HAPPY NEW YEAR FRIENDS! I genuinely hope each of you has an upcoming year full of fins, feathers and fellowship.

I’m going to start with a story. A short while ago, my father and I took my dog “Rowdy” to a relatively new hunting lease. Being relatively new, I was quite unfamiliar with it. While it holds a ton of birds, there are portions of the half-section that are nearly impassable. Rowdy is a male Brittany Spaniel, but he’s not a large dog. Even in the shorter section of the CRP grass he was hard to see. While he doesn’t typically range too far, it’s concerning when time goes by and you haven’t seen your hunting companion. I suppose the same would be for your human hunting partner too (my dad), but I digress.

We arrived shortly after daybreak and got ourselves ready for the hunt. I made sure Rowdy had eaten and gave him some water after we arrived. While he was drinking, I slipped on his shock collar that he’s worn many times. And off we go.

About 30 minutes into the hunt, about half a dozen deer sprint out of some tall grass. While he typically doesn’t seemingly care, Rowdy takes off in pursuit. No problem, pull out the shock collar to stop him and remind him that’s a no-no. It’s not working. I panic as he takes off hundreds of yards away. “What in the world” I think to myself. Dagnabbit, I forgot to turn it on (first time, I promise). Rowdy is gone in a field he too was unfamiliar with. The biggest problem I had was that since I haven’t mastered my new Garmin Pro 550 (it has GPS with a handheld device that tracks the dog to a “t”), I had on an old one with no such feature. This one doesn’t even have the locator beep button to help ascertain the dog’s location. Regardless, we press on in his direction. After about 45 minutes, my dad stood on the corner of two intersecting roads watching while I hightailed it back to the pickup. How they do this I’ll never understand, but Rowdy was there just hanging out waiting for me. I turned on the collar and back we went without issue the rest of the day.

I’ve now mastered the Garmin and won’t go out with him without it being worn (and turned on!) again. There is no fun in hunting with a pit in your stomach wondering whether you’ll ever see your best friend again. I reckon the lesson for today is to make sure your collar is charged and turned on, and get the best one you can afford. My Garmin comes with a watch that you can look down on and see the exact direction and distance of your dog, and it alerts you if the dog is on point. Money well spent.

Finally, and to me most importantly, don’t use these collars for severe punishment. Your dog knows when he/she has upset you, and that’s enough. I use it for a “gentle reminder”, which means having it set to low power. I rarely ever have to use the shock feature, but the peace of mind is worth it for me.

See y’all next month!