‘Million-dollar dog’ from the pound gets fitting send-off

For seven hunting seasons, Chris Ellis and Ace, his bird dog, came and went together from a 15-acre field of prairie grasses.

On Saturday, they arrived together, but Ellis left without the dog. Ace died about six weeks ago. Before leaving the field, Ellis and three friends had scattered some of the German shorthair’s remains over the it by firing from their shotguns shells carrying Ace’s ashes.

Ellis said the field was one of Ace’s favorite places, the four hunters were his regular hunting pack, and the report of the shotguns had been Ace’s favorite sound.

“If any dog ever deserved that kind of memorial, it was Ace,” Ellis said of the dog he rescued as a puppy from an animal shelter. “I paid $50 for him, and he ended up being a million-dollar dog.”

It was the fourth time hunting buddies Kent Gottschalk, Vernon Branson and Greg Orler had joined Ellis to scatter the ashes of dogs over the same patch of grass north of St. John.

A tradition

The tradition started about seven years ago when Sally, an English pointer that was Ellis’ first dog, died.

He had Sally cremated, but simply leaving Sally in an urn didn’t seem to do the great hunting dog justice.

“I wanted to do something special for Sally, so I loaded some of her ashes in shotgun shells and brought them the next opening day,” said Ellis. “Our dogs have always really enjoyed running and hunting this particular field. It’s probably not our best, but it’s been good and we’ve always had fun.”

A few years later, Max, a 13-year-old golden retriever owned by Branson, died, and his ashes joined Sally’s at the field. A few years after that, Rip, Wade’s great German shorthair, also died, and his ashes were also shot across the field.

At 7 years old, Ace was the youngest dog whose ashes the hunters have scattered with their shotguns. Ellis said it was seven pretty spectacular years.

A natural

Originally, Ellis and his wife, Penny, headed to Newton to pick up Ace from Caring Hands Humane Society. They intended to give the dog to a friend’s father who would keep it as a pet.

Then that first afternoon, Penny Ellis took a photo of the 10-week-old puppy locked in a magnificent pose, pointing out a songbird on a nearby fence.

“I told Penny we were going to have to go back and get another puppy (for the friend’s dad). We were keeping Ace,” Chris Ellis said. “That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Ellis said Ace used his supersized frame to run far and wide, sniffing the air for the scent of pheasant or quail. After leaving the shelter, Ace seemed to love every day of freedom and thrived on pleasing Ellis and the others.

In November, Ace was diagnosed with cancer and died on the operating table.

Ace was cremated, and Ellis kept the ashes until the regular group of hunters could gather for a hunt. On Friday, the tops of shotgun shells were carefully pried open and the hundreds of little lead pellets were poured out. About a tablespoon of Ace’s ashes were poured inside, then the top of the ammo was closed.

Ellis said the rest of Ace’s ashes will remain in the urn atop his fireplace at home, next to Sally’s. After Saturday’s farewell ceremony and hunt, the empty shells are to be placed beside the urn. After the season ends on Jan. 31, Ace’s collar will be there, too.

“I’ll keep this here all season,” Ellis said, showing the dog’s collar attached to his hunting jacket. “He’ll be with me every step all season.”

A good hunt

The hunters spent about the first three hours Saturday hunting, having one of their best pheasant-hunting days this season. By 10:30 a.m., they’d collected 13 rooster pheasants and eight quail.

“You know, I don’t think we’ve ever had a day when the hunting wasn’t really good when we’ve celebrated one of our dogs out here,” Ellis said. One of their pheasants came from the memorial field.

After stopping the hunt for about half an hour for a rest, and an interview, Ellis handed each hunter a shell loaded with ashes, and they walked to the same spot from where they’d fired the ashes of three great dogs over the field.

They fired in unison, then Ellis carefully gathered the empty shells.

After a little discussion, the hunters drove themselves and five lively hunting dogs to other fields and more birds.

Ellis was the last to leave the memorial field, stopping at the edge and turning toward the middle.

“See ya, Ace,” he said with a slight smile, knowing he and a favored dog would share the field for many years to come.

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 6:47 AM with the headline "‘Million-dollar dog’ from the pound gets fitting send-off."