Dixie the dog gets last Susie-Q and last laugh

Now and again a story comes along that is just too funny not to tell, even though it has absolutely no relevance to anything happening in the Kansas outdoors at the time.

This is one of those stories. It’s about a friend, whom I’ll call Jim, and a black Labrador retriever named “Dixie.”

Jim and his dad were constant hunting companions, and duck hunting was their favorite. They had labrador retrievers ever since Jim can remember, and they always trained the dogs themselves.

Dixie was one such lab. she was special from the get-go, and Jim calls her the best dog they ever had.

At any hint of ducks or hunting she instantly became all business. Jim says after a hunt, when the decoys were gathered in and everything was packed for the ride home, Dixie would have to be “retrieved” from the water’s edge, where she had planted herself in anticipation of more ducks.

Neither could she be petted while in the blind as she’d pull away from them as if to say, “Not now, there’s work to be done!”

One cool November morning a few years back, the trio headed for their duck blind on a lease southwest of Hutchinson.

We all know how important snacks are to any hunting and fishing excursion. With us, it’s a diet Dr. Pepper for Joyce and a bag of trail mix for me. For Jim and his dad, it was a jug of iced tea and two packages of Susie-Q’s, those cream-filled devils food cakes. A stop at a Kwik Shop along the way procured the necessary Susie-Q’s for this trip, and they were on their way.

Their blind was a wooden framework against which they had fastened tumbleweeds and other native camouflage. It was covered with a plywood roof.

A door on one end allowed for quick entrance and exit, and a tall opening ran the full length across the front.

Jim would sit on one end, his dad on the other and Dixie’s chosen spot was between them. This particular morning, a few ducks had been shot and retrieved, and a lull in the action allowed time for a snack.

Jim’s dad broke out the “goodies” as he called them, pouring them each a cup of tea and handing Jim his pack of Susie-Q’s. Dixie still had her “game face” on and remained wired and ready for action. Jim says he had no more than unwrapped his Susie-Q’s than his dad whispered, “Jim, ducks.”

Jim placed the open pack of Susie-Q’s on his thigh and grabbed his gun in anticipation of shooting action, while his dad worked the call. The ducks circled and checked out the decoy spread but never committed enough to come into gun range.

Jim leaned his gun against the corner of the blind and reached for his snack, only to find the empty, crumpled wrapper on the ground at his feet.

He turned to ask his dad if he had taken them, and there sat Dixie, still wired and ready for action, but sporting a beard and mustache of white, creamy Susie-Q filling.

Jim says, “I can look back and laugh at this now, but at the time it was serious stuff.”

From then on every time they prepared for a hunting excursion, Jim’s dad would ask him if he had packed the Susie-Q’s for himself and his dog.

Dogs — they brave hard, frozen ground and wade through waist-high CRP and cockleburs to find us pheasants and retrieve them when they drop. They sit beside us for hours in cold, drafty makeshift blinds for a few minutes of action during which they paddle around in ice-cold water to bring us back the few limp waterfowl we’ve shot.

Or maybe they simply ride beside us in the pickup, their heads hanging out the window and their ears flapping in the breeze as they scoop in snoots full of fresh air.

Dogs — they love us like we are and make it a little easier and a little more fun to Explore Kansas outdoors.

Steve Gilliland is a syndicated outdoors columnist, and can be contacted by e-mail at stevegilliland@embarqmail.com.