Too Much Pride in My Bird Dog

Do you suffer from hubris when it comes to your bird dog? I confess to often displaying symptoms of the affliction.

As you may recall from high school English lit class, Odysseus paid dearly for his own hubris in Homer's epic poem The Odyssey. Odysseus' hubris, or excessive pride, led the gods to punish Odysseus by sending him on a ten year journey following the Trojan War to teach humility.

Like Odysseus, I've been guilty of having excessive pride in my bird dog, Trammell. My own hubris became apparent to me while reading Grayson Schaffer's excellent blog post on the Filson website recently.

Below, you'll find some of my favorites from Mr. Schaffer's unofficial rules of dog etiquette for people who take their gun dogs seriously.

1. You might have the best dog in the field back home, but that likelihood lessens with each mile driven.

3. Every time you're about to brag about your dog, stop yourself and compliment another dog's fine retrieve from the day, instead.

4. Only the underdog can overachieve. The best the over-dog can do is meet expectations.

10. When your dog leans against you, it either means that he's trying to dominate you or that he has an itch he'd like you to scratch. Your call.

After reading Mr. Schaffer's rules of dog etiquette, I realized that I've boasted with pride about my own bird dog far too often during the early days of this pheasant season. And after my pup's failure to retrieve two crippled roosters during my most recent pheasant hunt with my good friend "The Captain" Billy Hildebrand, I've been burdened by the guilt of my own hubris.

Consequently, with the Rooster Road Trip fast approaching, I felt it appropriate to repent for this hubris. The last thing I want is to spend 10 years on the road with Andrew and Anthony trying to get home. Never can be too careful, right?

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