Akác is Virtus’s daughter, and was our pick of the litter. She is a very sweet, gentle girl who is an amazing hunter with beautiful style on the field. She loves water and could swim forever.
She is smart, stubborn and loves being challenged on the field, but once inside, she will snuggle in my lap or under my blanket and curl up into a tiny fur ball.
She was going to finish her Junior Hunt Title and NAVHDA NA at 8 months old and I’m glad she did NAVHDA the weekend before she did her AKC Junior Hunt Test because on her double hunt tests 3rd run, our brace mate didn’t see her backing his dog behind him and he pointed his starter pistol and fired it right into Akác’s face. She first collapsed and then ran to me terrified! I tried to keep it positive to finish her run but she was done. We did not get a pass but shockingly she did come back to the field for her 4th run and got her 3rd pass. She did not receive her title that weekend and after we came home we realized how badly she was affected by this horrible incident. When she saw a bird on the field, she ran back to our house. If she heard a gun shot in the distance, she would shake like a leaf and wouldn’t leave the house.
It took me a year with a handful of people’s help to get her back out to the field and get over her gun shyness to be able to hunt with her again. She ended up finishing her Junior Hunt Title a year later and we have started to prepare for her Senior Hunt Title.
After our incident, I felt like our goals were crushed but she has taught me to be a better gun dog trainer and that our goals still can be the same, it’ll just take a little longer to get there.
