This writing is a tribute to a man who is and has been one of the greatest ambassadors for the HRC, Mr. Bill Autrey.
My wife and I met Bill in September of 2002. Since our first meeting, we have become good friends and have spent a lot
of time together. Although I am less than a neo-phyte at this game, Bill has encouraged me to train with him as often
as possible. We have made many HRC hunt tests with Bill and where ever we go, people show great admiration and respect
for this man. If anyone needs any help or encouragement, Bill will always take the time to help those individuals. We
have seen both professional and amateur trainers from all over the country and then some spend days as guests at Bill's
house. They train with Bill everyday that they are there and he teaches them to become better trainers. We have never
seen him refuse anyone.
The 2004 Spring Grand comes to mind. Starting two months prior to the Grand and during the Grand, there were at least
two dozen pro and amateur trainers that worked with Bill to better themselves and their retrievers for the Grand tests.
Our original intention with this writing was to contact many of the individuals that Bill has helped, and let each of them
provide their own short tribute and incorporate them into one article. It was a good idea, but the logistics of coordinating
this effort became apparent. So we will offer to your our own experience with Bill Autrey.
It all started on June 21, 2002 when Bully, our black lab died of heat stroke. My wife and I were devastated. My wife
ran every day and Bully ran with her. Bully and I hunted together and he quite often traveled with me on business trips.
My wife insisted that we find another pup, and shortly after his death, began looking for one. I could not handle the
thought of another dog yet and I told her so.
One weekend I went fishing with my brother-in-law in Corpus Christi. On my way home from my fishing trip my wife called
and told me that she had located a litter of puppies that we should consider. I again reiterated to her that I could not
handle another pup at that time and if she was interested in a pup, it was/would be her dog only. She
promptly told me that I needed to get over Bully and that she was going to get one. She also informed me that if I wanted any input in the decision
process, the pups were located in Anacoco, Louisiana. She did mention to me that the pups were "Cody" pups. A friend of
mine, Charlie Manceaux once mentioned to me that there was a good trainer with a fine dog known as Cody. Charlie is in the
HRC and had gotten me to join. Other than a faint remembrance of Charlie telling me this, I knew nothing about Cody, or
Mr. Autrey.
The next day, begrudgingly, I decided to go to Anacoco and check these puppies out. I called Monte Sayer and asked him
to meet me in Anacoco. He was looking for a female pup. We arrived at our destination to be greeted by Gary DeJean, the
owner of HRCH Star of Bessie. Star was the mother of the puppies, who were born on June 21, 2002. Gary asked if we had
come to see Conroe. "What do you mean, Conroe", I inquired? Gary then informed me that my wife had put a deposit on one of
his black pups and had named him Conroe for "Connie and Ronnie". Ughh! He introduced us to
Conroe and the rest of the litter. All of the pups had been spoken for except Conroe and one chocolate, the only chocolate in the litter and according
to Gary, the only chocolate pup that Star had ever thrown.
I knew immediately that Conroe was not to be! I was more interested in the chocolate than any other pup in the litter. He was the
most agile of the litter as well as the largest and strongest. He had a shiny, slick coat with a big block head. When he
moved, all the pups in the litter followed him. Gary told us that the first time he let the pups out at three and a half
weeks of age, chocolate baby went down the hill and into Lake Anacoco. Gary had to go into the water under the dock to get him out.
That happened more than once. I asked Gary if I could take the chocolate pup instead of Conroe. Gary exclaimed, "You mean
chocolate baby? My wife and I thought that nobody would want chocolate baby and that we would have to keep him. Sure,
you can have him."
Life with Roux began. He was a sharp puppy and quick learner. He lived in the house with us and quickly became one of
our family. As a matter of fact, Roux never spent the night outside of our home before going to Autrey Kennels. He traveled
with us to as many places as we were allowed to take him. Prior to turning four months of age, Rourk Feerick (my nephew), Milligan Fossett
and I went dove hunting on the Hollier Farms in Jennings, Louisiana. I thought that being around other dogs and hunters
would be a good experience for Roux. If we were lucky and he didn't fall asleep, he might even retrieve a bird or two. After setting
up and the hunting began, Roux remained steady and retrieved a total of twenty-six birds! At five months he retrieved
his first ducks and a speckle belly goose. It could have been a lot more had that season not been horrid.
At five and a half months, Roux was doing short triples on land and water and I had him well started on hand
signals. Please keep in mind that he had never been force trained as I did not know how to force train and
would not attempt to do so. But, it was becoming apparent that Roux was on the verge of
starting to develop bad
habits, and any further training was beyond anything that I could do. Roux's learning up to this point had been
easy and natural.
I called Mr. Autrey to tell him of my concerns with Roux. Bill had previously told us that normally he liked to
start pups at seven to eight months of age and after having all their permanent teeth in place. After discussing
where I was with Roux, he suggested that we bring Roux to him immediately. We did just that and it was one of the
best decisions my wife and I have ever made. In Roux's Started tests and
Seasoned tests, Mr. Autrey would run Roux first. I would run Roux in the same
tests after Bill so that I could get the experience. In spite of my handling or
lack thereof, Roux was 9 passes for 9 attempts in Started and Seasoned tests.
During the fall of 2003, I wanted Bill to run Roux in Finished. Bill thought it
would be in Roux's best interest that we wait until February or March of 2004.
Bill's reasoning was that Roux had the ability to pass finished tests during the
fall, but he felt that Roux would be better off in the long run with more
maturity prior to running any finished tests. I was disappointed and
disheartened, but I agreed. Bill had become a great friend and mentor, and he
knew what was best for Roux.
On February 28, 2004, Roux ran his first Finished
test. On April 24, 2004, he was in the Bryan College Station Grand at barely 22
months of age. Up to the time of the start of this writing, Roux has run 19
Finished tests and Grand tests combined, and has passed 18. Roux was the
youngest dog to pass the 2004 Bryan College Station Spring Grand! My wife and I
owe Roux's success to Mr. Bill Autrey.
Roux's story is our tribute to Bill
Autrey. We only wish we could have put into words our feelings for this man. He
has touched many other people in HRC as well. Bill Autrey is one of the greatest
ambassadors the HRC has or will ever have. There was once incident this Spring
Grand I will always remember. A trainer from New Orleans named Andy Fontenot had
worked with Bill a good bit prior to the Spring Grand. I had heard that he had
not yet passed a dog in the Grand after several tries. I did not see Andy run
his dog in the last event, the Upland. As I was walking up to Bill's truck, Andy
was crying and hugging Bill, shaking Bill like he was a rag dog with each sob
(Andy is quite a bit bigger than Bill). Not knowing what to say, I finally said,
"Andy, you worked hard and you have a good dog. Things will work out better
in the next Grand." Andy turned to me and said, "You don't understand.
My dog passed, and I owe it to Bill."
