Thread: Miss dog the do it all legen

As a fresh faced 16yo keen outdoors lad and always having hounds growing up I decided it was time for me to get my own dog big working man paying rent and tax’s fuck it all I need is a dog and a ute now… I scrolled trademe and found a litter of heading pups 5 dogs 1 bitch listed as a shy dog not a runt but dominated by boisterous brothers absolutely not for pig hunting I phoned the joker arranged a time and headed over to the Wairarapa after work one evening. Sorry old mate I can’t remember your name chances are you have passed now. We’re going back to when we had to be organised and punctual as cell phones weren’t what they are now.

On arrival the boys were stretched up on the pup pen gate longing to be picked keen and cocky and in the box at the back was this small bitch minding her own business somewhat embarrassed it would have seemed. I managed to get ahold of her gave her a scratch and decided Miss after a heading dog from when I was a little bugger in Mangamahu (Wanganui)that just blew my mind in its ability to head , now old mate had his reservations with a 16y/o turning up in his friends turbo Subaru looking for a dog but to his credit it gave me the time of day.

With a raised eyebrow he told me he had 3 sisters from 2 seperate litters same parents that were the fastest dogs he’d ever seen or ran excellent dogs but this one was abit shy and needs one on one time what are your intentions essentially.

“I’m going to use her for hunting”

Safe to say he blew his stack” I said no fucking pig hunting stupid little this and that” long story shorter as it’s easy to start rambling here I gave him my intentions of deer stalking with her …

He mulled it over and after a couple of cuppas he let me take her $250 from memory which was a good couple months of saving.

Took me a long to gain Misses trust but my lord looking now I’m 35 and just let her go Wednesday what a wild ride with a truely talented loyal loving hound she’s being by my side threw thick and thin for 19 years I feel very privileged for the time .

My grandfather a generational farmer said to me after about 18months your very lucky and very unlucky son we only get one great dog we get plenty of good dogs but only one great dog and Miss is your great dog to have that so young is lucky but nothing will compare so you’ll have a frustrating road moving forward


Well he was spot on she’s being a great dog she’s well travelled (Wanganui Christchurch whitianga Auckland) I couldn’t count the deer she’s seen found and even held onto once she found her confidence she was a force to be reckoned with we were lucky her first 4 years were in Wanganui where she got daily hunting I decided Christchurch was a goer and off we went. We spent years chasing red deer tahr and fishing from kayaks making boats and testing them on the waimak we decided we’d try our hand at duck shooting only one with a dog I thought miss will be up for this got plenty of shit from the lads but was worth a shot and as per usual it’s like she got the briefing and knew what was expected and excelled retrieving both birds on the water and on land she cleaned up our pond all day then we pond hopped retrieving everyone’s birds across the farm (quartz hill station rakaia Canterbury).

She even made training my next pup easy work she was the enforcer and knew what was acceptable.



Rest easy you absolute legend

@johnd Charlie boy while I briefly had him before passing him onto you and your wife you would have meet miss when you picked him up

I am sad for your loss Kelton but your story was well worth the telling. I like your grandfather’s analogy. At seventy one I have had many good dogs but I reckon I may have just got the first great one five weeks ago. She is a bitch no one else chose and our story is just unfolding…………..

Great eulogy brother and story of an absolute legend.
Dogs that change the course of our lives.
Sorry for your loss and thank you for your write up.

Excuse the lack of English was rather inebriated at the time . Awesome @Rushy fun times ahead il wait until next spring before I find another pup I found the last one easier with daylight on my side

19 years is a hell of a long innings,you definitely looked after her well. She will be waiting at the pearly gates with tail wagging many years from now...THAT is something I am sure of and something to have faith in.

That's a very cool life, well lived.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

19 years is a hell of a long innings,you definitely looked after her well. She will be waiting at the pearly gates with tail wagging many years from now...THAT is something I am sure of and something to have faith in.

Good Tucker and not to much of it swimming rather than running I wholeheartedly think helped her gain the extra 4-5 years over average.

thanks all looked threw a lot of albums the past few days and am very content I was the human for her and gave her a very full life.

Not easy is it!.
About 11yrs ago wifey decided she wanted a cat and she found a ginger kitten out in Oxford so away we go...there were 2 kittens left, both ginger and both brothers...I thought to myself "here we go" and sure enough we came home with 2 kittens.
Anyhow apart from the fact that cats don't attach themselves to humans and they do what they want when they want...and the human does what the cat wants WHEN the cat wants it done - they were both bloody good cats, never up on the bench, never at your feet demanding food, hardly ever meowed. But one got a bit crook a couple of months ago and we had to let him go, his brother often sleeps right next to where we buried him, that was actually quite hard!.

