Scott Linden Outdoors

Faith, Hope, Charity. You gotta have all of them when raising a puppy. In fact, if you do, you’ll not only have a better pup, you will become a better person. Trust me. I need all the help I can get in that department.

No, I’m not saying being kind to Flick makes me a saint like the aforementioned, far from it. But employing all three makes training easier and helps maintain the trainer’s sanity.

We all have bad days with our pup. Yesterday was a constant wrestling match, Flick fighting the checkcord, collar, and the guy at the other end of them. His hearing aid was turned off, and obedience was a concept not in his vocabulary. Credit me for being smart enough to head for the barn early after too many close calls. But I knew it would be different next time out, and it was. We are back on track. Faith ruled the day.

Faith’s corollary is Hope. If you didn’t believe in it, you wouldn’t buy a puppy. They are all about the future, dreams, like a constant Christmas Eve. Anticipating your time in the field together keeps you on track, planning ahead, sticking to your training regimen. Hope is what gets you through the hard times, difficult training, the worries when you can’t see your pup in the weeds. Without Hope, what’s the point?

And Charity is what keeps us from taking our pups back to the breeder. Their big puppy eyes make up for the chewed furniture, their tottering gait inspires sighs and a need to cuddle. Charity is what reminds us they are only 17 weeks old, learning about the big new world. I was reminded – again – that virtually everything Flick encounters is brand-new. Horses, fire hydrants, bearded men and big ringnecks all require complex thought processes in that little puppy brain and we should be supportive. We give them break after break because they are so darn cute, and we trust their genetics, their instincts, everything that will, eventually, turn them into wonderful and loyal hunting partners.

If only we can practice those three simple words, over and over again. That’s what we should be training for.