CRE’s Best Bird Dogs

It’s less than a week 'til the teal opener, and many of you are anticipating adding some ducks to your dove tally. While you wait, we're bringing you some of real estate’s best hunting dogs. (If only they could retrieve deals for you.)

Component Capital Group’s Dan Newell shared a pic of his Golden Retriever, Otis, on a hunt during the Thanksgiving holiday in Poetry. Dan says Otis is an enthusiastic hunter and great companion, who never complains (wish we could say the same thing about our kids). When Otis isn’t hunting, he goes to school with Dan's wife, Judy Newell (an SMU math professor). Hopefully Otis wasn’t adding up SMU’s score vs UNT on Saturday.

Johnson Capital SVP Ron Davis’ Hungarian Pointer (also known as a Vizsla), Kek, had more frequent flyer miles than most people. Although primarily an upland hunting dog, the duo also hunted dove and waterfowl. Ron says a cool thing that the pair would do while dove hunting was set out in the middle of the field, Ron facing one way and Kek facing the other. “He would always have my back. If a dove flew behind me, he would let me know so I could swing around to take the shot,” Ron tells us. They hunted quail and pheasant from Texas and New Mexico north to North Dakota and all points in between. Unfortunately, Kek passed away last year, Ron tells us.

This pair of English Pointers, Sam and Goldie, started hunting with Colliers International EVP Jack Minter about five years ago. In that time, they’ve hunted all over Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. Jack tells us the pair are inseparable, and if you put them in separate pens, Sam will howl until he gets put back in the same pen or box with Goldie. Jack says they’re getting older now and can’t hunt all day, even though they’ll try to. 

Marcus & Millichap senior associate Will Jarnigan shared two pictures of his dog, Deets (named after Josh Deets from Lonesome Dove). This one is with the first duck he ever retrieved. 

And, here’s how Deets spent the off-season, chilling out in the slightly salinated 80-degree pool on a float with his sunglasses. Will says he seemed to like this better than lake water on an overcast, sub-40-degree morning. Deets tried to retire (twice) over the summer until a neighborhood duck landed on the pool one morning. That spurred the retrieving fire again, he says.

Lucky (the black lab in the middle) often spent more time with Stream Realty Partners SVP Ryan Boozer during hunting season than his own wife. Or, at least that’s what Ryan’s wife says. Ryan tells us that Lucky (who passed away last year) didn’t know the word quit and he enjoyed watching her reactions to all the situations she encountered. 

Encore Land prez Steve Donosky introduced us to his new hunting dog, Gunner, who had his first hunt on dove opener (Sept. 1) in a stock tank in Seymour. He stayed alert and watched for dove most of the time, except when he was swimming to cool off, Steve says. Sitting still and being patient is not easy for a young dog, but he retrieved his first wild bird last Monday. On Tuesday, he was crashed out all day with a bird hangover, he says. The 14-month-old Llewellyn Setter was trained by Roger Conant at Landmark Retrievers (who's trained several dogs for local real estate folks). Because of that—even though he’s an upland dog—Gunner thinks he’s a retriever. 

Bisnow Texas business manager Joni Margotta has a pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks named Shelby (pictured) and Quito. She may not take them hunting, but they love chasing bunnies, squirrels, and birds (which makes sense, since they were originally bred to hunt lions).