My dogs are also companions, to set beside my chair and sleep and dream of the next hunting trip, to ride to town with me to pick up supplies, to balance my boat on float trips when I’m fishing alone.

Years ago, someone came to my home to buy a puppy, and they asked me if I could tell by looking at a litter which puppy might be the best one. I told them with a smile that I could tell when a litter was born which one would make the best dog.

They looked puzzled by that, and a little unbelieving, though they didn’t say so. I followed it by explaining that I felt the puppy which received the most time and attention would make the best dog.

And that is almost always the truth. If he has it in him to hunt, you don’t have to teach him so much as you have to take him.

Barlow has had lots of attention and time, but he’ll only make a hunter if he gets to hunt. Every trip he makes gives him an understanding of what it is all about. Every duck he hunts and finds and retrieves makes him a little more of a hunter.

As I watched him chase down a crippled teal last week, and the puzzled look on his face when it dived and disappeared for a moment, I couldn’t help but smile. I saw his great grandfather do the same thing. And his grandfather as well.

If you’d like to see Barlow, the young Labrador, Uncle Norten and I will be at the Old Cabin Sporting Goods Shop on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. and he’ll be there with us.

We’ll be giving away some of my outdoor magazines, talking about the fall hunting and fishing prospects, and signing my books for anyone who’d like to get one. The pup is too young to have any stories, but Uncle Norten has a million of ’em.

Come by and say hello if you can.