cmcclintock

Liver and White is Always Right

June 14, 2023 • cmcclintock •

Meet Julip Triumphant’s (we haven’t agreed on a name yet) It was about this time of year, nine years ago, I joined a new community. A community of the Brittany. Mostly of the American flavor, although some French and some mixed; all with some type of championship blood line – the traditional kind that come from in the field and in the show ring, demonstrating a certain ability to follow direction well – and some that come from their ability to overcome all obstacles life put in front of them, coming out as loving as can be on the other side. This community comes with support of all types as well. From breeders of merit to support you, and your dog, through happy times and sad. People that you’ve never met, but you know their dogs through the furm (if you know, you know). And folks from across the nation, all interconnected, helping to get Britts who end up in precarious circumstances to the other side of their chapter. Breeders. Facebook Groups. Rescue. On a Saturday in April, Steve and I went to meet a new friend, Linda McCartney. Linda was a recommendation from Helen, the master mind behind the creation of Utley (the most perfect boy in the world). For only having met Helen in person a hand full of times, she entrusted me with two of her dogs in very short order, never led me astray in the field, and always tells me like it is. When she relocated south and west, and Steve and I moved more east and north; it was no longer feasible to expand our little family with another Wid Mtn Brittany. Upon meeting Linda, I realized we knew a lot of the same people and the same dogs. When she started rattling off the linage of Utley’s dad, I knew we were in the right place. Instantly at home, and handed a little white and liver girl, I knew in my heart, my community instantly grew another limb. This little liver girl has been the cubulation of many months of thought and many conversations across my community. From trainers, and friends, to countless hours of discussion with Steve. Are we ready? How will Ultey respond? Is our house Brittany Proof enough for a puppy? Will this acquisition make Utley’s already weakening heart explode? Will this help get me back outside after years of…

A Feisty Little Bird Dog

March 27, 2023 • cmcclintock •

Toward the end of 2022, I picked up the book A Feisty Little Pointing Dog, A Celebration of the Brittany, edited by David Webb. It is a compellation of sixteen stories written by various authors, published in 2000. The same year I graduated high school. In fairness, I’ve only made it through the first handful; it’s an awful book to read when you’re already feeling sad about the age of your first bird dog, which, for the same reasons, also makes it totally inappropriate to read on an airplane. Before I purchased the book, I didn’t know that a handful of these people were or are part of the Pennsylvania Brittany Club, the first place I traveled as a Brittany owner to compete in a fun hunt with the breeder of our first dog, Utley. This gave me an immediate connection to some of the experiences. The book got me thinking – these stories – the love that goes into raising a bird dog, the time, the connection, the pure connectedness we experience with some. There was a time in my life when I yearned for the experience – in work, in my personal life – to write stellar stories and to share wisdom. Although time fixed most of that, this book reiterated it, particularly regarding your first bird dog. The smarts packaged into a 30 – 40 pound animal is intense. But these dogs can learn about anything you have the patients to teach them. From finding wild game, being steady to the wing, or remembering the names, humans provide to each of their stuffed toys. When Utley was a puppy, I wanted all of the experience – from understanding how AKC Hunt Test worked, to ecollar training, recall while hiking, and a well-trained fly-fishing friend. I wanted the Garmin Alpha tracking collar, the collection of orange vests (for him and for me), the shooting experience to be an Upland Hunter. I wanted it all the weekend after I brough this little dog home. Until I picked up A Feisty Little Pointing Dog, I failed to understand what those skills, and the decade, would teach me. And that time, and those memories, would ultimately result in the most profound love story and pile of grief. To tell the story and have wisdom, the cost is love and loss. About two months from his 9th birthday, my heart dog lives…

Lily Bird McClintock (06/30/2009 – 04/03/2021)

April 3, 2021 • cmcclintock •

Heya Friends – It’s with a very heavy heart that we share the passing of Lily. (06/30/2009 – 04/03/2021) Lily was our first and only Foster Fail who lived the first half of her life outdoors and covered in fleas, and the second half of her life covered in down feathers and love. Her first day at our house was done all wrong. Instead of a casual meet and greet outside with Utley, she bolted into the house only to be happily met by Ut, who helped her unpack her toys and invited her to stay for a while. On the first day they were left alone together, Lily escaped from her crate, and the two met Steve at the bottom of the basement steps when he came home for lunch. The two have spent every night together since … except a two-night overnight at the emergency vet for accidentally (garbage smining!) grape consumption back in 2016. Lily enjoyed bird classes, hunting trips in multiple states, fishing trips, camping adventures, hotel stays at Five-Star dog-friendly hotels on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, licked the grill tongs almost nightly, and provided the Brittany Oversight for the redesign of the NBRAN website. She became the leader of our pack and dictated how the day would run – she told us when to serve breakfast, dinner, and hourly snacks (carrots). She greeted us with enthusiasm every time we were separated – which could mean we went and got the mail and didn’t take or, or if we were gone for a few days on vacation without her. Lily came to us with a cheerleading squad of supporters (Chris Eddinger, Lynda Martin, & Lisa Giddings) who took the time to vet our home and ensure Lily would be a good match for us and that we would be a good match for Lily, and that made for a beautiful five full years of companionship. At the age of 11 years and 10 months, Lily leaves behind a few favorite things – her first love, a pile of down blankets in our bedroom; Steve, her second love; Utley, her constant companion; and me, the lady to ensured her old lady bladder was tended to each morning, promptly at 5:45 am . . . which worked out well for both of us. Just two days before she crossed the rainbow bridge, she smined her last smine…