Tough week for the dog

[Jameson]

Often when I walk/hunt my dogs I will allow them to run 'wild' when we reach an opening in the trail. This has developed into a somewhat bad habit that I will have to keep an eye on.

So, we are nearing a opening in at the end of a trail grouse hunting this week. One dog is whining wanting to run 'wild.' He is tired of being on heal for the entire trail to this point, as we flushed/smelled no birds on this trail. As we get twenty yards from the end of the trail I let them loose with an "O.K" command. Dog two is real tired at this point and pretty much remains at my side. Dog one runs full throttle out to the opening, looks to his left and slams on the brakes. In the same split second I try to look where the dog is looking, but am mostly blocked by tall grasses and brush. I can barely make out something moving fast straight at my dog. This is wolf territory. I look back at my dog and he has now kind of winced ahead of knowing he was about to be ran into. THUD! Suddenly a fawn deer runs smack into the side of him. My dog weighing 78 lbs, and the slightly taller fawn probably weighing similar both spilled out onto the ground. Dog two reacts running to help out, but instead stops 10 feet short of the scene with sorta of what just happened/ what should I do look to her. The fawn is the first to it's feet and runs off the direction it was headed originally. Dog one gets to his feet and just watches the white flag running away. I was concerned about an injury so checked him out. Finding him fine I burst into a good laugh! Never thought I would have seen that. Hopefully that fawn learns to jump high in a hurry if it ever tries something like that with a wolf.

A few days later...Duck Opener. Brother and his dog, myself and my lab mutt have traversed the woods, field, and 50 yard wide stretch of deep swamp crossing to make it to the beaver pond that we have hunted the last 4 years. Shortly after arriving at our destination, 8:30 am, my dog walks up with a nasty cut/tear that has produced two inch plus flaps of skin on the front of his left front leg just above his foot. 8:30 !!!! Make the way back to the car with dog, race up to the local store, get the dog fixed up with duct tape and a clean shop rag. Race back to hunting. Leave the poor dog in the car and make it back out to the pond by 9:02. Brother's dog does a flawless 5 foot retrieve, but was unable to retrieve a bird that lay in the water straight ahead of us 70 yards out. This beaver pond has been around a few years now, so what was a few years ago many standing dead trees are now falling logs in the water. It made both of us sick to be able to SEE this bird and not able to retrieve it. Brother looks over at me and says what I am thinking, "Your dog would retrieve it." Trek back to the car, remove the boxing glove like bandage I had rigged up and replace it with something streamlined so my dog could swim. The cut/tear never bled that much, and the dog was just as concerned about licking the rest of himself as that area. Make it back out to the pond, time is about 11:00. Have dog heal, line him up with the bird 70 yards out, give him a little pep talk and send him out. A few commands later, several times the dog having to crawl over falling logs, he had the duck in his grasps and a return shortly followed. That was the only duck he ended up retrieving.

Cleaned the area the best I could and changed his bandage at 12:00 when we were done hunting. Changed it again at 5:00 when I was finally able to make it home and noticed some swelling so it was off to the E.R. $180 bill their, $20 something for duck stamps, and one retrieved duck for the season.

Tough week!

[fishmon]

If I have learned one thing over the years it's this, never take the dog into the field without the longest ace bandage I can find and a roll of duct tape.

[duckbuster]

If you don't mind me asking, why is your dog at heal the entire time walking down the trail?

[Jameson]

Because one is a flushing lab mutt and I was grouse hunting. If I let the dogs range at all on the trails the grouse flush out of range 99% of the time.

After much, much frustration I have developed a method of keeping my dogs at heal - tight to me. Dog two, a Pitt Bull/ Rottweiler mix will still get very very "nosy" when a bird is in the area. When she does that I release the hounds and usually get a flush within 30 feet.

It works for us.

When going through the brush I will let the dogs work out of front of me. I will then switch directions often, causing the dogs to be not so much in front of me, but rather to the side or having to catch up to me. Hard to describe....

Oh, and made a follow-up visit to the normal vet today. Stapled the cut, and some shots that were due. Nearly another $200. For one duck...

[Ralph Wiggum]

Dude, I would have fallen over laughing when the fawn ran into your dog! Too funny.

[Cooter]

That fawn would have broke its neck if it ran into your monster!