Been awhile since I have been on the site. Anyway, I'm back. I called an end to our duck season on the 22nd.
Last January my Pepper dog obliterated (surgeon's words) her Achilles tendon on a retrieve. Since then, she has had surgery to reattach and splice in a section of pig tendon together and a large screw to anchor everything. We've since went through a long recovery with casts, splints and braces. Then slowly working her back to shape. The surgeon initially gave her about a 60% chance of being able to hunt again. Well, we gave it a try this year on the light side. All hunts were on dry field to avoid sticky mud. I watched every retrieve looking for pain or lameness. She came through it with no red flags. As I say on purpose her numbers were way down. She retrieved 7 grouse, 8 geese and 29 ducks. Her last duck was a fitting end to a return to the field when that was the big question.
She finished the season with a Eurasian. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face. We'll be back at it next year, but probably a little harder pace...
Here's a few pic's of her with the Euro, the Euro beside a wigeon decoy and then relaxing at home.
