.  Until she had a stroke two years ago, she would revel friends and family members with her retrieving skills.  The doctors at the Maine Veterinarian Clinic in Portland, who saved her life after the stroke, nevertheless were in awe of her ability – and her singular will – to recover.

More than any of the other dogs we have been lucky to have, Heather carried herself with a quiet dignity and sense of purpose that set her apart.  Other people, and certainly other dogs, were irrelevant to her.  You could tell by her walk. There was just a hint of supreme confidence to it, a slight swagger, if you will, like she was saying, “I know what I’m about.”  Day in and day out, though, Heather lived to be with us and to retrieve… and, of course, to eat supper and enjoy an occasional snack.

For the summers she was with us, Heather was our travel dog, on our annual trips from Mississippi to Maine.  You will be proud to know she was welcomed by all of our friends along the East Coast because of her obedience to “place.” At each stop, she would wait for us to locate her mat in the proper corner and there she would remain until asked to leave.  No other dog enjoyed the reputation Heather did.  Among the many Heather stories we could share with you, we’ll leave you with the time Holly was coming down the elevator at a hotel in Lexington, Kentucky with luggage and Heather.  Once the elevator reached the first floor, Holly got busy getting luggage off the elevator when, all of a sudden, the elevator doors closed and there was no Heather next to her.  After a few frantic minutes of waiting for the elevator to return, when the doors opened, there was Heather, in the same spot, waiting for Holly to give her the “heel” command.

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The absence of Heather from our family is made bearable by Cassie, the second dog you allowed us to adopt.  Like Heather, Cassie never needs a leash for a walk or a trip to the car.  Like Heather, heeling is the most natural thing in the world for Cassie.  On the other hand, next week, when Holly’s 90-year-old mother joins us for Thanksgiving, she will enjoy the pleasures of pet therapy from Cassie that only a Wildrose lab can provide.

We are grateful for Heather and Cassie and thankful you have entrusted them to us.

Jere Nash

Simply Served Reverse Seared Goose Breast

By Barret Adams, Lexington Kentucky

Nothing quite puts a smile on my face like a dozen or so Canada geese downwind, and ‘locked in’ on the decoys.  Having them ‘glide’ the rest of the way into the decoys gives us a great chance at knocking one or two down, then sending our awesome Wildrose Labs for a great retrieve. 

It is also hard to beat a goose hunt during the ‘thaw,’ and that’s what Wildrose Sterling, Wildrose Boca, Dan Adams, Associate Trainer, and myself did one cold 0°F morning on Elkhorn Creek near Lexington, Kentucky, knocking down 4 Canada geese.  

Now, I am a big believer in cooking everything I am fortunate enough to harvest whether it be fish, pheasant, or whitetail.  Those three examples are quite delicious on their own, but I have always had a hard time finding a goose recipe where I could clean my plate.  

In the past, we have tried a mesquite pellet-fed smoker, grilling the goose breasts with liberal use of marinade, but still was unsuccessful in making the bird just dang delicious.  Credit for this recipe goes to https://honest-food.net/canada-goose-breast-recipe/ but here is my summary of how to make one of these waterfowl birds a fast favorite appetizer at your next outdoorsmen gathering.  This is a recipe for how to prepare goose, and make it taste like a steak.  No Kidding!

Ingredients

• 4 to 6 goose breasts
• Salt
• Pepper
• Rosemary

Instructions:

Step 1.  Harvest the goose.  Recipe works well on Canada, but also worth a try on those good ol’ tar bellies, and snows.  A Kentucky Limit of Canada’s (3 Birds) is a lot of meat. 

Step 2. Breast the bird (leaving skin on if you so wish).  Clean off all feathers.

Step 3. Brine the bird in cold water, be sure to add some salt and sugar to help with the brine.  Brown sugar is also an option.  Let brine for at least 8 hours, but I like to let it rest for 24 hours.  According to the USDA, the reason we ‘brine’ is the salt in the brine “dissolves a bit of the protein in the muscle fibers, and allows the meat to absorb the brine and retain moisture during cooking. This makes the game juicier, more tender, and improves the flavor”

Step 4. Keeping the breast whole and Skin Side Up, place the breasts in a baking tray.  Salt and pepper as you like.  A touch of rosemary is also nice.  We will bake the breast to an internal temp between 120°F and 130°F.  This usually will take close to two hours at an Oven Temp of 185°F – 200°F.  Note: this step can also be accomplished in a smoker if you so choose.   A meat thermometer is also most helpful, and there are some out there that will Bluetooth to a smartphone to give you live-feed temperatures. 

