Scott Linden Outdoors

Raising a puppy is in large part (pun intended) about scaling things down, then back up again in increments. Enthusiasm, correction, gear, accommodations, even gunshots are meted out in larger or smaller bits depending on Flick’s size and age, stage of development and many other factors.

I was reminded of this when he pointed a moth this morning. The poor insect gave his miserable life in service to a young bird dog, who has already progressed to pigeons. You gotta start somewhere.

Checkcords get longer as his tiny legs lengthen and strengthen. Commands can be more subtle, praise more subdued. Crates are soon outgrown. Dinners are bigger by the day (breakfasts and lunches too). A cap gun is supplanted by a starter pistol, light shotgun blanks, and soon, the real deal. The fingernail clipper has been replaced by a standard trimmer, the small comb by a bigger brush. It’s still a wrestling match, though.

Our walks are longer, Flick’s pace is quicker and more sure. I can see an awakening in him, a dawning, realization that fun happens in the field and birds are out there, somewhere, waiting to be found.

The magic period when everything is new and a complete surprise will soon be a memory. But until then, it is up to we humans to give little dogs the tools and experiences they will need as big dogs.