17/01/2024
FAREWELL NEWT to a Fine Hunting Retriever
Sunshine Fall Flush Hold’er Steady, Newt - 2012-2024
We said goodbye to Newt last night, Tuesday January 16, 2024; she was just shy of 12 years old, taken too soon by chronic blastomycosis.
She was above all things a HAPPY dog, even by happy Golden standards. She would dance her front feet excited to see you in the morning, to go out, to come in, to be a part, to hunt, to camp, to wait, to dig.
She was a hunter titled both in field and ring; A beautiful dog, she was gentle, loving, independent, sometimes embarrassingly so, and she was a a great family dog. She was both an upland and waterfowl hunter, often during same day. And loved chipmunks.
She is the dog we had to extract out from under the shed, she went in the higher end chasing some varmint to the tighter end and became stuck. It took a few hours to figure out where she was. We had to remove the floor of the shed to get her out, then block all entrances to prevent further access.
Newt came to us as a puppy to become a hunting dog with our young son. She was chosen to be calm and good natured, sturdy, obedient and steady. She was all of that; she quietly sat in the push pole boat while touring the wetlands and waiting for flights; she retrieved what was down, her keen nose would alert to opportunities, she quartered naturally and readily entered water ( except for her tail.) She was steady and safe for young hunter. She was a great camping dog. She travelled with us all over the country.
�Unlike the high intensity dogs we have and had previously and it took some time to figure out how best to train/work with Newt. She had a tendency to think about a lot all at once often in rapid succession which sometimes was heart stopping when in a field test. That said she titled with straight passes, even when she chose to hold her tail high so it wouldn’t get muddy or wet in water retrieves. Obedience, she took high dog in every leg of the titles all because she wanted that stuffed toy! See photo.
She was intense, a low key type of intensity, always ready. We are glad she joined our family and helped change us to the better.
Two of her puppies, Willa (voted most likely to flip the duck boat) and Griffin, steady and intense, remain with us.
Newt died too soon, she was otherwise in good shape, a testament to good conformation and breeding.
The blasto first impacted her in late summer 2019, the same year hundreds of dogs in Minnesota died from it including a neighbor’s dog and friend. For Newt, the blasto showed up as sores all over similar to, but not, hot spots. Several dogs came in to the same clinic with similar symptoms and were not diagnosed as blasto initially. I don’t know how many of those died.
Newt improved but developed a deep cough, and then other systemic symptoms over time; we treated for blasto twice and kept it at bay for a while. I share this as it was not ID”d right away. That may not have mattered, it didn’t for many we know. You might want to push if any doubt. Blasto is in the soil; it impacts dogs that are out in it.
And so we said goodbye to Newt, She touched our hearts and souls.
Good Dog Newt!
