When Eric Jacobs forwarded the photo and email excerpt below, I wanted to stand up and cheer, more for what it doesn't say than maybe what it says.

There was a time when men and women had the time and wild birds and savvy and patience to understand that puppies need to be on their own schedule.  We've mentioned before in this blog the Bible teaching centered around "To everything, there is a season."  I've come to believe that's a verse we likely should have posted on the top of every crate in our homes, on the gate to every kennel in our yards.  

So much of our life has become "on demand," from our entertainment to pharmacy hours to car shopping to education.  The Workaday And Leisure World now moves to our own over-booked schedules...but not The Natural World.

Not The Natural World that fascinates those of us looking for an effective working partnership with a bird dog that can be our guide to a deep connection to the outdoors.  A dog that will teach us things about the Natural World, about communication, about ourselves, in ways we'll learn no other way.

There's an outdated term that I think of when I see a puppy (with apologies to sportscaster Chris Berman) "fumbling, bumbling, stumbling" about, learning that Natural World.  The word is "skylarking."  

I love that term.  It's free.  It's natural.  It's not about schedule or timetables or technology or keeping up with a buddy's precocious puppy.  It's taking time as it comes, not muscling it into what's convenient or permitted by that other life on the clock.

I cannot tell you how weary I am of reading accounts of early "training" with plenty of "correction."  Of owners sending their puppies to a pro's kennel before there is even remotely the kind of bond that is the foundation of the partnership we were hungry for (or should have been hungry for) in the first place.  Of sloppy indoctrination with sleepy pen-raised birds, of fretting over a pup's "issues" at a time in that young dog's life to which we should only be committed to doing everything in our power to insure there are NO issues...of any kind.

Forgive me, but if I see one more photo posted online of a baby bird dog prancing around with a wing-clipped pigeon or dizzied, poorly conditioned game bird it's been allowed to catch in the name of developing "prey drive" or "bird interest" or "drive," or "intensity," and in ignorant defiance and peril of that embryonic and delicate wonder called "pointing instinct," I think I will...

...say a prayer for owners like Maggie's who understand there is a time for a pup's place in the family; for becoming secure and confident in an orderly routine; to connect with its new pack leaders; to make mistakes and naturally learn from them; to discover its role in our hunting partnership; to make sense out of its own motor and running gear and miraculous nose, to starting learning that Natural World and a life's work from wild birds in good country.

I will pray, too, for plenty of "skylarking" in its own place and time, good for all of what ails too much of contemporary training regimens, good for our hearts and humility and sense of wonder in the presence of a precocious puppy.

My friend and former Hocking College teaching colleague Brad Harter knows as much about world class horseback trial dogs as anyone I know.  He's the official videographer for the National Championship down at Ames Plantation, as well as producer of the annual DVD's that showcase the event.  A consummate backcountry horseman, field trial historian, boot leather bird hunter, and setter devotee from who tied the rail, Brad messaged me earlier this year after sending much-cherished copies of his films marking the setter Shadow Oak Bo's two year title run in Grand Junction.

Brad wrote wondering if another setter would ever win the National All Age Championships.  He remarked that many of the popular modern training methods aren't suited for encouraging the majority of English setters.  "(Some pros) have them running off just to avoid current training methods and they blame it on the dogs," writes Brad, before mentioning how he and his close friend Jack work with their own grouse and woodcock dogs.  

"Jack and I train much differently," Harter admits, describing the time he and his friend put in with their dogs during annual spring woodcock flights north through Ohio.  Youngsters are encouraged, not managed, followed, not chased, studied more than commanded.  The goal is a confident performer that can work with initiative while still remembering to dance with the one what brung it to the woods in the first place.

Harter laughs about the fretting so many people put into questions of range and handling to the gun.  "We can't lose our setters even if we tried. They want to be with us because life is good."

For Maggie and many of the Blizzard's Huntmore puppies Eric and Anna have placed over the years, life is indeed good with owners and families who want to get with their bird dog by putting in the thoughtful, purposeful, quality time that forges trust and communication and true connection with their gun dog prospect.  

Not only is that the best way to get the most out of the relationship most folks say they want with their hunting dog, but it's surely the best path to nurture  the uncommon, innate talent Eric has been breeding into his Llewellins for most of his adult life.  His continued quest for producing the best possible companion gun dogs that ply their trade with brains, biddability, bird sense, and class that is the knowing handler's Soul Food is a painstaking labor of love.

I have enjoyed the privilege of working for Eric, Anna and their boys in promoting the Blizzard's Huntmore Llewellin journey on this website.  Eric Jacobs is a friend and mentor and hunting partner and confidante and correspondent and inspiration and role model in my life.  In fact, he's been all of those things with me for more than three decades.   I will be excited to follow the further adventures of the puppies he's producing - as well as experiencing adventures with my own much-loved Blizzard's Huntmore "Lucy" - as another hunting season, another blessing in a blessed life with setters, beckons.

Randy Lawrence

Longhunter's Rest
Junction City, Ohio
22 September 2019