Pheasant hunting 10-31-08

I took the dogs to the local Wildlife Management Area (WMA) early this morning for a little hunting and bagged my first Pheasant in a number of years. We hunted some marshland along the edges of the cattails for about an hour before Dakota flushed the bird.

I dropped the Pheasant out in the cattails but the dogs had no idea which way it went, since the grass and reeds were waist-high and the cattails were well over my head. We had been walking in ankle-deep water for the better part of an hour and my feet were already wet, so I waded into the cattails a few feet, in the direction that the bird fell. I stopped when the water became knee-deep and sent Sophie and Dakota on ahead.

Sophie retrieving a pheasant, 10-31-08

I imagine that the Pheasant was out another 50 feet or so because Sophie disappeared for a couple of minutes. When she returned, I couldn’t tell if she had given up or found the bird but she appeared at my feet with it in her mouth.

Dakota flushed another rooster a few minutes later and I chided myself for missing the shot. I was too quick on the draw and shot well over it and both dogs gave me a puzzled look as it sailed out of sight.

Dakota checking out Sophie's retrieve, 10-31-08

We hunted a couple more hours without seeing any more birds, but some nearby hunters got a couple along the edge of the sagebrush. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the battery in my PI Cam Stick but since I always take my digital camera as a backup, I did get a couple of action photos.

Sweet Poison?

The following is a “pass along” article from the Just Labs magazine.

Pass Along JL
October 08

Sweet Poison?
by Ben J. Character, DVM

With Halloween around the corner, we must remain vigilant with our always-hungry Labs.

Besides the sweet taste, the reason we like chocolate so much is because it contains stimulants. When taken in small doses, these stimulants make us feel very good! Like other chemical highs, even stimulants eventually wear off because they get metabolized and excreted from the body. But also like other chemicals, you can get too much of a good thing, and when it comes to our dogs and chocolate, the result can be much more than a bellyache.

The toxic agents found in chocolate are known as methylxanthine alkaloids (MA). While we readily metabolize the stimulants theobromine and caffeine (the MA’s in chocolate), our Labs do not, and it is these two stimulants that are the cause of “chocolate toxicosis” in dogs.

But all chocolates are not made alike. Among the different types of chocolates, you will find varying levels of stimulants. Starting from the purest sources, such as the cacao bean itself, and moving down through baking chocolate and milk chocolate, the level of stimulants drop exponentially. This is good because it means that most of the chocolates that our dogs have exposure to, such as “table candies” like white chocolate or milk chocolate, contain lower levels.

The Technicals of Chocolate Toxicosis

To understand the “how” and “why” of chocolate toxicity, we’ll have to get a little technical, but hang with me and I think it will all make sense. As I alluded to earlier, every chemical that we take in by eating, drinking, or other means is eventually removed from the body. There are various ways this happens, but in this case, these stimulants are converted, or metabolized, into different chemicals that can then be excreted from the body (you don’t want to know how, though you can probably guess).

Chocolates tend to cause more of a problem for our Labs because our dogs do not metabolize them as easily as we do. Thus, our dog’s systems are unable to handle high levels of these stimulants. This becomes a bigger problem because, although I’ve been known to “indulge” a bit on my share of chocolate, our dogs are more likely to gorge themselves to the point of obtaining a toxic dose.

The toxic dose of chocolate varies on the type and the size of the dog. The minimum lethal dose (LD) of caffeine and theobromine (the stimulants we’re talking about) in dogs ranges from 100-200 mg/kg. The purer the chocolate, the less it takes to get to this toxic dose. For a 75-pound Lab, it could take as little as 7.5 ounces of baking chocolate to put them over the lethal dose. For the same-sized dog, it would take over 56 ounces (3.5 pounds) of milk chocolate to create a toxic problem.

Excerpted from Ben Character’s Sweet Poison. If you’re a subscriber, you can read the rest of this article in the subscribers’ only section of our website just click here. If you haven’t already, you’ll need to register an account using your Customer Number 0.

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Goodbye, Fudge

Fudge, 10-25-08

Fudge’s previous owners couldn’t take her back and since we are not set up to rehabilitate her, we had no option but to put her down. We received no reply to our inquiries to other Lab rescue organizations or behavioral centers, and time ran out for Fudge.

Fudge with Sophie and Dakota, enjoying a stroll through the pasture

My wife took her in and we had her put down today; it was almost like putting down one of our own dogs. She stayed with Fudge through the procedure which was quick – an injection, a brief shudder, and Fudge was gone.

Fudge enjoying the moment

Fudge having gotten over her fear of wooden steps

We became attached to her in spite of her behavioral problems so rather than looking at what she missed out on in life, we look at what she was able to experience during her last two weeks:

She learned that going up and down wooden steps would not result in abuse.

She was able to experience being inside a nice warm house and that there was no longer a need to fear the indoors.

She was able to experience being a member of a pack, and the social satisfaction it provided.

She learned to enjoy snacks and “human food”.

She learned to play with toys, rather than amusing herself by chewing on her foot or chasing her tail.

She was able to experience some degree of relief from arthritic pain, and run with the other dogs.

