muzz A GOOD MATE

Ice was loved not only for her hunting ability, but her warm nature and constant desire for affection.

From a hunting point-of-view she left a huge hole – the second good dog in our kennels to be killed in less than 12 months – leaving us with only our main bitch, and a 12 month old pup to soldier on.

‘Hero to Zero’ is an adequate term to describe my hunting in the weeks and months that followed! From regularly catching pigs with two hard bailing bitches, to suddenly having pigs walking on the dogs, and watching an experienced dog lose some of her confidence at the loss of her mate, was an unpleasant pill to have to try to swallow! The only other dog I had – Tiger –still had a lot of maturing to do at 12 months of age and offered little or no support to Jazz when called upon. Catching any pig – least of all a boar when hunting in some of the harder blocks in Northland suddenly became a mission.

Help sometimes comes from unexpected quarters, and it was my hunting mate, Dan, who threw me a lifeline when he offered to lend me a dog out of his kennels to run with Jazz. Murray, or Muzz, was one of his breed – a black, leggy, whiskery dog with both Airedale and Lockley in his lineage. He was an older dog – brother to Jazz from an earlier litter, with 5 years of solid hunting experience, and I accepted Dan's offer gratefully and without hesitation.

Muzz had been hamstrung by a boar at a relatively young age - leaving him with a permanent limp and limited mobility in both back legs - an injury which he would carry for life. It slowed his chasing speed and prevented him from ever reaching his full catching potential, but, as I was to learn in the five short months he was in my kennels, he showed there is a lot more than just sheer speed involved when it comes to either catching, or containing good boars. Importantly, the dog himself was a real character – he loved a pat, craved affection, and fitted in to