Gracie the Hunter

Gracie finally put all of her training to use a few weeks back.  The guys took her with on their trip...the moment they have all been waiting for...to hunt with their very own hunting dog. 

From what I hear she did an awesome job.  She listened, retrieved, and did all that hunting stuff a dog is supposed to do. 

I could not be any more happy for Jon.  He has wanted this for a very long time.  I kept getting updates all weekend about what an awesome job Gracie has been doing. 

Grandpa Al and Uncle T with Gracie

The bummer was that when she got home on Monday night, her feet were very beat up.  I have been told that this is normal but our poor Gracie has an exceptionally bad case and therefore I took her to the vet the next day. 

We have learned that Gracie is allergic to something in the hunting fields.  We have not declared what that is exactly but her feet have not been 100% since August.  We now have it pinned down to the "field" environment and have her on the right medications but she was banned from hunting last weekend so that was a huge bummer for Jon.  Her feet did get healthy enough that she was able to go out again this weekend. 

We all love Gracie so much.  She is more than a hunting dog she is a our family pet.  Gracie is a very big part of our lives! She even comes to Sunday night dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house each week. I never would have imagined how much we would all grow to love and adore her.  She is a great dog and I just told the Vet that what surprises me is that I worry about her just as much as I worry about my kids.  The Vet smiled and agreed that they are easy to love!

I have no regrets with getting a dog.  I was warned that a family pet could not be a good hunting dog.  However, I beg to differ on that.

Jon with Gracie Mae 1st Hunting Trip

The other night Jon was getting ready for his big trip.  He got his gun and case out and once Gracie saw that she went crazy.  Fast forward to the next morning when I was awoken at 5:15 AM to Gracie standing in our bedroom whimpering because she thought that Jon was going to leave her behind as he was outside loading the car.  She does love to hunt.

So there you have it....as most of you already know, I have become a dog lover.  I am sure you all knew that would happen....I guess I was just in the dark.


So here's to our Gracie Mae and many fun years of hunting and family time ahead.