She was able to enjoy moments of stretching out on the rug, having her belly rubbed and ears massaged.

She experienced the relief of not having to wear a collar that cut into her neck.

She was able to experience the briefest flicker of her hunting instincts, through smelling the blood and feathers of a duck that was cleaned, and rogue Pheasants that ventured into the pasture.

She was able to experience acceptance into a household.

Fudge, 10-25-08

Fudge’s behavioral problems

Fudge dropped another 2 pounds last week from the diet we have her on and is much more active, due in part to the alfalfa pills we have her on. Her behavioral problems are also becoming evident.

In addition to biting Sophie and my wife last week, she attacked Squirt yesterday after we fed them. We didn’t see what triggered the attack, but Fudge grabbed Squirt’s nose and held on until I pulled her off. Squirt was shaken up and had a sore nose but there was no other damage.

Fudge also chews her foot and chases her tail but we’re not sure if these are obsessions or just her way of entertaining herself due to neglect. She’s torn up most of our dog’s toys, so she will play with toys when given the chance.

We contacted the local Humane Society on Friday and they returned our call yesterday. They have no hope for Fudge; in their terms, Fudge has been ruined as an adoptable pet due to the aggressiveness she’s developed as a result of neglect and abuse. Fudge is “pain aggressive” which means that she will attack anything that hurts her even if it is merely bumping into her arthritic hips, and she is “food aggressive”, which is caused by the territoriality she has developed over the years. Once a dog has bitten a person, even if they did not break the skin, the Humane Society cannot adopt out the dog and must be put them down.

I phoned Fudge’s owner and essentially gave her an ultimatum that we’ll have to put Fudge down if we cannot return her to them within the next several days, which is a little upsetting to both my wife and me. The delay in getting a letter from her doctor requiring Fudge to be kept as a Companion Animal, is that they have no insurance to pay for a visit to the doctor.

In the meantime, we are still working with Fudge but time is quickly running out on her.

Fudge comes to life

Squirt, Penny, Dakota, Sophie and Fudge

After about 10 days of dieting and several days of taking alfalfa pills, Fudge is beginning to come to life. She is becoming much more active and Wednesday night was the first time I’ve seen her actually run as she played with Sophie and Dakota. I believe that she was sluggish in part because of her weight, and also from the chronic pain of arthritis and being overweight.

We think that Fudge may have some eyesight problems on one side. She has snapped at our dogs a couple of times when they have brushed against her or maybe startled her and yesterday she bit my wife on the hand but didn’t break the skin. She was feeding the dogs and went to put several pieces of dog food back in Fudge’s bowl that Fudge had scattered. Prior to that, we’ve had our hands around her while she ate and last weekend I took Fudge’s bone that she was chewing on, to see if she was aggressive; she wasn’t and I gave it back to her.

Fudge is pretty much house trained and has only had 1 accident in the house so we called her owners to arrange getting Fudge back to them.

Using the Right Stimulation

The following is a “Pass Along” article from the Pointing Dog Journal.

Pass Along PDJ
October 2008

Using the Right Stimulation
by Rick Smith and Sharon Potter

Finally, after a long summer of training and practicing, it’s here at last: hunting season! It’s the real deal, not just drills and yard work and conditioning and training. This is where it all comes together. Whether your dog’s an older, seasoned campaigner, a young dog looking forward to its first season, or anything in between, it’s time to put it all together and use the training your dog has. When you do that, don’t forget one important fact: You’re still the boss, and the dog still needs to be in control and pay attention to your direction.

Along those lines, it’s just as important during the season to have your hunting routine mirror your training routine as much as possible. Sticking to a similar routine keeps your dog’s attention and focus and keeps you in control, meaning you’ll be more likely to have a dog that is working for and going with you.

Let’s face it: The real thing is a lot more exciting than everyday training, for both ourselves and our dogs. That’s a good thing, because it makes all the time spent practicing worth it — but there’s a potential downside to all that fun and excitement. While we all know that in the heat of the moment our dogs can get overexcited and make mistakes, we tend to forget that we can also get overexcited and make mistakes, too. And the worst part of our making mistakes is that it’s often the dog that has to pay for them, especially if we happen to make those mistakes with an e-collar transmitter in our hand.

Most dogs tend to come a little unglued as hunting season progresses. This happens for a couple of reasons. First of all, real hunting is not a controlled environment like training is. We don’t know where the birds are or what’s around the next corner like we do when we’re training. And second, we’ve always got a shotgun in our hand rather than a transmitter, and there’s a lot more shooting (and hopefully birds falling) during hunting as opposed to training. Our dogs, being the smart, bird-motivated critters they are, figure out the difference in short order. Because of the wild birds and the unpredictability involved, real hunting excites our dogs, sometimes to the level of non-compliance. The longer we let that go on without making a correction, the more we reinforce the dog’s bad manners, and the whole thing snowballs. Now we’ve got a choice: Do we continue on as we were, or do we plan to make a correction the next time the dog makes the mistake? If they got away with i t once, they are pretty likely to try it again, and that’s how the snowball starts rolling…

The full article “Using the Right Stimulation” by Rick Smith and Sharon Potter appears in the upcoming November/December issue of Pointing Dog Journal . If you are a subscriber, stay tuned! That issue will soon mail!

