if you have ever shared your life with a dog you have stood where i'm standing today.

I picked him out of the litter, hours old.
waited with impatience while he grew the first 6 weeks.
i can remember the day i went and got him to bring him home.
he smelled like a pup, ate alot and slept alot and had a "tude" from the beginning.
was the normal puppy months to follow, chewed socks and shoes, muddy puppy prints thru the house,diggin in the back yard.
we planted a garden in front of him and he dug it up. must not of done it right.
when he got to the stage he was picking things up and would bring them to you, i took away all the puppy toys and gave him a deer horn to play fetch with.
we spent hours playing with the horn and he ran his heart out to fetch it for me.
the training started early,sit,stay,heel,shake,later the wife taught him to get a beer out of the fridge in a couple hours. verbal commands and hand signals,should of named him einstien
but for awhile he thought his name was NO.
the first season horn hunting he learned not to chase nothing i hadn't sicced him on and found 2 antelope sheaths and an old buffalo cap.
loved a hose or sprinkler, take him to the river and couldn't keep him out of the water.
when he reached 2 yrs he was a constant companion, if the truck started he was in the back of it.
horn hunting that yr brought made him a local legend, " he taught him to find horns"
bird doggin the sage for deer horn or retrieving 10 Lb elk horns thru 2 foot of snow.
as a 2 yr old in hunting camp he was the KING.
rotating stock daily,when you came in the wrangler would grain your riders and and KING ZIP got to keep yesterdays horses from poaching
the goodies.
he would run at them roaring and latch onto theirs tail as they thundered away, or taking a hind to the ribs getting launched in a 20 foot arch and hitting the ground. on his feet in a flash, charging back for "round 2"
we were just rolling out of the bedroll one morning when the horse herd thundered by and
he hit the tent flap hard enough to make the canvas snap.
bout that moment i heard my hunter scream,
i thought my ole' dog had grabbed my hunter, but the hunter told me later that morning that he had stepped out of his tent for the morning leak and when the horse herd ran by he turned on his flashlight and when the light came on there was a griz in the beam at 20 yds and coming to him.
it was at that moment the dog barreled past and intercepted the griz and took him out of camp.
i heard the dog go out of hearing in a short 20 seconds and it was 20 mins before he came back.
Man,that hunter took care of Zip for the rest of the hunt,saving food off his plate and makin sure Zip had a soft place to sleep.
a couple yrs later a friend and i put in a archery elk camp the weekend before the season and we set a tent and packed in some stuff we stored on the meat pole.
when we got back the next weekend the tent we left up and empty, was flat and tore up.
grizzly tracks all around, so we stripped out the footprint and fly and slept on the ground.
the next night at 2 in the morning i felt Zip boil out from between us and he went to roaring.
he is locked up 6 feet off the end of my bag
and my partner is yelling "wake up theres a bear in camp"
ya, was my response. i know.
"what do we do?"
"we don't have to do anything,Zip will handle it, besides you got the pistol,hit him with the light.
Ross hits the bear with the light and that was all Zip needed, he charged the bear and away they went into the dark of the night, the roaring getting fainter and fainter.
Zip came back 40 mins later and reclaimed his sleeping spot between us.
Yes sir, he was one of the best bear dogs i've ever had and i've got to quit for now as the tears are making all the words melt together.