Step 5. Remove the tray from the oven / smoker.  You will notice that the goose breast may have lost some of its volume, this is a good thing, as we are softening up the protein.

Step 6.  Now we need to sear the goose with the highest level of heat possible.   I used a little bit of oil in a cast iron pan, and got some intense heat.  I tried to sear at least 3 minutes each side.  Start with the skin side down, or whichever side the skin used to be on.  

Step 7.  Remove the goose, and let the meat rest.  After a couple of minutes, I slice the breast thin, long ways.  Added salt, pepper, and rosemary or any of your favorite herbs of choice.

Step 8. Let cool and enjoy!  At this point, a bottle of red wine would be a great addition.

A ‘frosted’ Wildrose Sterling after a cold goose hunt.

Be sure to protect your hunting companion with cold weather gear when appropriate.  It lets you stay in the field longer, and on this particular hunt it paid off. 

First time ever that the waders actually froze solid standing up.

Fresh Fish Ceviche

By Al Klotsche, Wildrose Midwest

Every once in a while, Wildrose waterfowlers are lucky enough to book a cast and blast trip involving an early morning hunt followed by a leisurely afternoon fishing trip.  This recipe can be used on almost any fresh fish, but I think it works best with saltwater fish.   The great thing is you can make it in advance and enjoy your Ceviche with an adult-beverage (or two) right on the boat.

Ceviche is a cooking style that uses the acids of limes to cook the fish.  The cooking time is 10-15 minutes and is done only through contact – no heat source required.  

Ingredients

Fresh caught fish (yielding about 1 cup of diced fish)

3 large fresh limes

4 ripe avocados (chopped)

1 pint of cherry tomatoes (chopped)

1 medium red onion (chopped)

1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)

½ cup of corn

Salt

Pepper

Triscuits or cracker of choice

Instructions

Prior to heading out, chop the avocados, tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro into small pieces and add the corn.  Squeeze ½ of a lime’s juice over the mixture to avoid the avocados turning brown.  Put all ingredients in a Tupperware and keep on ice.

After successfully catching your fish – Fillet the fish and cut into small pieces about ½” square.  Put cut fish in a zip lock bag and squeeze in the juice of 2 fresh limes into the bag.  Mix the fish and lime juice well so all parts of the fish are covered in lime juice.  You will see the fish turn from a translucent color to white.  This is the sign the fish is “cooking”.  Leave the fish in the bag for 15 minutes shaking a few times.

After 15 minutes of cooking, add the fish and lime juices, to the other ingredients in your Tupperware, mix and serve.  You cannot go wrong with this recipe and your guests will enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Wildrose Midwest Duck Camp Warm Up

By Al Klotsche, Wildrose Midwest

One of the things that Wildrose Trainers often reference is setting up your training scenarios in the same format that you will actually be hunting.  But many times, this requires extensive set ups that can be expensive and take a lot of time to set up.  As a response to this need, Wildrose Midwest created the nation’s first Duck Camp Warm Up workshop, where waterfowl hunters and their dogs participate in a wide variety of hunting set ups, all in one day and in one location.  After running a successful Duck Camp Warm up in Wisconsin in 2022, Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in Dundee, IL asked Wildrose Midwest if they would consider running the 2023 workshop on their property.  After Al Klotsche and Mike Stewart went down to view the property, the answer was an immediate yes.

Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation was founded over 50 years ago with the donation of 1,250 acres just outside of Chicago, IL.  The McGraw grounds are home to a wide diversity of land and water used for environmental studies, fishing, upland and waterfowl hunting and dog training.  The diversity of terrain and the incredible management of the property, including water management for flooding areas of the property for specialty training and hunting, is world-class.  

The day of the workshop arrived and it was typical duck hunting weather – an all day soaker.  Fortunately, the attendees were prepared and carried on with enthusiasm throughout the day.  The Max McGraw team rolled out the red carpet with tents and seating areas to stay out of the weather and hot coffee – a duck hunting necessity.

