# A Tribute to "Toby"



## katorade (Sep 23, 2007)

I was 13 years old, and I wanted a hunting dog. My parents didn't want two dogs, so my odds were slim, until we received a phone call from my grandma saying. "A black lab was dropped off down the road from the farm, and has been sitting there all day." They went and picked it up, and it's collar said. "My name is Toby, I'm a pure bred Black Lab." He was almost 6 months old according to the vet, and lets just put it this way we went over to visit, and it wasn't hard to convince my parents that this was my new hunting dog.

But boy was he full of hell, shoe chewer, chicken chaser, pinging off every fence wall. Digging out, of the back yard. He was an escape artist. I was overwhelmed, I started trading a dog trainer "Sprig Kennels" pigeons for training lessons. That and harassing my Middle school English teacher after class, about training dogs. (He is a Member on the forum, and was a great English teacher to boot) He calmed down but I had to get him to overcome gun shyness which with a fair amount of work he did. Each year he got better and better

I didn't really know much about hunting then(Heck, I'll always be learning about hunting), so getting him on birds was tough. But we kept at it, when he was 5(Late In the game) I was trying to train him to find shed antlers, he would find and retrieve them hidden around the yard or pasture. But I'd take him to the mountains and he'd be looking for grouse or chukars. Until one day he brought me back 4 antlers out of the blue, and one is still one of my biggest deer horns to date. He wasn't consistent after that but I didn't care much, he was a bird dog.

Each year he got better and better, as he matured. Some days I write in a journal, when I'm taking breaks on the mountain and this entry from a few years ago sums up a typical chukar hunt, behind Toby. (I also have a Wirehaired Pointing Griffon named Mayzie.)

_December 2015-Journal Entry
Mayzie has style, a slow methodical pointing style and soft brown eyes to go with it. Toby has style if you consider a 85lb bulldozer with a tail, that turns sharp downhill on a mid morning thermal wind change, dropping you 200YDS around a set of cliffs to a covey of birds, where he then starts bounding as he closes in, that's when you know your gun is about to come up. I'd also have to say that is style. _

When we weren't chukar, Hun, or Sharptail hunting we spent a lot of time scouting for Deer & Elk, and going on midnight trail camera running missions to avoid the heat of a summer day. Mayzie will have to take over on keeping me company and protecting me from the creatures of the night.

In late February we had a bump removed from his chest which was a tumor and was found to be Stage 3 mast cancer or something like that. He only had a few months to live. A perfectly healthy lab that still dragging a 22 year old kid up into the mountains, with only a few months to live. I couldn't believe it! He could hike and keep up until the last week of his life, another tumor started shortly after the first one and April 15th was his last good day, April 16th his condition deteriorated, and April 17 I asked him if he wanted to go hunting and he didn't even get up, today was the day. His left leg had swollen up in the last two days and the tumor on his chest was the size of a big softball, I took him on a short mid morning drive to his favorite bird watching spot, and then had him put down. He taught me patience, and I'll always remember the dog that grew up with me.

Thanks for letting me share, a little bit about the life of my first hunting dog.

Toby- "BIG BLACK"
2008-2017

Some of my favorite hunts, I didn't dig through the older pictures, photobucket is too slow.









Toby sitting Honoring, Mayzie who's on point. On a group of Sharpies.


The day he found the antlers a 16 mile day. I found the other side, of the antler on the right a week later.


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Great tribute!


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## Goshawk (Sep 7, 2007)

That is a nice tribute. I'm sorry for your loss. Rest in peace Toby.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

A good lab is hard to beat and hard to lose. Nice write up.


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