Whenever I am out and about with my Labrador pack, I often get asked which of the four of them is my favorite? My normal response is in what category? This causes a puzzled look on the questioner’s face.
I go on to explain if you are looking for a riding companion, then my youngest dog, Ghost, is the winner hands down. You can go for a 300-mile ride and he will sit on the front seat for days. He is the smallest so when I am not petting him, he will curl up on the seat and cause no problems at all.
Tracer, my oldest, on the other hand, will run laps from the front seat to the back, across the back seat and then launch over the center console back into the passenger seat.
Sarge will do his very best to crawl across the center console and sit in my lap. His loving intentions are great if you don’t care if you make it to your destination in one piece.
When it comes to around the house, then Raider is the go-to dog. He never causes any trouble and is the least likely to eat something that doesn’t agree with him and puke on the carpet.
Around the house Ghost will always be stealing the other dogs’ chew bones and then running away with them. When the now boneless dog picks up a different bone, Ghost will drop the one he just stole and steal the new one from the dog he stole the first one from. He also has the best chance of sneaking away to look in a garbage can or two to see if there is anything edible or inedible to consume.
They all perform about the same in the field, but Tracer was by far and away the easiest to train. They all end up in the same talent pool when it comes to flushing and retrieving birds, but Tracer seemed to pick up on his duties far faster than the other three.
Sarge will point any bird that will hold. To see a 60-pound Labrador frozen in time is a pretty cool sight. He is never out of range. The other dogs will need some reminders as to just how far 20 away from me is. This takes some extra attention which Sarge never needs.
I consider Raider to be kind of like a lineman on a football team. He is just solid and does the work. He will never be a quarterback with the ability to call an audible to make adjustments as circumstances change. He is just a solid player who never says quit.
How about when it’s time to kennel up the dogs when it’s time for me to leave? Ghost will be in his cage before you ever ask him to. Raider will wait around the corner of the door to see if you might forget to put him away. He always listens but will walk slower than a human baby on a fast crawl.
All of my dogs like attention, but when they get their fill they will lie down and kind of like say, “I’ve had enough for now. I will come back and get another dose when I am ready.”Sar ge is the only one who can lie on the couch with his head in your lap for a binge watch of five episodes of Law and Order. Ghost will lie there with all of his muscles tightened like a spring, and the second you pick up your beer, he will launch off the couch like the space shuttle at liftoff.
When it comes to going for a walk with me, a stranger or a guest, Raider will walk calmly with anyone for as long as that walk might last. Other dogs, squirrels, rabbits or other distractions don’t exist on a walk with Raider. The others need a firmer grip on the leash and an occasional jerk with a heel command.
My dogs hardly ever bark. Barking is bad when you live in town. Ghost, Sarge and Raider will give out one loud bark when someone comes to the door, but that is all that is allowed. Tracer won’t even give out one bark, but Tracer and Sarge will whine when excited or if they think they need to be where I am.
Whining is also bad, but you get to the point where the pressure to get every dog to behave perfectly is not worth the effort. Tracer is going on 12 and Sarge is pushing the 10-year-old mark. With so little life left in these two, I cannot bring myself to get very hard on them. As I have aged as a dog owner and trainer, I have gotten a little softer on my discipline. There has to be a happy medium between letting them just be dogs and needing and wanting them to act like Marines.
In the end, I have no favorites, just dogs that excel in different areas. An old friend once told me there is no such thing as the perfect dog. Each will have a habit or two that could be improved. I guess the same can be said for dog owners. Are there times when we could better as well? The term “interdependent relationship” is what dogs mean to me. My dogs and I will always strive for perfect, but pretty darn great is close enough for me.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.