So, poodles as hunting dogs?
Like most people I had my doubts on whether or not using poodles to hunt
was really a good idea. My mother breeds
Standard poodles, just for that purpose; hunting! My father has always had a standard poodle as
his hunting companion and when I went home to Ohio on leave, I thought why not
take the poodle out so we can jump shoot some woodies in the creek. I was mostly curious to see if the poodle
could hunt like a lab, or if they even compared at all.
So my Dad and I loaded up Bea (pronounced like Bee) and took
off towards the “honey hole” creek. Once
we got down there I was really eager to see how she would perform so I asked my
Dad if I could take her to the other side of the creek with me; She followed me
over there but it wasn’t hard to see that she wanted to be with my Dad. My father and Bea have a very close bond, and
to me this is absolutely amazing. That’s
just the type of bond I want with my hunting dog. Now some people may want a dog that will hunt
with whoever takes them out, but for me it’s more personal and I wouldn’t have
it any other way than me and my dog out on the hunt.
So off we went to the other side of the creek, but we ended
up back on my Dads side; Bea just didn’t want to be away from my Dad. Now Bea was in the zone; running around
sniffing the ground, but always keeping my dad in her sights. I heard some wood ducks splashing around and
whistling, I went over to investigate and sure enough; there were 3 woodies
splashing away in the honey hole. The
hen was the first to spot me and I was busted!
They took off and I was able to fire two shots and dropped a nice Drake
woodie. To my surprise Bea came up and
investigated what was going on instead of shying away from the shots. It was like she knew that there was something
to retrieve and she was eager to get started.
As we walked down to the edge of the water, all I had to do
was point and say “Bea”; now she didn’t sprint and leap into the water, she was
graceful and very precise and headed straight forward towards her target. We have a saying in the military; “Slow is
smooth and smooth is fast”, meaning that if you do it slow, you won’t make
mistakes, and no mistakes makes the whole process faster. She didn’t splash around in the water and was
very relaxed while retrieving and I thought that it was just plain weird
because she normally has such a high drive personality. It was interesting to see her put on her game
face for the retrieval; she seemed like a refined retrieving machine, putting
all her energy straight into getting that bird.
When it comes to Bea and retrieving, she just plain enjoys it… in a
sense it’s her bread and butter.
While I was home we went out three more times, and came back
with 9 woodies. My Mom even came along once
to see how Bea was doing with us; she got some film of Bea retrieving and a
better sense of ducks and how they operate.
The last hunt that we went on with her I started to feel that bond that
I had so craved the first time I saw it with her and my father. My mom captured that moment perfectly in the
picture below, I’m already looking forward to taking her out again next fall
when I’m home to get some more Ohio duck hunting in. In the end though, the most important hunting
partner in my life is the person who has taught me all that I know about the
outdoors: my Father. I might just have
a soft spot for standard poodles since I grew up with them, but I would take
Bea out again anytime.
If you’re interested in more information on Standard Poodles and or hunting with them, be sure to check out my mom’s website: http://www.autumnshadesstandardpoodles.com/
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