Fancy Don't Let Me Down III "Nancy" JH (AKA Fancy)
Black Female, 11-03-02 - 06-21-2017
Out of FC AFC Dare to Dream x GRHRCH Fancy Don’t Let Me Down II MH QAA
Nancy was the girl who loved too much. We tried to place her several time but she always ended up back here with us where she belonged. She adored everyone and everything she met as long as she got to come home with us. I cannot remember how many you kids she introduced to dog training and the sport of hunt tests. She was Joe' s Dump Dog for a long time and she loved every special trip she got to take Loosing her was sudden she was fine when I left for work and when I got home it was obvious it was time for her to leave us. Sorry you never got a "Last Flyer Day" old girl but you had a good long life with us, you were much loved and will forever be missed.
Nancy was brought back to us from a training trip down south in April of 2004. We felt bad that she was a full-time kennel dog and did not get out of the kennel much to train or compete. As it turned out, we had bred her mother who was an awesome competition dog.
It became very obvious when we got her home that she had never been in a house and like most kennel dogs had never had many (if any) toys. She became very good at collecting every toy in the house, bringing them outside, piling them up and sleeping on them. After Nancy settled in more to life at our house, any piece of my clothing she could find would join the pile. This behavior followed Nancy to her next home and lasted until she came back to live with us. To this day, on occasion, she will grab a piece of my clothing (sweatshirts seem to be a favorite). She never ruined anything but you would always have to go outside and collect everything at night.
We put a JH title on her fairly quickly, but her almost 2 years ignored in a kennel left her with not a great "try" when it came to advanced field work and the precision needed for a competition dog. She would do it because you asked her, but not because she loved it. So between that fact and the fact that she really did not want to be part of a pack we decided to place her.
A dear friend Ham, who had adopted another of our "washouts" in 1994 was looking to add a younger dog to the house to help the then 11 year old Stormy work at the preserves with him. Nancy lived with Ham until about November 2009 when he was diagnosed with cancer. Ham and Nancy had been inseparable for a number of years. The three of them (before Stormy passed on) went everywhere together; they would even wait in the car when he had “non” dog things to do.
After Stormy passed away, Nancy even went out on the charter fishing boats with Ham on a regular basis. About the only time they were apart was when Ham was ill and hospitalized. During these times it became apparent to Ham’s children (grown and living far from Long Island) Nancy had separation issues when away from Ham. They told us she would bark and cry bugging them all until Ham was back home.
Nancy came back to us shortly after Ham’s diagnosis. The thought being she would be much better here so Ham would not have to worry where she was and who was caring for her in turn allowing Ham’s children to concentrate on taking care of their dad. This was a big change for Nancy. Ham in and out of hospitals and Stormy gone just over 6 months, and now back with us with our full house and busy work schedules. It was a lot for Nancy to overcome and a very BIG change.
The original plan was to keep her while the chemo was going on and until he was strong enough to take her for walks again. That plan changed when he passed away in the spring. Near his end, we had talked often about finding her another special home where she would be loved and not left out too often any more. It has taken my husband and I these many months to feel the energy to start looking for that home.
Since her arrival back here Nancy has gone back into training for hunting and competition, mostly to give her something “special” to do and because we have several younger members that train with us and they enjoy running and competing with Nancy.
Nancy no longer collects toys and clothes, she is (for the most part) very happy but when she is alone (no humans) there are 12 other dogs here so she is never really alone. She does still bark if "separated" from you. This can include being left on the other side of the gate or if you try to crate her in the house. The barking at the gate (fence) stops if you just let her on your side. She won't run away but really cannot deal with the physical barrier between you (yes she has trained us well). The crate, well she barks until you let her out, plain and simple. We do not crate her, no real need to. Here she has access to 2 fenced acres, and we walk in the woods for at least an hour everyday (the dogs run off lead) so she gets and enjoys plenty of exercise. Two or three days a week she still does some basic field training with us, she enjoys it and loves her birds, mostly we let the young kids run her as she is easy to run and loves the kids.
Aside from the barking she is a very nice girl who still loves to play, loves her toys and bones, needs exercise, and a place to walk off leash everyday. Ham was 87 when he passed and they walked the beach or fields everyday but not for a that long at a stretch.
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