Good Dogs

Meet Georgia: G&G’s Good Dog of the Week

Our 2015 Good Dog Photo Contest begins September 15

Start snapping those pics! This year’s Good Dog Photo Contest begins Tuesday, September 15. In anticipation, we’ll be spotlighting some of our favorite pups from last year’s contest each week until the contest’s official start date. And what better day to begin than National Dog Day?

Boykin SpanielName: Georgia (registered name: Santee’s Sweet Georgia Brown)
From: Savannah, Georgia
Age: 3
Breed: Boykin spaniel

This photo of Georgia was taken at the first hunt test she entered—and it was a day to remember.

“Things didn’t turn out exactly as I had expected,” owner Torrey Massey says. “In her enthusiasm, Georgia blew past the first duck and was almost to the next county when the judge suggested I whistle her in. She obediently responded, turned around, and picked up the bird. However, she proceeded to parade through the spectator gallery before returning to the line.”

Although Georgia didn’t bring home any ribbons that weekend, she honed her skills and earned a Started Hunting Retriever title later in the season. Today, she’s a fine hunter.

“Whether she’s retrieving ducks in a pond or scrambling after downed pheasant at a tower shoot, nothing makes me happier than to watch her doing what the breed was developed to do,” Massey says. “Well, that and having her snuggled up next to me on the couch. Like most Boykin spaniels, Georgia is happiest when she’s with her people.”


CJ Lotz Diego is Garden & Gun’s senior editor. A staffer since 2013, she wrote G&G’s bestselling Bless Your Heart trivia game, edits the Due South travel section, and covers gardens, books, and art. Originally from Eureka, Missouri, she graduated from Indiana University and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she tends a downtown pocket garden with her florist husband, Max.