Ranger Pete finally said Good-bye
Our favorite Springer Spaniel - Ranger Pete - passed away last week at home with my wife and I by his side.
He would have celebrated his 18th Birthday in a few short months.
Ranger Pete would have jumped through a hoop of fire for a tennis ball.
He also did what he was bred to do and that is hunt.
He was the best dog I have ever hunted over and we spent so many years together in the field.
He was a relentless hunter that at times, would come out of the brush with his tongue bleeding.
He would go into the nasty, thick briars and scratch his tongue on the thorns while pursuing a pheasant that decided to hold up in the thickest piece of woods as possible.
More than a few times he would come out of the thick brush with a pheasant flapping his wings while in the mouth of Ranger Pete.
One year I had to explain to the NH Game Warden why I had 3 pheasants on Opening Day when the daily limit was 2.
The Warden checked the bird Ranger Pete got alone and was convinced there were no shotgun pellets in the bird.
He was also the father of 7 and he outlived them all.
In the end Ranger Pete was an old man that could hardly get around and just walking upstairs was a struggle for him.
That being said - Back in his day he was So Very Special.
Attached are a few pics that brings back so many good memories for me.
Ranger Pete - RIP My Friend!