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The 2023 workshop had dogs participating in 12 different simulations.  All drills were set up with real-life duck hunting situations and most of the retrieves were on live flyers.  Handlers and their dogs worked in pairs of two with doubles being shot/thrown before either dog was sent.  “The steadiness required from the dogs to watch two birds go down and have another dog next to them in the blind was something very unique for us” responded one of the McGraw members.

• In the first drill, dogs worked from MoMarsh stands alongside of a pop-up blind.  One duck was shot over the training pond complete with a decoy spread, while another duck was tossed for a mark clear across the pond on the opposite bank.    
• The second setting was a sunken depression in the woods where dogs had to mark a fresh duck 100 yards over the depression and into the woods by the sound of the gun.  The second duck was launched 100 yards behind the blind when the dog was not looking.  
• The third scenario was run from a permanent blind with a dog door on the front overlooking a pond full of geese.  Handlers had to send their dog for a retrieve on the far end of the pond, while the second duck was tossed on the opposite bank and marked by the sound of the shot.
• The fourth scenario involved hunters laying in layout blinds with their dogs along side of them in dog hides and a field full of decoys.  The difference in handler-to-dog positioning created some unique handling dynamics.  Live ducks were introduced from behind the hunters with a second duck being tossed in some tall grasses well off to the side of the drill.   In the spirit of “expect the unexpected”, during one of the runs, as a dog was marking one of the ducks which fell wounded 150 yards away, a coyote came out of the adjacent woods and stole the duck.  We called that a denial!
• After a great lunch and some warmth from inside the cozy lodge and restaurant, we returned outside for the afternoon drills in an amazing flooded corn field.   When the team went out early in the morning to set up, they easily flushed 500 wild mallards who were enjoying the feast with little effort to access the fresh corn cobs. The team ran two different scenarios from opposite sides of the flooded corn field.  Dogs soon realized that the corn rows made it impossible to visibly see the ducks, but they quickly learned that ducks leave a scent on the water’s surface, and they needed to use their nose to cross the rows and find them.

Although soaked by the end of the day, the handlers all had a great time and were able to replicate a wide variety of different hunting scenarios all in one day.  The dogs just shook off the moisture and were ready for much more!  

Wildrose Midwest and Max McGraw are planning to host a 2024 Duck Camp warm up in late summer, tentatively mid-August.  Dates will soon be finalized and uploaded to the calendar.  If you are interested in participating, reservations can be made on-line here. 

allan@uklabs.com

Letters to Jett

By Terry Hilliard

Dear Jett,

I believe everybody should know pure joy at least once in their lives. But life is complicated and hard – a lot. I know you understand both pure joy and the hard stuff of life. We start out with this simple and beautiful life. We are born, and someone nurtures us, feeds us, and cares for us. Your mom and the Wildrose staff did that for you until I came to bring you home. You entered our house, full of love and 3 girls and Paw Paw and I bet you were missing your momma and siblings. When you cried at night, I am sure you just wanted to feel their heartbeats and smell their fur. 

I’ve had some joyful moments: getting married, having babies, adopting beautiful girls and I’ve had many scary and hard and sad moments made of things such as sickness, trauma, and loss. You know a lot about hard stuff because your last couple of months were filled with pain and sickness. 

I want you to know you’ve taught me about dealing with life’s hardest moments. Remember the first time I took you to the Rez? We had been training and I was ready to take you to the water. I threw the bumper as far as I could, and then you heard, “Jett”. You leapt into action and flew over the water and when you splashed into the water, you swam until you reached the bumper and then turned to come back to shore. We did this over and over. When we moved to the coast, we continued our fun in the water at the beach. 

When we bought our house with the pond, my perspective on our training and fun changed completely. Until then, I always watched you from the rear. I would throw the bumper into the water. You would wait until I gave you the command, and then you would jump into the water, swim until you retrieved it, and then return to me. I only had a rear-view perspective. But with our pond, I could walk around the other side and watch you on your journey.

And that’s when I realized you knew pure joy. That’s when you began to teach me what pure joy is all about. You see, I had never seen your face when you leapt for the water – when with everything in your body, you flew through the air until because of gravity, your paws touched the water until your body was surrounded by water. The day I got to watch as you took flight was the day I shifted. Not only did your body fly high over the water, I saw your spirit so full of joy that I felt it as well. You were full of joy. You carried that joy over the water just a couple of weeks before you were gone even though your flight was not as high or long. I could see it in your eyes. You were still finding joy in the journey.

