Don't forget to check his/her nose!!!

[TylerS]

I took my 18-week-old GWP out for North Dakota's resident duck opener this weekend. He did pretty darn good (didn't make any water retrieves, but we're working on it).

Anyway, we came home Sunday afternoon and he was his usual self. I noticed he started sneezing/snorting a bit, but though he'd just sniffed something that didn't agree with him. So I got to work cleaning the day's harvest, when all of a sudden my wife bursts into the garage.

"Remy has a leach up his nose!"

That's right, the poor dude had a leach jammed up his left nostril (I guess that explains why he wasn't doing too hot tracking down birds on Sunday compared to Saturday!) I grabbed a small pliers I usually use for fishing and my wife held Remy down while we operated. Luckily the leach only was up a short ways and he hadn't been sucking blood.

This little procedure happened after I laid the dog down on his back and worked all the cockleburs out between his toes for a good 20 minutes. I'd always heard to check over your dog after day in the field, but I never thought of its nose!

Just thought I'd pass it along! I shudder what might have happened if the little parasite somehow managed to crawl any further up his nose. The only thing I can think of as to how it happened was the leach must have swam up there when he bent down to get a drink Sunday (he didn't drink any pond water on Saturday...too excited/anxious to anything but whimper and shiver).