Oh Beau!

Beau always a beautiful picture on point

Having been so enamored with Mick's disposition and personality along with displaying incredible instincts at an early age I had decided to add another Setter to the mix right away. I had kept two bird dog's for several years to be able to rotate them when hunting so this was part of the plan once I got a feel for the Setter's. It didn't take long to decide I had gotten it right and so I had called the breeder and made a deposit. We talked again about what I was looking for and where and what I hunted even covering the disposition of the dog's to get a feel for what type of dog would fit the bill.

Beau at 12 weeks pointing a wing

                                                 All breeders have developed their own way of sorting through a litter and can be pretty accurate based on observing the pups on a daily basis. I feel the recommendation I was given was very accurate. I wanted a taller dog that was active and could cover some ground. As it turned out that was right on the money. When I picked up my pup I noticed right away however that his eyes were watering and there were streaks down his face from the tears. I didn't think any more about it at that time and we headed for the long drive home. Again I was making a journey with a Setter just 10 weeks old on my lap racking my brain as to what to call this guy. Mick was easy it seemed but I couldn't quite nail it with this one. He was all legs and head with a black eyebrow. Being in my lap was also a great place to be in his opinion. Before I left I was told this guy was the rabble rouser and instigator of the bunch. The most active dog! After a few hundred miles I had it. His name was Beau!
                                               Beau arrived in the Love Creek valley in early May while Mick was away getting" me trained" on what not to do as it turned out but anyway it looked like there would be an eventual battle for who got to be in my lap at any given time. These guys loved attention! It didn't take me long to become concerned about his eye's watering and I called the breeder back and was told that sometimes the sawdust bedding causes eye irritation but goes away. Well this wasn't going away so off to the vet's we went. My vet examined Beau and diagnosed the issue as Distichiasis or eyebrows growing inward on the eyelid actually scraping the eye causing irritation. A genetic defect. I took a moment having been disappointed of course and concerned for the pup. This was serious and could cause blindness if it couldn't be corrected but was also painful for the dog. I informed the breeder who immediately told me  " Have the dog put down"and he would inform the other owners from the litter to check for the problem which he had never encountered before in his line. I needed time to think already having bonded with this dog in a short period of time. We went back to the Vet with the breeders advice and he said" Arlan I think we can correct this by using laser surgery to eliminate the hair follicles on the inside of the eyelid. There's no need to put this dog down". I called the breeder and we discussed options and concerns regarding the dog never being bred of course. I decided to keep Beau and have the surgery which would cost several hundred dollars in exchange for a first pick of an upcoming litter for a female. I had high hopes for Beau as his lineage was exceptional so we scheduled surgery.
                                            My vet happened to be an avid hunter and owns both exceptional Labs and German Wirehairs. So I was dealing with someone who understood what this meant to me. The first surgery went well but this was going to be a process hopefully short but could need to be done again if more follicles grew in the eye lid. Long story short it took 3 surgeries to get it under control. My Vet kindly gave me an at cost rate for the subsequent surgeries. We had made it over the first hurdle! Like us the events in our lives shape our personalities and so it was with Beau having gone through some painful experiences early on he was always quite sensitive and needed a little more attention then the other Setter's and some days I think they thought he was maybe just a "little bit of a whiner". Make that big as he's the tallest of the bunch.

The bird field view to the East on a foggy morning.

The pigeon coop with Red on top. He was with us for 5 years and flew countless missions!

                                             So we were busy getting Beau settled and oriented around the farm and used to living in the house as well. " I'm with him"was pretty much his strategy. As far as instincts this dog came pointing out of the womb I think. Incredible to watch he'd just raise a paw and strike a pose. I'd also been busy building a pigeon coop,getting homing pigeon's and I met a guy who built rabbit cages who I had make me an 8 foot cage for holding quail which I attached to the back of my garden shed along with a couple of quail call back cages for the field. The objective was to be ready when it was time for Mick to come home. I had my neighbor mow strips in my hay field to make it easy for the pups to traverse so we could use it for setting out birds.Now it was finally time for Beau to meet his new best friend!