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I wish I could tell you that I’ve lived every day since then with pure joy – joy amid every circumstance – but I can’t. And yet, your lessons are not lost on me my friend. It’s kind of ironic that I spent so much time “training” you because really, you trained me to be ready for all of life’s joys and hardships and curve balls. You taught me joy in the moment whether it was to jump in the water to retrieve a bumper or to say goodbye to someone I loved, to celebrate an anniversary, or to hold a hurting daughter. You taught me that no matter how hard it is, or how terrible the circumstance joy can be found in each and every moment and for that, I am eternally grateful. 

I miss you, my four-legged person. But I am so lucky that you found me and that you loved me with your whole heart because my heart will never be the same.  

Love you always, Mom

terryhilliard59@gmail.com

Crook

By Alan Cattier

This is the story of a dog and a stick. Or should I say a stick and a dog, since the stick predated the dog by twenty-five years. It was 1998 and I was in Waycross, Georgia. I was planning a canoe outing in the Okefenokee Swamp, and I had stopped in to visit with a former student, Fletcher Comer, who was now a teacher at a local high school. He had said that he’d wanted to see me, and he had been an excellent student and a friend as I began my teaching career.

So I arrived at his apartment, we visited, and he told me he had something for me. He went to his bedroom and came out with a walking stick. He had hand carved it and inscribed it with some verse from the Old Testament. It was a beautiful walking stick, straight and solid, adorned with a serpentine of flowers carved into its length. At the top of the stick, in bold capital letters, was the word “CROOK.”

At the moment he presented it to me, I remember admiring the gift and the spirit it represented but also being a bit puzzled. CROOK? What was that about? Why that word? And all Fletcher said to me at the time was that he named all his walking sticks. 

That gift, that moment, has traveled with me since as curious if not a bit awkward. It was a time to accept the incredible creativity and generosity of this student become teacher, but it didn’t feel like an occasion where I could ask him plainly, “Why Crook?” Curiously, I could never answer that question, nor resolve it to my satisfaction, so it lingered, an unsolved mystery, traveling with me through time as Fletcher and I dropped out of touch and my life moved away from Georgia.

It is now 2023. I have had a challenging five years. I had suddenly and unexpectedly lost my wife, the love of my life, to a heart ailment. I had lost the ability to walk due to degenerative hip disease. I am living in northern Vermont, trying to put my life back together post rehabilative and restorative surgeries and I get a phone call from my brother Jacques, who has just picked up his Black Labrador, Midnight, from a boarding and training refresher in Mebane, NC, at Wildrose Carolinas with Steven Lucius and Chris Torain. He tells me he has met a dog, a dog he thinks would be well suited to me, a dog named Crook.

It is hard to describe that moment when he uttered Crook’s name. It felt like Star Trek warp speed or Doc Brown pulling away in the Delorean of “Back to the Future.” It was as if the accumulated wondering of all those years had reemerged and travelled the twenty-five year expanse of time and arrived at his words: Crook. It felt like an epiphany. 

The energy of the collision of Crook the stick and Crook the Labrador had a momentum all of its own. It pulled me towards him and towards the Wildrose family in ways that I was not expecting or prepared for. My brother told me that Crook was a teenager, a couple of months older than two years, who lived at the kennel. I am sure some of you know him, maybe even worked with him. He had a singular feature that distinguished him—a cropped tail that initially earned him his name.

I drove from Vermont to North Carolina and met him last February. On Valentine’s Day. It was overwhelming. At the time, I was still unsure of my ability to tend to this bundle of energy that clearly lived to retrieve. I was intimidated. I was scared. And I left Mebane, unsure of what I should do.

I went to Atlanta to visit some friends. We talked about Crook the stick and Crook the dog and they encouraged me to take the stick, to lead the dog, to live my life with this moment of providence as a sign to begin our time together. And so we have formed, in Northern Vermont, a most extraordinary bond, one where I gratefully reflect on the people who brought us together and those that trained and raised Crook the first two years of his life, and made it possible for us to flourish. 

