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Most hunters I know have at least one dog, as do most farmers. If a person is both a hunter and a farmer, it is almost guaranteed they will have a dog or two. Dogs serve a multitude of functions from retrieving birds to herding cattle. If a person is especially lucky, they find a dog that can do both. I am not one of the lucky people, I have Duke.

I do not mean to disparage Duke as he is a good dog. It is just that we have yet to find out what he is good at. Hunting is definitely not his specialty. Old English Mastiffs are sight hunters. A sight hunter is good to have if they are able to run down and capture prey, such as a greyhound would do with a rabbit. Duke cannot run down a rabbit. He is fast enough to run down and tackle small children and fat old men, but there really is not much demand for that. If a rabbit takes off, he will run a few steps, discover he cannot catch the prey, and quit. He looks back at me with the, "Sorry, I cannot win that race" look and his short attention span is back on the next game. If I point the gun at anything, he is off before I shoot. It is nice that he has the confidence I will never miss, but a person cannot shoot where a giant lumbering beast is running.[[In-content Ad]]

I have only shot over Duke a couple of times. One time I got a pheasant, no thanks to him, and another time I shot a rabbit. With the pheasant, he saw me pull up before he saw the pheasant flush so he was ready and saw it fall. To my surprise, he ran over, grabbed the pheasant, and brought it back. He did not bring it back to me, he just brought it back. He laid down beside me and proceeded to eat it. I am a brave man, but nobody is brave enough to take food away from Duke. Duke likes to eat and when a 200 pound dog wants to eat, it is just a lot easier to let him go for it. When he finished my pheasant, we went back to the truck to end his first and last pheasant hunting trip.

Rabbit hunting did not go much better. A rabbit flushed, Duke took after it, but soon gave up the chase when he discovered the rabbit could run faster than he could. When he turned back to me to give me an excuse, the rabbit stopped and I dropped it with my .22. By that time, Duke had lost all interest in the rabbit and was off on another adventure. I walked over, picked up what was going to be supper, and made the mistake of showing it to Duke. He immediately recognized it as food and grabbed it out of my hand. The dog has never missed a meal in his life but always eats as though he has not been fed for days and may not have another meal for several more. He ate my rabbit.

I thought he might work better as a stock dog. Cows are large enough, he can easily spot them. They can be moved with an experienced dog, which he is not. If a cow does not want to move, or feels threatened, they may well attack the dog trying to herd them. Duke is not accustomed to being attacked. The first time a cow came at him with every intention of doing him great bodily harm, he ran to me for protection. It can get really nasty really fast when a cow is trying to kill the dog that is attempting to hide between his master's legs. Duke and I no longer work cows.

Up to this point, I have not found a job that Duke can do well except welcome me home. When I come home, whether I have been gone a few minutes or all day, Duke is the happiest dog in the world. Though he might not be good for much, it is not all bad to have an animal that thinks you are that special.

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