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This is Zeke.
This portrait is one I did for myself. Many years ago, when my husband and I were first dating, I would visit him at the home he shared with a buddy. Zeke was his buddy's dog and I have quite a few memories of him.
Zeke was a wonderful retriever. His owner spent a lot of time training him and worked by signals and whistles while duck hunting. Zeke had a mind of his own at times, but he had about the most determination of any dog I've met. I remember one time on a duck hunt, Zeke was sent to retrieve a duck in the bay he was hunting in. He was directed on a blind retrieve. His owner couldn't see the duck and Zeke didn't find it. When he was called back in, he totally ignored his owner and took off across the rest of the bay and onto shore on the opposite side. After a few minutes he came back to the water, dove in and took off out of the bay, hit the Wisconsin River and disappeared around the bend! Needless to say he was followed by a wide variety of colorful expletives from his more than slightly irritated owner!!! Probably a half hour later, here comes a yellow head swimming back into the bay. When he got close enough, everyone could see Zeke was carrying a beautiful wood duck. He was a mighty proud dog when he returned and laid the Duck at his owner's feet. His owner didn't know whether to be angry for the disobedience or proud for Zeke's determination.
It's been close to twenty years since that happened, but I remember it every time I look at Zeke's portrait.
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