Rosemary LoGiudice, Yorkville, Ill.

I'm a veterinarian specializing in small animal and equine sports medicine. I learned to hunt as an adult, with friends, and when one of them had a litter of pups, I took a look, not intending to buy. That was 12 years ago. Now my best friend and I hunt pheasants and other upland birds and compete in "Barn Hunt,'' which tests dogs' ability to sniff out farm rats. Mostly we compete in the Midwest, but we've been to the nationals in Texas. In the entire country, he's the top dog of his breed now competing! Sometimes in the woods he rolls in dead snakeskins. Otherwise he never causes trouble.