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A friend of mine who is a poet recently reminded me that a crook is a shepherd’s walking stick, something I had known but had strangely never connected to the gift. I have even more recently spoken to Fletcher, who told me that he had named the stick after a lifelong friend of his whom he had meant to honor. On telling him the story I have now told you, he wrote, “I love when I become aware of the strange subtle often mysterious ways my world is connected!” Mysterious ways, indeed—a Labrador that lives to retrieve has retrieved so much more for me, bringing me a sense of wonder and connectedness in his beautiful furry self. And his is not a short tail, at all. For me, it’s the tale of the universe…

hexagenia@mac.com

Follow Me

By Tom Smith, Wildrose Mississippi

In the Army Infantry, all soldiers, regardless of rank, are taught from the beginning to be leaders. The “Follow Me” mantra means that as a leader we are expected to lead from the front. Wildrose Law #1- Dogs are looking for a leader. Wildrose Law #2- If they can’t find one, they will attempt to become one. Our job as the trainer and handler is to be the leader- the pack leader! As the leader you set the task, condition and standard for training and what is expected both in the home and afield. But what does all that entail?

On page 44 of Sporting Dog and Retriever Training the Wildrose Way, the 4 C’s of leadership are discussed. We are going to delve into each one and actually discuss a 5^th C to help you become a better pack leader.

Calm– Dogs, like people, will not follow an unstable leader. If you are constantly yelling at the dog, it becomes background noise. We have all seen it at the grocery store with a parent constantly yelling at the kids “Stop! Put that away! You are going to be in trouble!” But the kids just ignore it like white noise when there is no consequence. Staying calm while working with BoBo gives him the confidence you know what you are doing. I strive to be as quiet as possible when training so when I do have to raise my voice or make a correction it means something. If you are getting mad and yelling at the dog all the time, they may start to ignore you or just shut down completely. In the past I have seen this with handlers and when the dog shuts down or refuses a command the handler gets even madder and then nothing is accomplished. Or worse, you go backwards in your training plan. Stay calm and focused on the task at hand. If the dog isn’t successful with a drill, the first place I look is in the mirror and try to figure out what I did, or did not do, that made the dog unsuccessful. Don’t blame the dog!

Photo by Katie Behnke

Controlled– This goes hand in hand with remaining calm. Good leaders don’t fly off the handle at every little thing. All of us have bad days in training. Dogs have bad days too. They can’t tell us if they don’t feel good or don’t understand something. There are times when we do need to make a correction but we must keep our emotions under control and be the leader. It is easy to let our emotions overcome us when training. All of us put in so much time, energy and effort to train our dog to the highest standard and it’s easy to get frustrated and upset. If you feel yourself losing control, just stop what you are doing and find something you know the dog do successfully. Never stop a training session on a failure. Always finish with success, stay calm, evaluate what happened and get back to training the next day. 

Consistent– Anyone who has been around Wildrose for any amount of time hears this word ad nauseum. But, that is how you produce an excellent sporting companion; consistency in everything we do. Consistency must also be practiced by everyone in the home. If the dog is left-side heel, everyone in the house walks the dog on the left. It is a team effort family-wise to keep everything consistent around the house. Dogs are very schedule driven so they appreciate consistency in their daily routine. 

Confident– Dogs are constantly reading you and they know when you are happy, sad, nervous and the rest of the range of human emotions. They will emulate your behavior. If you are not confident in the dog, they will not be confident. An example that happened a few years ago… I had a dog in for a tune-up and was taking her on a quail hunt.  When I told the owner, he said “That will probably be a disaster.” I looked at him with a puzzled face and said, “it would be with that attitude.” I was training the dog and was 100% confident in her ability and she knocked it out of the park! He ended up buying pictures from the hunt from our photographer. Even if you aren’t overly confident in a new situation with your dog, you must exude confidence to help your dog succeed. 

Now for the 5^th C. This is a big one. Competent. As an Infantry officer, one of the big evaluators was whether you are tactically and technically competent. Do you know the battle drills? Do you know how to write an operations order? If you are not competent, how can you lead? Competency as a trainer involves how well you know the drills, how to set them up properly and how to help your dogs if they get in a jam. How do you make yourself competent? Study Sporting Dog and Retriever Training the Wildrose Way cover to cover, practice by yourself setting up the drills, practice your whistle and hand signals in front of the mirror and attend some of our training classes. The better you become as a handler, the more success you and you dog will have afield.

Knowing and practicing the C’s of canine leadership will help you develop an unbreakable bond with your dog. Dogs love a good leader and putting these tenets to use in your daily life, both home and afield, will set you up for years of never-forgotten memories with your pup.

Photo by Katie Behnke