Marty's Drift October 2002

Fishing Dogs

Years ago, Jim Repine made a very true statement, “The only trouble with dogs is that they just don’t live long enough.” Jim had a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Jubal. Jubal traveled and fished all over Alaska and the nation with Jim. When I dropped in to visit Jim, Jubal had the couch. Cancer took Jubal at far too young an age and Jim’s grief was strong.

My first fishing dog was Christy. She was a whippet hound, and she lived a long life. I got her in 1968 when she was two years old. She lived till 1984, 18 years. I’ll always remember the opening day of trout season 1973. I was camped with several friends on White River (a Deschutes tributary). The daytime temperatures were very comfortable, in the mid to high 70’s. That evening we just spread our bags out under the trees. That night the temperature dropped way below freezing. About 2:00 a.m. I was shivering and shaking in my bag unable to sleep. Christy and another whippet I had at the time were curled up next to me and they were shivering too. I never thought twice about opening the zipper and putting both dogs in the bag with me. With the combined body heat we made it through the night.

As she got older, Christy developed a funny habit of barking at me when I was wading. It was like she was concerned about my safety. She would bark a little bit and I would come to the shore and pet her, then go back to fishing and she was satisfied. She would go lie down and not fuss any more.

Christy had a companion named Missy. We found Missy in downtown Portland. She basically followed us right into our car. Missy was a very unlikely fishing dog. She really never fit in the fishing scene, but I would always take her along. Once Joyce and I were camped at Sinamox on the Deschutes. By this time we also had Fjord and Cassie. This was in the days when you could drive off the road at Ferry Canyon and drive up to Sinamox. It was also when cattle were still grazed along the river there. There were cattle grazing around our campsite, and Missy pulled one of her favorite tricks. She began barking at and harassing some of the cows. She got them stirred up enough that one of them came after her. What did Missy do? She ran and hid behind Fjord and Cassie.

Fjord and Cassie came to us in the early 1980’s. Fjord belonged to Randy Stetzer, and Joyce and I took him when Randy had to move to a place where he could not keep the dog. Randy had done a great job of training Fjord. Fjord was very well behaved and obedient. Fjord was also one of those dogs whose primary goal was to please. He always wanted to do what was right.

Cassie wasn’t quite the same. She just wanted to play. Her favorite thing was to retrieve ANYTHING! She would go find sticks and bring them back and drop them in front of us constantly. On one of her first fishing trips she horrified us by trying to retrieve a fly line when we cast. Cassie was a play fool; Fjord was all business. Everything was serious. He was very protective. Several times I saw him get between strangers and Joyce when we were fishing.

In 1986 Joyce and I were taking a walk on the beach with Fjord and Cassie. A young golden retriever came bounding out to play with the dogs. We sat down on a beach log and waited for the pup’s owner to come claim him. No one ever came. We headed back to our house and the pup followed right along. Although we tried to find an owner for several weeks they never showed. The options we came to were the Humane Society or give him a name and have him neutered.

Zane accompanied me on steelhead spawning survey trips until 1998. Zane had a bad vertebra in his back and he pretty much broke down on a spawning survey in the Salmonberry in May 1998. We had completed our survey and we were hiking back to the truck when he went down and couldn’t get up. We had about a mile to go along the riverbank, and then we had a good, steep 500-foot climb out of the canyon. We coaxed him along to the base of the hill, and then one of the volunteers got behind him and picked up his hind legs while I encouraged him from the front. He made it up the steepest part on his front legs. When we reached a more level spot one of the Americorp volunteers insisted on carrying him back to the truck. He was so good-natured that people really loved him. Zane was able to go fishing until just last year. On my birthday in March 2001 I had to lift him in and out of the boat as we floated the Nestucca River, but it was evident he still enjoyed being out.

After 1998 his back continued to get worse. He became inactive and began to act depressed. In July 1999 Joyce got a really special birthday present. She got Yukon and one year old yellow lab. We were afraid that having a new dog in the house might hurt Zane, but Yukon turned out to be a present for Zane too. The minute Yukon walked in the door he and Zane were best friends. Zane’s attitude changed. He got up and played he had more energy, and I am convinced that Yukon gave Zane a couple more years.

We lost Fjord in 1992; Cassie in 1993 and we lost Zane in late August this year. Their loss fills us with sorrow, but it is offset by the years of joy we shared with them on the numerous hikes and fishing trips. Now our only dog is Yukon.

Yukon is totally devoted to Joyce. He seldom leaves her side. He is a great fishing dog because he stays so close and obeys well. When I get back from Alaska in early October we may find a companion for Yukon.

Give Marty a call at: (503) 655-9532

You can also call Idaho Falls at (800) 394-1345.