couple of different horn hunting stories
we had hunted one of our favorite horn hunting spots and had found a big single off a great mule deer, and had done circles looking for the other side.
making big loops we had covered several miles and ended up back where we had found the first side, i told Zip we had to find it as it was a good one. he cocked his head trying to understand the words, finally i used the phrases he was used to "hunt'em up,find the horn."
dog looks at me and runs over to a nearby sage blown in with snow and does the coyote after a mouse head dive and comes out of that sagebrush with the other side.buck ended up scoring in the high 180s.
another time we had been at it all day and had covered 10-12 miles, headed back to the truck i glassed up a set of 330 kinda bull elk horns down in a steep rugged canyon.
my ass was dragging and i really didn't want to have to walk back up out of the canyon so throwing a stick as far down the slope as i could i sent Zip after it and gave him hand signals till he found the first one and he plowed up out of the canyon with ease.
when he got to the top i let him rest awhile and then asked him "wheres the other one?"
his ears perked up and he dove back off and using hand signals walked him onto the 2nd horn and we had a set.
the last sheep head "i" found was due to him.
we were working a steep hillside at timberline when he brought me a shoulder blade, it was the right size for a deer or sheep so i asked him
"where's the other one?" and he lead me to the bone pile and i twisted a 165 ram head off the remains.
Feb 4th one year the snow had all blown off or melted off and we were out surveying bucks and picking up the ones from last yr that were bleached white.
we crested a ridge and below us i see a 6pt. elk horn so i sent him after it and had spotted a set of mulie horns on the other side of the draw.
so when he got back i sent him after the deer horns and continued sweeping the draw for more.
i spot a chunk of hide off to my right and couldn't identify it so lifted my binos to look and there 45 yds away is a dead cow elk with her chin stuck straight up in the air and a mt. lion laying beside her.
the cat was down wind of us and Zip came back with the deer horn and i sent him back for the other. he's running up wind of this cat and it never even acknowledged we were there.
i sat down and watched the cat for 25 mins as you don't get to see a lion every day.
finally getting to my feet i put Zip on heel and walked not quite straight at the cat and cut the distance to 25 feet without looking at the cat.i was at least going to get the ivories out of the elk.at 25 feet i spun on the lion and shouted while pointing "you better get the hell outta here kitty!"
the lion never moved but i had its attention
Zip is looking at me like i'm off my rocker,
he hasn't seen the cat and can't smell it.
i went to chuckin rocks then and away goes the lion with Zip in hot pursuit. a quick whistle and he 180's back to my side.
no license,no camera,no gun. so early the next morning we are on the road again except fully equiped this time.we hike the 6 miles back into this area and are nearing the draw at the crack of dawn. a 100 yds out i shed my backpack and chamber a round in my 270.telling Zip to stay
i sneek in the last way myself and i'm looking for the elk as i crest the hill which is off to my right at 2 oclock, when in the pre dawn light i glance directly in front of me and the lion is standing broadside 60 yds away.
i dump the safty as the rifle comes to my shoulder and hold low cause i'm so close and hit
the big cat low, right where i was holding.
the lion roars and scaulds off down the draw.
Zip is at my side before the echo of the shot can dissapate and seeing the cat, goes after it.
i whistle him off thinking i got a 2nd shot but the cat gets out of sight and i take off running down into the draw and Zip runs up beside me and i turn him loose "skit'um!"
i yell and he's gone from my side in a flash,
entering the tree line 30 yds in front of me i hear the lion scream again and his shape jump into a tree as i now am entering the trees.
i got one tree i got to get around and there the lion 6 feet up on a branch with Zip leaping at it from below. i stuff one more into the chest of the big cat and Zip is now a Mt. lion dog.

Sounds like you've lost one helluva partner. I'm very sorry for your loss, but glad that you have all those great memories of him. Hope you allowed him to pass on those genes and may be able to have one of his pups someday. Gotta love a heeler.

I lost my best bud a few years ago and a nice picture of him now hangs in a place of honor in my office. My wife got it done for me and it did help ease a bit of the pain and bring forth those happy memories rather than the sorrow.

at 12 i knew it was coming, but you are never ready.
i'm just plain lost without him and have cryed a river the past 2 days.
he was the grandson of a dog i started back in the early 90s and the blood is still going.
there wasn't anything he couldn't do except tie my shoes.
when we would get home in the evening he would bring my my slippers, he retrieved duck and hunted pheasants,gathered the horse herd,chased cows,lions,bears,horns.
take him fishing and you didn't need a net.
he never bit anyone but at 75 Lbs he didn't have to, when he came at you, you were looking for something to climb.
i loved the way he would walk up on a grizzly track and with a slow sniff, the hair on his back would stand straight up and he would look at me and growl a low rumbling griz growl.
just too many great stories about this great dog
he will be sorely missed and impossible to replace.
way i figure, hes' on the other side guarding camp and the horse herd waiting for me to come down the trail....
gotta go, i can't see.

i can feel your paid - lost our golden a bit over a year ago & even though the new guy is wonderful, there is still a hole remember the old saying that it is better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all

Ur tearing me up here ravenr. Got me rememberin ol' Tippy & Spookers, couple a great heelers that helped a young man learn many things 'bout huntin & ranchin up Montana way. I swear I learnt more from the dogs than most folks.
Sounds like ur boy lived the good life......and took you along for the ride. Glad ur remembering the good times.........

Man, oh man. I'm sure sorry to hear about the loss of your hunting partner. Sounds like you've got a lot of good memories to last you until you meet again in the happy hunting grounds. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

ravenr,
Zip was a fine looking guy. Thanks for the great stories of your past with him.
I'm looking at my Purdy dog, the airedale sleeping next to my feet and don't want the day to come that I lose her.
Best wishes for the future.

John

thank very much for sharing this with us .Juan