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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:26 am  Reply with quote
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Heidi passed away yesterday at 1:35 PM at the age of 14 years and a few days. She was my valiant, loyal companion and best friend for over 11-1/2 years. No man could have asked for a better friend either. She was always there, always ready, always willing, and always able.

She had but two purposes in life, to find the next bird, and to please the one she loved. She always gave it everything she had without reservation, without question, without rancor. Her nose was always on the scent and her tail was always up and revving. Even after a long trying day, she would not simply walk back to the truck, but would hunt the whole way, every time. Often as not, she'd turn at least one more bird for me. Even in the last years, I never once had to carry her back to the truck. She would simply not have that. She'd walk or die trying. That was her choice and her way. There simply no quit in her magnificent heart.

I do not know what it was I did to deserve her company. Lord knows I adored her. But I was just plain dumb lucky to have been the one she spent most of her life with. They say a man only gets one truely good dog in his life. If this be so, then I've already had mine. I have perhaps just enough life and hunt in me for one more dog. However, if that dog is only half as good as Heidi was, then I'm truely a blessed man and will have had a wonderful life.

My friends are all sending me condolences for my loss. I tell them all that I've lost nothing. Heidi gave me everything and more. I could not have asked for more from her. I would not have missed it for the world either. And... now she lives in my memories for thr rest of my days. Hiedi was a good dog--a very good dog, and my best friend. 16GG.
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fin2feather
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:44 am  Reply with quote
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Sad new, Guy. May she rest in peace, and in time, may you enjoy your many wonderful memories.

Fin

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I feel a warm spot in my heart when I meet a man whiling away an afternoon...and stopping to chat with him, hear the sleek lines of his double gun whisper "Sixteen." - Gene Hill, Shotgunner's Notebook
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:38 am  Reply with quote
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I already do my friend...I already do. And thank you.
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662
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:42 am  Reply with quote
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Always saddening to hear of this kind of loss, but it sounds like you were a lucky man to have had her.
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:54 am  Reply with quote
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Very lucky. Thank you.
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Brad6260
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:09 am  Reply with quote
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I have never understood the many dog owners that I have run across who's relationship with their bird dog is akin to just another tool.

How truely sad for them.

You know what I mean and certainly Heidi knows too.

Sorry I never had the pleasure to meet the girl.

Brad
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:32 am  Reply with quote
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Some folks are under the illusion that men are just naturally superior to all other creatures. It is perhaps among the last of the many foolish notions much of the human race has believed for eons. However, there are cultures and individuals that understand what nobility really is-- the ability to be oneself, and at the same time, give all of oneself for the betterment of others. there are many creatures that are such noble beings. Heidi was such a being. She was noble in the truest sense of the word. She was nobler that I. I have learned much from her.

Those that only use animals to fulfill their own desires are not getting much for their efforts. I pity them. They could do better to learn from such noble creatures like Heidi. It's their loss though. Most of these benighted folks do not even realize the animals they look down on are far better creatures than they. How sad--how typically pompous, and how human. However, once folks learn to understand these things, their life and their relationships with all creatures become better. My life certainly has. I owe that to a dog named Heidi among many other creatures both human and otherwise.

She'd have liked you Brad. Thanks for your kind words and understanding. You are among the lucky ones to who know some truth.
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Birdswatter
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:25 pm  Reply with quote
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Very sorry to hear of your special dog passing.

Judging by your account of the great times you had, she was also lucky and fortunate to have spent her life with you.

Take all those experiences and lessons you learned together and carry it on with your next dog. The memories will live forever.
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:30 pm  Reply with quote
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Well, certainly as long as I live, and perhaps those folks who also knew her. As for the next dog who shares its life with me, I hope I will probably have more to learn from it than it from me. Thanks for your kind words Birdswatter.
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nossman
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:45 pm  Reply with quote
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Sorry to hear of your loss. It's hurts to loose such a good friend.
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16gaugeguy
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:01 pm  Reply with quote
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Yes, it certainly does Nossman. but I think the pain in my heart will set the memories permenantly in my head...and they are both many and wonderful. all things have purpose, this pain too.

When I finally reach the point in life where a comfortable chair in a sunny spot in a nice snug room is the best thing, then I hope I will still be able to relive these shining times again and again...lost in the reveries of an old but very contented man whose had a fine life and some fine friends, including my old Hiedi dog. Thanks for your kindness.
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TJC
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:40 pm  Reply with quote
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16gg,
My heart goes out to you. I know the loss you are going through. I lost a 13 yr old friend a year ago. It hurts for a while, you then move on but you never forget. Sad

There is nothing in the world like a man's bird dog.

PM coming at ya.

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brdhnt
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:33 pm  Reply with quote
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16Gauge Guy,

Although we have differed in the past, this is one area where we are in full agreement. I had to put Dee Dee, my fourteen year old Brittany down on 31 December of last year. I have no idea how many birds were taken over her but she was like Heidi in that the hunt was her reason for life. When we would get back to the truck, she wouldn't kennel until all of the guns were put up and she knew that there were no more birds for her to find in that field. She especially loved Jeff my one hunting buddy and always worked for him when we were hunting together. Her last hunt was on December 28th and the last two birds taken that day were roosters taken over her points and she made the retrieves. One was for Jeff and one was for me.
I have a trophy rooster with 25 1/2" tailfeathers and 7/8th inch spurs that was taken over one of her points when she was four. I took her ashes and scattered them in the field where she found that rooster. That field has been retired, I will never hunt it again, I left it for Dee Dee to hunt for eternity. Even now, my eyes are tearing as I think of her and all of the great hunts and memories she gave me.
Enjoy her memories and lift a glass to an "absent companion"

TMB
________
125 F1


Last edited by brdhnt on Fri Feb 25, 2011 4:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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hunshatt
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:41 pm  Reply with quote
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16gaugeguy, I'm sorry for your loss. I would have loved to meet heidi, perhaps next go around
Tim
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TJC
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:08 pm  Reply with quote
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Who's got that tale of the hunter and bird dog meeting in the here after? Someone out there does and this is the place/time to post it.

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