If you are not a subscriber and would like to read the rest of this article, request an issue right now! If you do so by November 25th, you’ll receive the issue with this article in it! You can request an issue by following the links below or by calling 1-800-447-7367. Make sure you tell our circulation representatives that you’d like the November/December 2008 issue!

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Week 2 with Fudge

We’ve had Fudge on a diet since we got her and in my estimation, she’s lost about 5 pounds. So last weekend we weighed the dogs and they came in as follows: Penny, 40 pounds; Squirt, 42.5; Dakota, 67; Sophie, 73; Fudge, 89.

Fudge oftentimes tries to dominate Dakota which we stop, and her hips seem to be in worse shape than we suspected. Fudge’s hips were hurting her quite a bit yesterday morning when she crawled out of the kennel, causing her to whimper in pain. The rest of our dogs ran over to check her out and Fudge attacked Sophie. I immediately separated them and there was no more trouble after that but Sophie ended up with a fat lip.

This morning, Fudge wouldn’t leave her kennel so we shut the rest of the dogs out of our bedroom while we helped Fudge out of the kennel. She whined and it took a few minutes for her to walk, but then she was okay. It’s possible that the kennel is to confining and doesn’t allow her to change positions much, causing her hips to stiffen up. Fudge snapped at Squirt today but we aren’t sure if it was due to a growing aggressive behavior, or if Squirt startled her or bumped into her hips. In any case, we are going to keep an eye on Fudge to see if her behavior is changing.

While we haven’t been able to get Fudge to take any medicine, we found out last night that she will eat alfalfa pills, so we’re giving them to her each night in hopes that it will alleviate some of the pain in her hips. In the meantime, we are working with her owners in getting her reunited with them.

Barbecued duck recipe

I cleaned and skinned the duck that I got on Friday, then soaked it in salt water overnight to draw out the blood. I then de-boned it after cutting away the bruised meat, getting 2 nice breasts and “duck nuggets” from the wings, legs and thighs.

I then marinated it using the recipe below but with a couple of changes:
1- The recipe is for 2 large ducks but I used the full recipe on my 1 duck.
2- Rather than browning the duck under a broiler, I fried it in olive oil. After it was nearly cooked, I drained off most of the olive oil and added the barbecue sauce, and simmered it in the sauce.

My mother always roasted ducks and my favorite way of eating them was to make a duck sandwich with only bread and butter; I made bread-and-butter sandwiches with the breasts and had the duck nuggets as a mini appetizer.

The recipe I used comes from the Wild Game Recipes web site (see my Recommended Resources page).

2 large ducks
4 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp. tomato catsup
1 tbsp. butter

Disjoint ducks. Brown under broiler, basting frequently with sauce made of remaining ingredients. Sprinkle on salt and paprika before serving.
This recipe is from our wild game recipes duck collection.

Pheasant hunt 10-18-08

Pheasant season opened yesterday at noon so I took Sophie and Dakota out to do a little hunting. I also took my fly rod for some fishing while I waited for shooting hours to begin, but the reservoir raised several feet since last week and the channel where I was going to fish, was now gone.

We only hunted a couple of hours since I didn’t want to push Sophie to the point that her leg would bother her. We spent most of the time hunting willows that bordered the reservoir but had no luck; we saw a deer and one Pheasant that was already about a hundred yards and disappearing fast.

Fudge is progressing nicely with her rehab and training, but since the previous owners haven’t returned our calls or emails, we seriously doubt that they really want her back. We’re now looking at other options for placing Fudge in a good home.

Pheasants and 20s

The following is a “Pass Along” article from the Retriever Journal.

Pass Along RJ
October 08

Pheasants and 20s
by Steve Smith

Are your pheasants not staying put when they’re hit?

There are a few reasons, of course, even if your dog is hunting within range. For one thing, a dog hot on a rooster’s trail is often running the bird straight away from you, which is the direction the bird’s going to fly when he tires of the entire enterprise, which gives you a going-away shot, often at 30 yards or better. And a pheasant at that angle and that range takes some knocking down.

But maybe it’s your gun and load. This is no place for dainty loads and open chokes; you need to center the bird with a lot of big shot that can penetrate up into the vitals. If you are a 20-gauge shooter, maybe you should take a new look at some of the 3″ magnum loads on the market. I shot one — Federal Premium Wingshok HV Pheasant in No. 5, 1-1/4 ounces. It’s rated at 1350 fps, and I hesitate to tell you how far I killed a pheasant lightly hit by my hunting partner because you’ll think I’m lying.

We were hunting behind Labs, there were a lot of birds, but they were skittish in the South Dakota wind. We were filming a TV show, and when you do that, you have to hold off shooting so the camera guys can get on the bird and focus, so the shots are normally longer anyway. I was shooting M/F in an over-under. I have never — never — been a fan of the 3″ 20, but this load performed like a HV 12-gauge load.

If you are a 20-gauge shooter, or if you put your 20 aside in favor of a 12 or 16 but you really like your little gun, I suggest you try this load.

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