Dr.
Micheal English, field trialer from New Mexico, shares his experiences
with Bill
West.
Often in the bird dog business it is the person with the sharpest pen rather than the best dog that gets most of the press and is thus the best known among the whole bird dog industry. Bill West is not known for his literary ability, or a smooth political manner, but those of us who know him are well aware of his training ability. Mr. Bill Gibbons had a nice spread in a recent issue of the American Field Magazine. While Bill Gibbons is a fine trainer in his own right, he was quick to give a great deal of credit to Bill West. Bravo, Bill Gibbons! There are a lot of other trainers both professional and amateur that will tell you how much Bill West has helped them. I met Bill West in the early 80's. When I met him, he was bigger than life with an overwhelming presence. A big man with a chew of tobacco, riding a big snorty sorrel horse, a Hardy laugh, a coarse exterior and a heart as big and soft as they come, with several million dog stories. For me, he was very easy to know and to like, especially if you are a bird dog fanatic. I had a walking horse that like to buck and a run-off pointer pup. We three must have provided Bill, with several moments of entertainment. But regardless of how pitiful we must have looked, Bill befriended this bush leaguer, and gave me a lot of help. In a few years I put two amateur championships on that run-off pointer pup. Check cording, correcting mistakes, using planted birds correctly and not using the electric collar to create more problems are Bill's theme. Among professional trainers Bill is known as the man who can correct problems that have been put into dogs by less than informed owners and trainers. Correcting blinking, gun shyness and bolting problems are where Bill has few equals. I've heard Cliff Bogg, Dave Walker, Terry Chandler and others tell stories of how Bill helped them as they got started in the dog training business. It is hard to field trial pointers and setters in the western states. The FDSB political base and thus major trials and most kindly write ups are held in the mid south and midwestern states. Most of the bigger trails are run on more civilized bobwhite quail, and close venues compared to the expanses of the west. Things in the west are just a little western if you will. Mountains, rocks, rattlesnakes, all sorts of cactus, quail that run like demons and high desert expanses that will awl-strike the weak hearted are part of bird dogging in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado. Bill is the dean of western field trailers. He did it well and he is a man that is admired by those of us who know him. |
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