Great story Jack. Have been wondering where you were for a while. Our bear dog in camp this summer was a yellow lab/husky mix and named "Gunner". He was procured from the pound after our 135# Rottweiler cross bear dog crossed over this past winter. Well, this new puppy-like dog seemed a dead loss as a bear dog at first but when he saw his first bear he went after it like he was going to tear it apart and ran right up and nipped in on the bum as it hauled ass through the brush! And he did that all summer. It was absolutely hilarious to watch. Balls of brass that dog! And he's a dedicated retriever with the nose of a lab. You could not throw a stick far enough into the brush that he couldn't find it and he loved water retrieving. Unfortunately, once he got ahold of his retrieving subject, his inner husky took over and he'd often shake and chew it to bits. He did know the game though and most of the time would bring it right back to you and would drop it at my feet if I did no more than point at the ground! What a great dog. I kept a pile of 'dog stix' at my office and in a box in the core shack and he knew enough to just go get one and drop it at my feet when he came around. Very smart dog. He looks like a lot like your Charlie. Next summer I have to take a collection of frisbees and such to keep him occupied. He loved to run beside my 4-wheeler also. He could run 30mph for short distances and up to 20mph almost indefinitely - that was the husky in him. What a great dog. I'm sure he'd retrieve ducks but I'd be afraid of what he'd do to them when he got them to shore.
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