Victory Retrievers

what can I say about my beautiful, but badass Pink. I’d give anything to reverse that day when she got into a house guest’s Costco Advil bottle in 2020. We’ve battled the kidney issues since then and I think I didn’t understand the seriousness that even when her kidney values were high, but stable and she felt great that it still needed to be a daily battle. When she’d eat grass and dirt like they all do and vomited, well she’d get dehydrated and I needed to administer fluids unlike the rest of the crazies who just deal with it. Dehydration just sends the kidney values soaring. In any case Pink and I weren’t anywhere near done with the things we wanted to do. We got our first Master Hunter leg in Nov 2024 and I was so proud of us and while its not about titles, they are such a reflection of our relationships with these companions. We were going to come out hard in 2025 and finish that MH, but not to be. I feel cheated and it’s so unfair and I’m very sad…

Party was everything I ever wanted. I could actually leave that as my only statement about her, she was everything  She was pretty with lovely breed type and beautiful structure. Her temperament was ideal and very like her momma Cruise and grandmomma Solo. She was way too young to die, we had a lot of things left to do together and I am heartbroken. I wish I had more pictures of her, but my wonderful memories of her will have to suffice.

Gent was a big ol goofy “guys” dog. He loved Jim and loved all stuff “guy”.  He lived to retrieve, like many of them do, but it was a particular passion of his and he could talk anyone who came over into “just throwing one”… He took care of his sister Blue when we had to separate Blue and Freya and he was a perfect gentleman and made that easy for Blue and us. He grew to love puppies and was delightful with our litters and each puppy we kept. He did decide it was his job to protect the litters when we had them and did that fiercely, good boy. He will be missed, but he lived a great long healthy life and Jim let him go on the perfect day so he didn’t suffer. We think Snitch will miss him most right now, but we will miss him so much with the “R” litter on the ground and we wish he had gotten to know them and they him…

Solo was something so very special, a dog that everyone who ever met her loved and remembered. She had an incredible temperament, perfect in every way. She never had an issue with other dogs or people and would ignore any possible confrontation in her unassuming way. She was the ultimate puppy raiser, loving all puppies, mine and others and taught many many puppies to swim over the years in her gentle “come follow me” manner. I will never forget her and am ever indebted to Helenmary and Neal for letting me have this special “litter” from their lovely Beckett…

What can we say about Miss Bluesey? She was lovely to look at and very entitled, “as it should be” she would say. She was my favorite show dog and we had a successful, fun show career together. She loved to show and I loved to show her off! She and her mother Solo gave me 4 living generations when Blue’s grandkids were born here, something I will always treasure. We went swimming and retrieving on her last day and she found a turtle and ate the whole dang thing, way to go Bluesey. I miss you my stunning girl…

Gale was a girl scout. She was a delight to live with, a wise old comforting soul in a lovely dog body who came into my life when I needed her. She helped raise puppies and keep order in the house. She died of an ulcer from anti inflammatory drugs I gave her to make her feel better, I haven’t forgiven myself yet… We have her great grandchildren with friends and I am very grateful for that, thanks Gale for everything, I miss your wise ways Miss Woosey…

Everybody loved the “Storesman”, you certainly couldn’t miss him, he was BIG and BROWN with a rollicking flat-coat character. He accomplished alot in his short life as it seemed he was either undergoing or recovering from 3 major surgeries due to a foreign object (grass seed). None of that affected his outlook on life and I was lucky that he gave me my Blue before he left this world way too young. People still talk about Story to this day and that tells you what an incredible personality he was. I was lucky to have him in my life.

Ginnie came into my life on her 1st birthday and left me at 15 3/4. The day we got her was the best day of her life and mine, we were meant for each other and she took a huge piece of me when she left. She is another one that people in the hunting retriever world still talk about. She was an itty bitty brown retrieving machine, driven, stylish and fun to watch. I was always proud to be next to her at the line. She was devoted to me and I to her, I never would have left her side if I didn’t have to. We shot a flier on water for her on her last day and she stuffed herself with venison sausage while we toasted her with champagne, a great end to a great life. I miss her every single day of mine…

Kelly was Mark’s and my first flat-coat and what a way to start. She was an incredibly stable animal with lovely structure and pretty type. She introduced us to the dog fancy and I am enjoying her great-great-great grandkids today. Though we didn’t want a performance dog, she led us into obedience, field and the show ring and retired with 1 MH leg and 2 group placements, she also introduced me to some of my dearest friends which is really what this dog fancy is all about. Thank you Kelly, I owe you so much.