BUT our dogs are a completely different level of loss so I feel your pain, my dog years ago now was a Rottweiler bitch, I got her as a pup and she died at 10yrs, I used to take her with me when knocking over wabbits or Hares and she'd often chase any and try to catch them but she never could, she was too big and boofy and it was just a game until one day I shot this hare in the wrong spot and it took off..she chased that one and brought it down, it wasn't how I would have liked to get the hare but it made her day.

I'm fairly certain Keisha died of food poisoning, i'd given her a chicken feed of sorts the night before and when I went out the next morning she was on her side awake but her breathing was erratic and she went not long after.
But most dogs are incredibly switched on as if they can read your mind by looking into your eyes, I could wind my girl up just by givng a funny look or movement and she'd instantly be alert knowing I was about to do something stupid and then the game was on lol.

Wifey & I plan on getting another dog 1 day, more than likely when the last cat goes and when we've moved to Hoki....I can't wait
Apologies for long post but my philosophy is there is always something, someone..or another furry family member around the corner....it's just how far away the corner is, it could be a week, could be a couple of months or it could be a couple of years away but the corner is there and it gets closer everyday. Good you have plenty of photos etc, I'm the same and have oodles of photo's

Cool writeup about Miss.
Always be hopeful that she's not the best dog you'll have.
And don't begrudge any dogs that aren't. Just accept them for what they are.
I have one at present who definitely isn't the once in a lifetime dog. But he's incredibly loyal and he thinks I'm the once in a lifetime human.
So we will be together until one of us goes.

Sorry for your loss Kelton It's never easy for sure, and 19 is one hell of a good run.

Originally Posted by Twodiffs

Not easy is it!.
About 11yrs ago wifey decided she wanted a cat and she found a ginger kitten out in Oxford so away we go...there were 2 kittens left, both ginger and both brothers...I thought to myself "here we go" and sure enough we came home with 2 kittens.
Anyhow apart from the fact that cats don't attach themselves to humans and they do what they want when they want...and the human does what the cat wants WHEN the cat wants it done - they were both bloody good cats, never up on the bench, never at your feet demanding food, hardly ever meowed. But one got a bit crook a couple of months ago and we had to let him go, his brother often sleeps right next to where we buried him, that was actually quite hard!.

BUT our dogs are a completely different level of loss so I feel your pain, my dog years ago now was a Rottweiler bitch, I got her as a pup and she died at 10yrs, I used to take her with me when knocking over wabbits or Hares and she'd often chase any and try to catch them but she never could, she was too big and boofy and it was just a game until one day I shot this hare in the wrong spot and it took off..she chased that one and brought it down, it wasn't how I would have liked to get the hare but it made her day.

I'm fairly certain Keisha died of food poisoning, i'd given her a chicken feed of sorts the night before and when I went out the next morning she was on her side awake but her breathing was erratic and she went not long after.
But most dogs are incredibly switched on as if they can read your mind by looking into your eyes, I could wind my girl up just by givng a funny look or movement and she'd instantly be alert knowing I was about to do something stupid and then the game was on lol.

Wifey & I plan on getting another dog 1 day, more than likely when the last cat goes and when we've moved to Hoki....I can't wait
Apologies for long post but my philosophy is there is always something, someone..or another furry family member around the corner....it's just how far away the corner is, it could be a week, could be a couple of months or it could be a couple of years away but the corner is there and it gets closer everyday. Good you have plenty of photos etc, I'm the same and have oodles of photo's

I had the same thing mate got litter mate brothers for the wife both got run over broke my heart same place think the other one was going back to where he last saw his brother

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Cool writeup about Miss.
Always be hopeful that she's not the best dog you'll have.
And don't begrudge any dogs that aren't. Just accept them for what they are.
I have one at present who definitely isn't the once in a lifetime dog. But he's incredibly loyal and he thinks I'm the once in a lifetime human.
So we will be together until one of us goes.

Na no excessive expectations from me I love dogs and they all have their traits grandad actually ate his hate when I got bear called me a jammy little barstard maybe he just had a bad run maybe I put the hours in

Sorry for your loss it’s not ezi saying good bye to a good mate 🥲


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19 years is a hell of a long life for an active dog, so that is 19 years' worth of good memories! Yes, you only get one great dog, but you will always have good ones that will try to please you no matter what, and you can't ask for more than that. Been there and feel your pain!