The Backward Bird Dog

What's a Bird Dog to Do?Everyone knows a bird dog leads with his nose. Everyone but J.C. After all, what's a pup supposed to think when he's welcomed to his new home by a cat who thwacks him on the nose with his claws...a dog who bites him on the nose...a bee sting on his you-know-what and a mad mamma bird who attacks the sorest part of his body with her beak? Poor J.C. All he wants is love...cuddling up to My Justin...a good tummy-scratching by My Bill and My Carol. J.C. wants to make his new family proud. But how can he point with a nose everyone wants to attack? There must be a better way...

Bill Wallace grew up in Oklahoma. Along with riding their horses, he and his friends enjoyed campouts and fishing trips. Toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories to scare one another, and catching fish was always fun.
One of the most memorable trips took place on the far side of Lake Lawtonka, at the base of Mt. Scott. He and his best friend, Gary, spent the day shooting shad with bow and arrows, cutting bank poles, and getting ready to go when their dads got home from work.
Although there was no "monster" in Lake Lawtonka, one night there was a "sneak attack" by a rather large catfish tail. Checking the bank poles was not nearly as fun or "free" after that point, but it was the inspiration for this story.
Bill Wallace has won nineteen children's state awards and been awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children's Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.