My Daddy's Common Sense

ANOTHER ERA COMES TO AN END, SIMBA THE GREAT!!!!!

     Well, it is with a sad heart and a somewhat broken spirit that I come here to tell you of the passing of “Shotgun Simba”: call name “Simba”.  Many might say he was just a dog but all that met him would say, “my what a dog”. He was a real man dog. He could do it all. He, along with, Sassy, Shadow and Sammy stood by my side and helped me in the “training seminars” at Cabela stores, Bass Pro, Gander Mountain and Sportsman Warehouse stores for years.  They were all more than “special” in their own way and each had their strengths. But, he was by my side morning, noon and night. He was with me when I went to bed and with me when I awoke. It was he that awoke me and brought me my “panties” every morning for years. He was a sweet loving “soul” who would lay by my feet or on his bed. Yet, when it was time to hunt or work, he was always “up to the task”. He loved to sit and have his ears “scratched;” but, loved to perform the task at hand. I can’t remember a time that he said “no” when ask to do whatever I asked of him. He, along with several of the above mentioned “greats” worked in both English and Spanish. His ability to learn different types of training always amazed me. He was a really muscular dog with an attitude to match. He never met a stranger and everyone that met him was “pulled into his world”. It seemed as though it was “his job” to make you feel welcome and for that you should be more than “pleased” to sit and pet him. Even cats liked Simba and they would rub all over him when he would lay out for his “sunbath”. Not so long ago, we got a new member of the family, Valentine, which I call Weiner, and although she was stand offish at first, when she saw Simba it was like “he’s my man” and she ran to him and slept with him all the time. Women loved him, men loved him, and dogs wanted to be him, if you get my drift.

I mentioned I had a somewhat broken spirit; but, I’m trying to mend that for that is what he would have wanted for me, his Master. Mom and I were at the coast when we got a call from the caretakers that he wasn’t doing well. We broke and ran and all the way home I “talked to him”, saying, “hang on Simba Daddy is coming”. When we got to the ranch, I went directly to him and “scratched his ears real good twice and stroked his body twice and told him “I’m here, son” and said good-bye as I could tell the end was near. He raised his head “once” as to say the same and he was gone. Maybe 3 to 4 minutes. It was as if he was struggling to hang on for one last visit. I really feel that we had a special bond more because of him and his attitude than because of me . He just seemed to think, “I was the berries”. He would greet me every morning and he and “Tugger” would “tuck me in every night”.

Please review the pictures and video below which I hope gives you a sense of what a “great dog” he was and how much it meant to have had him in my life. I have been blessed to have had many really fine dogs in my life and he was one of them. I have always said he was Simba and “Mustoffa” was his daddy. I have had more than my share of great hunting dogs and have loved each and every one of them until it hurts. I have always tried to ease the pain of friends by telling them “the only way to get over the loss of one is to get another and love it twice as much”. But, to tell you the truth, I do not know if I can follow my own advise.

I could go on and on with stories of our adventures and travels together but let me just say, Simba, “you were loved” and you are missed and will always be in my heart.  I know, what a reception it will be when I meet all my dogs at the “RAINBOW BRIDGE”. Until then make every “mark” a good one, every blind a successful one, and lick someone’s hand until I get there. GOOD-BYE my beloved friend!

Watch the following video to watch the “Simba Man” at work….