A Tribute to Dual Ch (F) Pointgold Lorian

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DUAL CH (F) POINTGOLD LORIAN

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10/11/93 - 03/04/05

S: Shenkenhund Indruk

D: FT Ch Pointgold Keen N Able

Owner: Brian Watson

Brian wrote this after Wog passed away. He truly loved his dog.

I lost a very good friend today. My faithful companion of many hunting seasons finally succumbed to the ravages of time.
Wog wasn't the classic German Shorthaired Pointer that we see in "What Dog Is That?" picture books, but, she did gain an Australian Champion title for conformation. Never the most social of animals, I witnessed many times the look of rejection on people's faces when they attempted to pet her after a skilful piece of bird finding or retrieving. She simply ignored their calls. They, of course, failed to recognise she was first and foremost a hunter and while there were birds around or guns unpacked she would have nothing to do with niceties, she had work to do.
Picked from a litter, bred by Steve Burke, because she had a white "W" on her chest to match my surname and the fact that she was simply the most inquisitive puppy, she constantly shunned play with her siblings in order to wander off on her own with her nose up, investigating. I was hooked.
A promise was made to Burkie to do my best to make her into a Field Trial Champion as her mother and grandmother were before. How fortunate was I to have have him as mentor and teacher of the craft of training gundogs. He became and remains one of the best friends I've ever had and Wog was as much his dog as mine. She was my dog and constant companion but would take directions from him as though she had two masters. Wog touched many men who professed a desire to have a dog just like her. Once they hunted with her they were captivated. Only late last year she went duck hunting with me, on what was supposed to be an easy day. A fast flying bird was dispatched a considerable distance over a river with almost vertical banks, blackberry bushes on the far bank and thick reeds along both banks. It should have been too hard but she went for the retrieve and was gone for a long time. She got it, such was her determination to work birds. My hunting companion who has seen a few good dogs just shook his head in admiration.
Over her career it is estimated she brought to the gun about 700 pheasants, 400 partridge, scores of rabbits and hares, and literally thousands of quail. Add to that hundreds of ducks over the years and you have a substantial hunting dog.
I kept telling her she'd be a Field Trial Champion one day and she gained considerable proficiency in this demanding field. Winning many open and all-age events throughout Australia she became, along with her litter brother, a Dual Champion, the first GSP to do so for almost 27 years.
At the end of a day's hunting when the guns were racked, Wog would then come in for a pat. Never overly demonstrative and never, ever, even when a pup, would she jump all over you, It was sufficient to quietly lean on your leg or sit on your foot and go to sleep. As a highly valued friend said to me one day and many times since "She's a lovely girl".
I took Suzi and Hari, Wog's daughter and son from separate litters out for the Victorian quail opening yesterday, and I now wonder if it is possible to die of disappointment. The pleading look on Wog's face and the gently wagging tail said "please don't go without me". She went back into her kennel and never walked out again.
Her last resting place is in the garden where, with advise from someone else who admired her hunting prowess, a suitable tree shall be planted to perpetuate her memory. I took a very large glass of the finest scotch and toasted the life of one of the finest examples of one of the noblest of creatures made by mother nature, the pointing dog.
Farewell Wog, thanks for sharing some of the best moments of my life, and I promise one of the kids is going to become a Field Trial Champion.