Birth of a hunting dog Part 6

"Watch "Ole Bullet." I think he's onto something," I heard my Master whisper to his nephew.

It was the first time his nephew had been hunting. It was also the first time two pups my Master had just bought had been hunting to. They were slowly following me.

I picked up the scent of quail. My Master trained me to shake my ass and point when I was right up on them.

"There's his signal," My Master told the boy. "Watch him flush them out. As soon as he does, we'll shoot them."

I jumped where they were nesting. And they flew out.

I heard several gunshots.

"Good shooting Jeremy," My Master said. "I think we got three or four. Go get them, boys."

I did my best darting through the briars on all fours. The pups followed close behind. I saw one of the birds lying on the ground. I clamped on it with my teeth and took it back to my Master.

"Good boy!" he said as he put it in his sack. The pups brought back two more.

"Bullet, go see if there is another one, I think I saw four fall," he said.

I went back into the weeds and picked up the scent. Sure enough, there was another one lying on the ground. I picked it up with my teeth and took it back and laid it at their feet.

"Good boy, again," he said, patting me on the head and giving me a treat.

"Uncle Joe, can I ask a question," My Master's nephew said. "How come the birds can't smell bullet. I thought if they smelled humans, they'd fly off."

My Master chuckled, knelt down and petted me on my back.

"He ain't a human," My Master said. "He is as much a dog as the pups that are with him. Don't you ever forget that. He smells like a dog, acts like a dog. He is a dog."

He then instructed his nephew to pet me.

"I want him to get used to you," he said. "If something were to happen to me, I'm giving him to you. He's a special dog. I want you to understand that. I had a man offer me $10,000 for him. I turned him down."

His nephew was amazed how much my Master valued me.

"Watch closely," he said to his nephew.

My Master grabbed me by my collar. I got off my hind legs. He gave me two slaps on the ass.

"That's my signal for him to get back to hunting," he said.

I went back out into the weeds. I kept my nose to the ground to try to pick up a scent. The pups followed close behind.

"Ole Bullet's a good teacher for young pups," my Master said. "My other dogs will run off and the pups can't keep up. They're still learning their scents. I've trained them so they won't run far off from bullet."

"How did you do that?" his nephew asked.

My Master snapped his fingers. I stopped, got on my knees and stuck my ass in the air. Both pups came up and stuck their noses in my ass.

"Old trick I learned a long time ago," my Master said. "I've trained all of my dogs to follow the scent of the ass of the leader of the pack. Ole Bullet follows Ole Duke the same way. The pups follow Ole Bullet the same way."

He snapped his fingers. I continued my hunting. I picked up another covy of quail and gave my signal.

"He's a very good bird dog," my Master told his nephew. "He can't keep up with rabbits. But he can birds. I'm still training him, I think by next year, he might be able to tree coons."

I jumped on the covy and flushed them out.

My Master and his nephew fired their shotguns.

"I think we got four or five more," my Master said.

It turned out to be five. I brought back three of them.

"Good boy," my Master said. "I think we're about done for the day."

I found a spot, squatted and took a shit. I then hiked my leg next to a tree.

"Good boy," my Master said. "That's one less mess to clean up back at the house. Plus, it gives the pups a little stronger scent to follow."

I climbed back on to the truck. The pups followed me.

"Usually, I let Bullet and Duke ride in the truck," my Master said. "They're special dogs. But since we have the pups with us, Bullet rides in the back with them."

I was hungry when we returned to the house. I climbed out of the truck and the pups followed. I led them to the pen.

"Jeremy, go in the kitchen and fetch those vitamins on the shelf," my Master said.

He did as his uncle asked. My Master placed them in the dogfood, and gave the bowl to Jeremy.

"I want you to start feeding him, because he's going to be your dog one day," my Master said. "You have to put the vitamins in, because he's a special dog."

Jeremy placed the bowl in front of me in the pen. He also went and got a water bowl.

"When we're training pups, Ole Bullet stays in the pen with them," he said. "You remember that. Normally, he gets full roam of the property because he'll never run off."

"Uncle Joe," his nephew asked. "Can I take Bullet and Duke with me next week when me and a couple of friends go camping and hunting on the property?"

"Yup, as long as you take care of him," my Master said. "He's one special dog."