When new artist Luke Bryan gets time off from touring to go back to his hometown, he will most likely be found outdoors. “When I go home [to Georgia], outdoor stuff is a big part of what we do. Anytime I get home I’m bee-lining it to the woods,” says Bryan, who sings about his rural upbringing in his new single, “We Rode in Trucks.”
 
And when he heads for the trees, he often takes his four-legged friend, Maggie. “She’s an English Cocker, black and white, about 25 pounds,” says Bryan. “English Cockers are a little hunting dog that’s popular down in south Georgia. They’re great little retrievers. I’d always grown up with Labs, but it’s gotten too hot in south Georgia now to go hunting with Labs, so English Cockers have gotten popular.”
 
Bryan says he and his wife got Maggie as a pet, but as an avid hunter, it didn’t take him long to put his pet’s work skills to the test. “I do hunt with her, but not as much as I’d like to,” he says. “She’s pretty incredible at retrieving. My wife’s father has trained a lot of dogs, and he says Maggie is one of the best he’s seen. She’s really smart.
 
“I think her best characteristic is that she has so much drive and energy,” he continues. “I can take something that will sink and throw it into the shallow end of a swimming pool, about four or five feet deep, she will dive to the bottom to get it. She’s like an otter. She’s just got a lot of drive, and if she sees something to retrieve she will not quit until she gets it.”

Photo credit: Angela Marie Bertrand