Gun Dog Forum

Dave's name came up on another thread.

Dave has accomplished much over his long career, he was one of the first to come from out West and win in the Mid-West, Central, even the Southeast.

And proven to know how to train and teach others to train, But one of his most impressive accomplishments has been winning with young dogs. He has been able to steady them without curtailing their run and intependence. He often won the Derby and All-Age with the same dog.

Oh, I am talking about with Brittanys, a breed not noted for early maturity, unlike pointers or GSPs.

Just so you know.

Neil

I have trained with Dave 15 or 20 times and been to three seminars over the past dozen years or so. I learned many things each time out.

Before I met Dave the first time, Jerry Jordan told me to pay attention to his hands at all times. It's amazing what he can do to a dog just by touching and petting at the right time.

Not only a deserving HOF trainer and handler, he is a true gentleman. I'm very proud to call him my friend.

Doug

Ricky Ticky Shorthairs wrote:I have trained with Dave 15 or 20 times and been to three seminars over the past dozen years or so. I learned many things each time out.

Before I met Dave the first time, Jerry Jordan told me to pay attention to his hands at all times. It's amazing what he can do to a dog just by touching and petting at the right time.

Not only a deserving HOF trainer and handler, he is a true gentleman. I'm very proud to call him my friend.

Doug

Great story!

Doug,

I don't think he will make it into the ABC Hall of Fame or the Brittany Field Trail Hall of Fame.

Speaking of magic hands. A bunch of us were at the Bird Dog Museum when a guy brought in a wild pup to be auctioned, 7 or 8 of us tried to stack him up on the podium with no success, in fact as we faild we made him much worse. He was terrified of all the people, noise and smells.

Delmar Smith walked up whispered some Indian chant in his ear, and I do not lie, layed his hands on him and in less than a minute had him high and tight at both ends. The little guy tried to bite me and here the old man had him fully at ease in seconds. I am sure Dave could have done the same.

I have long said the greats are not like the rest of us, they have communication skills we can't begin to understand, let alone emulate.

Dave and Faye are special folks.

If the website is accurate he is in the ABC Hall of Fame elected in 2007, but not the BFTHOF.

http://clubs.akc.org/brit/ABCHallOfFame.htm

He lives about an hour away from us. He is one of the best there is, all you have to do is watch and learn and don't be afraid to ask questions. He is a little grumpy but still willing to help anyone that asks. His book and classes are very good and others have copied many of his methods. He is the real deal and he and Faye have taught me a lot. I'm a pointer guy but his methods apply to all pointing breeds.

Chukar12 wrote:If the website is accurate he is in the ABC Hall of Fame elected in 2007, but not the BFTHOF.

http://clubs.akc.org/brit/ABCHallOfFame.htm

I thought that was the case and even checked, but missed it. Sorry and thanks.

Not sure if he will make the BFTHOF, he was nominated a number of times, we will see. He has had some of his dogs enshrined.

mask wrote:He is a little grumpy but still willing to help anyone that asks.

I have a personal belief that gets stronger every day that most good dog/horse trainers are extremely patient with animals and less so with people...
This is the excuse i give my wife to avoid social interaction...I am in training

Chukar12 wrote:

mask wrote:He is a little grumpy but still willing to help anyone that asks.

I have a personal belief that gets stronger every day that most good dog/horse trainers are extremely patient with animals and less so with people...
This is the excuse i give my wife to avoid social interaction...I am in training

Yep, yep and me too.

Chukar12 wrote:

mask wrote:He is a little grumpy but still willing to help anyone that asks.

I have a personal belief that gets stronger every day that most good dog/horse trainers are extremely patient with animals and less so with people...
This is the excuse i give my wife to avoid social interaction...I am in training

I agree. Many out here will tell you that Bill Gibbons is not very tolerant with humans but as we all know he is one of the best with dogs. BTW, Bill, Dave, Mo and many others were disciples of another Arizona guy buy the name of Bill West.

Chukar12 wrote:I have a personal belief that gets stronger every day that most good dog/horse trainers are extremely patient with animals and less so with people...

I had never thought of that, but now that you mention it, seems very accurate.

Chukar12 wrote:

mask wrote:He is a little grumpy but still willing to help anyone that asks.

I have a personal belief that gets stronger every day that most good dog/horse trainers are extremely patient with animals and less so with people...
This is the excuse i give my wife to avoid social interaction...I am in training

Every good dog trainer I have ever known has been like this. All of your patience and understanding goes to dog's that need it. People should be intelligent enough to not need the careful handling the dogs demand. I never cared if they understood that or not. There are dog people and there are dog people.

I forget to mention the best part. After we were done training I got to hang out and eat dinner and drink beer and listen to some awesome stories!

Doug

The zia Brittany club must be all very good dog trainers. They are a very grumpy group as a whole from my personal experience

Sorry, not zia. Should have been central NM Brittany. I was with zia gsp at the time.

Dave finished breaking my dads brittany this summer. He told my dad several times he wished he had one like her when he was trialing. That was a huge compliment to my dad considering the source. We tried to tell my dad several times what he has in a dog, and I don't think he really understood. When Dave said it, it sunk in.

While I believe it's been about eight years since we have seen Dave and Faye in Grand Junction, Tn., have know them for about forty years. Many great memories. One of the best was being braced with Dave and Natl. Champion Beans Blaze in a rather large All Age Stake in north Texas many years ago. Always a gentleman. He and Faye were always helpful and very supportive when my wife and I campaigned Brittany's. Always wish them well...They had a very positive effect on us!

Speaking of the old guys of field trials, David Grubb just won the All-Age Pheasant Championship.

To stay at the top when in their late 70's is impressive!

Bossman,

I was at the same HoF event,

Neil

Neil, we were there to see Loyd Budd inducted. Scipio's Little Chick was inducted the same day. Good, good memories!

I ran a dog under him in an amateur nationals stake and met him,seemed like a pretty nice feller,he was far more excited about my dog showing 100 yards in front of us than I was,my thoughts were "Jesus,you could have poked out of that brush another 100 yards up there" Ol Dave stood up in his stirrups and pointed and said "There he goes!"