# Bird dogs run back to truck



## meadowglenfarm (Dec 22, 2012)

When I was a boy my Dad told me a story set in 1938 about his mixed-breed bird (quail) dog, Brownie, that knew the area in southern Indiana where they hunted very well. The dog always performed well for him. Dad's boss heard of their success and asked him to lead a hunt with two visiting doctor friends from Michigan. The men from Michigan had two, supposedly, well-trained German Short Hairs. However, on this particular hunt in the southern Indiana terrain my Dad and his dog knew so well, the Short Hairs surprised the group with their response. They were hunting an old field adjacent to a mixed-hardwood forest. Dad said the old field was successional growth with a lot of thick brambles and other scrub. Any how, early in the hunt, Dad's dog began working out in the field while the Short Hairs worked tentatively along an old fencerow. Soon, Dad's dog, Brownie, pointed and the men took a couple of birds. As they later continued in pursuit, one of the men noticed that his Short Hairs were not in sight. He walked back to the area where they had come into the field, didn't see the dogs and soon found that they had jumped back into the truck.

I have written a nonfiction account of Dad's story, but would like to know if any of you could give me a valid reason why the short hairs would have retreated to the truck? Gun shyness is the first thing that comes to mind, but I had been told the dogs were well trained... Is there any possibility they would have been unfamiliar with working such a successional field/thicket? Would the scent of coyote have turned them off? Any thoughts/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian


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## Jig Master (Nov 18, 2011)

I had a dog that used to do that, and the cause was that the dog was gun shy. He would go with me for a mile or two and then would sneek back home. One time he did this and was killed buy a car driven by a neighbor. So the question remains, were those dogs really well trained? Did they run back to the truck after or before the birds were shot? What difference does the type of cover one hunts in make?


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## meadowglenfarm (Dec 22, 2012)

Thanks JM. They turned to the truck after the first birds were downed, which certainly does make one think "gun shy". Perhaps it was more an issue of expensive, well pedigreed dogs that were not so well trained as yet. I remotely remember Dad saying that those Shorthairs had not hunted in such thick brambles before and that too seems a sign of inexperience.

Thanks again,

Brian


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## Jig Master (Nov 18, 2011)

I have hunted with dogs that took off like a bat out of hell at the sound of gun fire but, never saw a dog leave because the brush was to thick.


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