Saturday, March 3, 2012

Dogs & Trout


Sophie, a black lab, was purchased second. The decision was unintentional since we weren't going to the pet store to purchase another dog. We just wanted to look. Upon seeing this large clumsy lab pent up in a small pen we couldn't help but ask about her. Turns out, no one wanted her. They needed to get rid of the overgrown several month old loaf, so they offered to lower the price significantly, which peaked our interest. After an hour or so of play time, we finally caved and asked how much. Once the shock of a $100 dollar price tag subsided, the deal was made. This earned her the nickname, "discount dog," and for the first few months we wondered if there was something wrong with her that we didn't know about. Turns out the discount dog that no one wanted is the smartest, most fun-loving, and energetic dog I'll probably ever own. The downside is her rebelliousness. Last year, I decided to take her fly fishing. After dragging me to the water, she broke her collar and hurled herself into the water. I immediately took her home and grabbed Riley, her older sister, instead.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago, that I gave her a second chance. This time, she surprised me. At the first hole, she settled down at my side as I began casting. She seemed slightly confused, probably wondering what I was doing. After a few minutes, she became impatient with the lack of activity and her curiosity resulted in her jumping into me. I was kneeling stream side, since the water was so low, and she knocked me clean over. Turns out she just wanted to lick my face. A few minutes later, her attitude suddenly changed when she noticed something at the end of the line. Once again, she broke free of my rule and hurled herself after the eight inch wild brown trout catching it in her mouth. She dropped it almost immediately after I yelled at her. After that scolding, she was hooked. She no longer jumped on me, or lost interest as I fished. She was at attention waiting for the next fish to be caught. When I noticed her ears perked and her gaze following my indicator down a run, I knew I found my first real fishing dog and a future companion on fishing trips.







4 comments:

Stealth said...

I have myself a fishing partner as well, however, he thinks he is better than me at it and spends all his time running up and down the shallows looking for a fish to catch. Those labs love to retrieve fish!

Mark Kautz said...

Labs are water dogs. I'd have one except my cats wouldn't see the humor in it.

Mark

Fumbling the Fly said...

What a great story about what sounds like an awesome dog. I'd love to get a lab for my next dog. I don't think my current dog, a miniature pinscher would be much of a fishing companion.

Pete McDonald said...

"Dogs and Trout" gets my vote for the best blog post title of 2012 thus far.