Treasure - Expert Bird Dog Parent

Yesterday afternoon I witnessed something I have never seen before in 23 years of raising Brittany dogs.  I have seen mother dogs do some pretty amazing things with their pups with their pups in the past but Treasure has topped them all.  Recently she delivered  a live quail into the whelping box for her pups (ahem, some one I know and love left the quail pen open...).   Yesterday, she found the back section of feathers reamining from one of John and Jack's pheasants.  I saw her with them and typically she will ALWAYS bring an item to my hand with the command "Come, Give".   Not so.  It happened to be that the entire litter of 11 were out running freely in the backyard.   And fortunately I had my camera because I could not believe what I saw.  She went over to the first group of pups playing around our grandchildrens swingset and very methodically made sure that each and every puppy there saw what she had in her mouth.  She gently brushed their heads with the huge pheasant tailfeather section. (There is probably a term for this but dang if I know what it is.)  Several pups were still inside the opensided X-pen, so she went over to them and made sure they were exposed to the bird too. Of course by now she had piqued the curiousity of all her babies and they were all responding.  When she seemed satisified they had all been introduced to the bird in her mouth, she backed up slowly from the pups still following her, and lay down for them to come to her.  My camera is a very small point/shoot digital with minimal video capability so the quality of my videos is always a little rough.  Even so, I was able to capture these moments.  I'm writing about it here first because when I upload it to YouTube I want you to know it won't be the best quality. But I'd have a hard time believing a story like this if I'd not seen it happen. So just as soon as I can find a little more free time (WHAT IS THAT??!) I'll splice it together.... Once again, Treasure has shown me she is just that - a real treasure!

Pups will be going to their new homes in two weeks!  This is the busiest and most hectic time of all for us with so much more to do with them and PAT evals tomorrow with Pam and Sam.  Intros to leash and collars coming up and Treasure seems to have taken care of the early bird training for us.  I am busy morning to night with the pups, reached the point of pure exhaustion, Thanksgiving is upon us, a dog show to prepare for, and enjoying life in general and looking forward to more puppy visits.  It is times like this that I value precious moments spent with family and friends, and appreciate quite moments of prayer and reflection.  It is true and it is written that the Joy of the Lord is My Strength, and that times of refreshing are found in His Presence... When I am not even aware of the need to be strengthened and refreshed for whatever reason, I can always be still, and KNOW that He is God!  We all have much to be thankful for each and every day of our lives if we will but take the time to realize it.  Thanksgiving is but one day of the year when we make it a point to remember it deliberately and intentionally.  As we approach this holiday, our prayer is that you and yours have an especially meaningful time - however you choose to celebrate and to give thanks.  God Bless, John, Ann and ATB