Our Dog Isn't Worthless, Part II

Bandit has once again proved that he isn't completely worthless, which has made his momma so proud!

My parents came up this weekend to see the play (which is now over, sigh of relief). On Saturday morning, Nathan and Dad got up at the butt crack of dawn to go duck hunting, taking Bandit and Lizzie (dad's dog) with them. After a few failed attempts to get a flight of ducks to head their way, they finally scared up some ducks over the 203 pond and dad shot one down...into the pond.

Up to this point, the extent of Bandit's training consisted of retrieving a floating toy out of high-mountain lakes. We had yet to have the opportunity to let him retrieve an actual bird, so we had no idea whether he would agree to put a bunch of feathers in his mouth, let alone swim in icy cold water to do so. But as soon as they let Bandit out of his crate and pointed out the bird, he dove into the water, swam right to the duck, grabbed it by the neck and brought it straight back to shore. Not wanting to miss a training opportunity, Dad threw the duck back into the water and Bandit retrieved it again!

So there you go, our dog not only scents down and flushes birds, he's also an accomplished water dog! And as a result, we had some delicious asian duck salad for dinner that night. Yum!

Here's a great photo Nathan took of Bandit yesterday as he was testing out his photo gear for a shoot he had yesterday.

Not sure how Nathan got him to sit still long enough to take this. I know, it's kind of sad how excited we get over him, but until we have an actual kid, this dog is our child. And for all of his bad habits (being clingy, digging up the back yard), he's definitely a keeper!