Man's Best Friend and His KNOTSMITH Lanyard

How do you lose a whistle lanyard? I have heard a number of ways over the years, but a good start is to carry it in your pocket rather than wearing it around your neck.
Several years ago, my longtime hunting partner, Charlie Hillis,  lost a T1 lanyard that I made for him more than twenty five years ago. Like all my lanyards then, Charlie's T1 had a mesquite knot slide, but the slide was unique in that it featured a wood-burned flying quail. Charlie was fond of it. For whatever reason (probably to avoid sweating on it), he was carrying it in his pocket while exercising his dogs. His typical routine was to take a couple of dogs through a bird field, work them on some planted pigeons, and end the session with them romping in and around a tank. At the end of one of the romping sessions, Charlie discovered his lanyard was not in his pocket. He went back up to the bird field, the last place he had used the whistle, and looked for it. When he didn't find it, he took that group of dogs back up the hill, put them up, got a yard rake and a new batch of dogs to exercise, and went back to the bird field to look for his lanyard.

KNOTSMITH
Larry Smith
PO Box 830219
Richardson, TX 75083-0219

(214) 893-9003
While he raked and looked for the lanyard, the dogs ran, and then something really remarkable happened. Skipper, Charlie's then two-year-old Brittany, found the lost lanyard and proudly brought it to Charlie. What a find, what a retrieve, and what a dog! Skipper became a candidate for Charlie's Hall of Fame.*
And what a story. If you ever lose your lanyard, I hope your dog will find and retrieve it. If not, I can replace it (the lanyard that is!).

If you have a lanyard story, please share it with me.

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Copyright KNOTSMITH 2001

* Instantly admitting him to the Hall of Fame would violate the old Northeast Texas maxim: "Never brag on a dog until he has been dead at least three years. That way he can't show you up!"