One fall, just after WW II, an old hunting friend of my Dad arrived at our ranch with an ugly mongrel puppy, we named him Sparky. The pup would eagerly follow my Grandmother or I while we gathered the chicken eggs. The following spring, turkey eggs began to appear at the back door, as we also hand domestic turkeys which we released after the snow melted for good. When the dog gathered enough, we would put a turkey hen in a coop to sit on the eggs.

The following winter, when snow covered the ground, Sparky would wage nightly battle against marauding bobcats, raccoons, and in those days an occasional lynx to protect the various fowl. He would tree, and either my Father or I would dispatch with an old 12 gauge. These combats took there toll, his ears were torn, and he lost an eye over the years. He was one tough animal.

One Spring my Grandmother purchased from either Sears or Montgomery Ward a box of 100 baby chickens. In those days they would deliver by mail. To our surprise, old Sparky would gently crawl around on his belly keeping the chicks on the lawn while they scratched in the grass. His scarred old head resting on his paws, ever watchful.

Since then, I've had dogs with fancy bloodlines and names. but this mutt was in a class by himself.

My Brit brought home a deer head that someone dumped by the roadside.
Buried it in my wifes flower garden with the nose sticking out.
Bad dog.

During the hot summers, I run my dogs at an off-leash dog park, which is situated on a nearby lake. One evening, I noticed my shorthair hadn't checked back in with me. At about that same time, I heard an enormous racket of honking geese. I called for Vegas again, and she rounded the corner with a small, but very much alive, Canada goose in her mouth. Of course, this was a dog park full of foo-foo dogs, suburban soccer moms, and well scrubbed kids. They were horrified at my bloodlusting dog, and even more horrified at her owner! Thankfully, Vegas gently dropped the gander at my feet, where it proceeded to fly off, apparently no worse for the wear. Needless to say, we left as quickly and as quietly as possible.
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While walking the dogs, my college-age daughter lost a ring her boyfriend (now husband) had given her. None of us could find it, and she was both heartbroken and afraid to tell him. A day or so later, Muffin, her fluffy little white bichon frise, was pawing in the pine needles at the back of the yard when I saw a glint of gold. Yup, it was the ring! Even non-hunting dogs can find stuff.

A friend in high school had an overly large chocolate lab. While duck hunting one afternoon the lab decided to run off for a bit. When it returned it had the small end of a 12ft long tree branch that was 6in in diameter at the large end! It then sat there and you could tell it wanted to play fetch with the damn thing.

My old lab drug a whole cow hip bone into our yard many moons ago. I was a little nervous until I figured out what it was. Hey Dave, did you see my suggestion of checking out Ace Basin at Edisto in the "Where to Train" blog?

Six years ago while pheasant hunting in our back yard, my dog found the Leatherman I lost in the tall grass the week before. I rewarded him well, for it was by far his best retrieve.

My dog Flapjack showed up at our back door with our neighbor's deaf cat hanging from his mouth. The cat was no longer alive and provided for some interesting discussions with our neigbors.

Very funny stories, here.

Douglas, I think you're dog knows good fertilizer when it sees it.

Scampwalker, I often wonder when I'm walking Pritch in the park how long it will be before she puts a hurting on the "local" wildlife.

Sharkfin, I saw your ACE Basin suggestion...seems like it could be a prime spot for training. Thx for the heads up. -D

My lab/German shorthair mix finds my arrows in the backyard if I miss the target. She once dug one up after it had been in the dirt and grass for about a week, she was on the way to get a ball and must have picked up the scent. The past few days we have been playing a game where she tries to run off and get this baby rabbit and I take it from here and put it back. She has snuck off and found it about 4 times in the last 5 days. It's fine, so she must have a soft mouth!

When I was a kid I had a mutt named Corky. One day he found a very alive 6 foot Eastern Diamondback. Corky would dance arount and bark at the snake. The snake coiled and struck several times but Corky was so fast the Rattler never touched him. Finally my Sister's boyfriend arrived on scene with a shotgun and shot the snake. Corky killed and brought home 2 fox squirrels and an assortment of feral cats. He was a very intelligent pup and always seemed to undrstand what I wanted him to hunt. He loved to hunt rabbits, coons and 'possum's.

Hi, my name is Apollo. I am a 3 year old male boykin who loves to retrive, swim, and sleep in my owners bed. My favoirte past-time is trying to retrive ocean waves. So far, nothing but a mouth full of saltwater, but I'll keep trying.

Don't know that I've ever brought home anything really surprizing; however, when I was younger, I had a taste for rubber. I once ate a rubber glove -- I do not recommend this, as it did not want to come back out. My owner was nice enough to help pull it out the back end. That pretty much crued me of my taste for rubber...

I am the smartest member of my family. I love to go for bike rides, but my owner thinks it is funny to let me pull him along. Let me tell you, this is not an easy task. We like to ride along a stream near our home. There are always lots of ducks on the water. One day soon, I am going to break free of the leash and get me one!

I've never been hunting... but think I would like it. My owners are anxious to read about your training experiences.

One of our dogs brings turtles up into the yard quite often. Thankfully she hasn't tried to catch a snapping turtle yet though.

My GSH Pointer Jill is looking like a pretty good pup these days. She has an incredible nose. Yesterday while out for some exercise she stopped running and pointed a light pole with some bushes around the base. There was a rabbit hiding in the bushes a good 30 yards away upwind of jill. She ignored him when he ran out. She points Robins and songbirds just about everyday. On the downside she will roll on anything dead. Caught her rolling in the grass on a very small dead garter snake last week.

Our beloved Boykin,Olivia Jane(O.J.),was fishing with us in our jon boat.I caught a bass, she dived in and retrieved it and swam it back to the boat. We boated O.J. and her fish. Fish was unhurt, Olivia pouted because we put fish back!Her son Mac has retrieved the decoy spread set out in our pond complete with weights!These dogs give a new meaning to retrieving-if it's there anywhere, it will be brought back!

Had a old viszla that used to go run off on excursions and not wanting to disappoint her owners she would bring back a part of whatever she ate that day for the pack.

I was leaving the house one evening to go to the store.
The only thing we really needed was dish washing liquid. As I walked down the sidewalk to the truck, our Lab JAKE appeared with a bottle about 3/4ths full, and our brand. Trip to store cancelled.

I would have to say the weirdest thing that I have seen my dog bring back and drop at my feet would be the tennis ball. That is about as crazy as it gets for me. Don't get me wrong, I am not sure if I would want something out of the ordinary being brought back to me.

All these dog stories make me want to go out & get another puppy.

I heard this story on the radio. Sounds like this thing could have blown up...