Another thing we discovered was Buddy’s fascination with cattle. As we drove to the friend’s farm, every field we passed had cattle grazing. Buddy paced back and forth like a caged lion in the back of the station wagon, and depending on which side of the road the cattle were on, stick his head out of the window and bark nonstop. This created an interesting rocking motion of the car speeding along the highway. I’m sure Mitch enjoyed the extra challenge to controlling the car. It kept his driving skills honed.
We arrived at the friend’s place and Buddy got his first look at cattle up close and decided running after them was way cool, especially when I still held the leash. Do you know what happens when the line plays out as a 95-pound dog running full bore away from you with a 30-foot tether attached to you both? I learned a valuable lesson that day. LET GO OF THE LEASH! When that leash snapped, I went flying and landed on my face in the middle of a cow pasture about 4 feet ahead of where I originally stood. It felt like I flew 20 feet. I’m glad I take calcium every day. Strong bones. I think field training progressed as swimmingly as retrieval training went. That’s Buddy, and we love him.
This is the last excerpt, I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories so far.
A woman's view of hunting...with men 