A Bit More

I grew up on a farm in Southern Minnesota where the pheasants were plentiful, as were the dogs on our farm. I've had too many labs to count (they don't always have long lives on a farm) and one phenomenal Springer.

My step-dad and brother were killed in a hunting accident when I was 16, so I no longer hunt ducks.

I moved to St. Cloud to attend college, where I met and subsequently knocked up my wife. When my son Max was 8 moths old I was cleared to get a dog, which I'd been begging for. My wife wanted a Pomeranian and I wanted a Springer. There was a short stalemate during which we decided to go look at a Jack Russell Terrier puppy. I don't think it's possible to visit puppies without bringing one home, so that's how we came to own Bandit.


I was determined to make the best of the situation, so I began the arduous task of teaching him to hunt. To my surprise (and the surprise of EVERYONE around me), he excelled.

The defining moment of Bandit's young life was a day out at the game farm when he was less than 2 years old. We were hunting with a family member and his well-trained lab. 12 birds were released, 10 of which were flushed by my little white lightening bolt (much to the dismay of the lab's owner!).



He's got an excellent nose and is exceedingly intelligent, almost to a fault. However, he's not without his flaws. He doesn't like to retrieve a bird that's nearly his size, although he will on occasion, albiet begrudgingly. Also, due to his size (19 pounds and 14 inches tall) he has trouble in the "thick stuff" where pheasants invariably seem to be hiding out. He's a bit of a "sprinter" like his dad, and will run balls-out for about 15 minutes. If he's not hot on birds in that amount of time it's pretty tough to keep him motivated to hunt.

Bandit is currently nursing a rash on his belly, which he gets frequently due to skin allergies. For as much as he loves to hunt, his poor little body isn't always quite cut out for it.


We work through our issues and we have a lot of fun together. We've been out hunting wild pheasant 3 times this year on public land, but have only flushed hens. We've also been to the game farm a few times, where our success was obviously much better.

I've recently decided that there may be room in my heart and home for another hunting dog, and have been putting a lot of thought into which breed will suit me the best. More on that later...