This is a bittersweet story submitted by Walt Dixon of Ari's latest and most likely last recovery. Ari was born on March 11, 2003, and she is an older sister of our Billy. Her heart disease has been getting worse recently.
Jolanta,
I
wanted to share this with you. Old Walt (with my back problems) and old Ari
(with her heart problems) found this big buck for a bow hunter this morning.
Although the gun season is open, they only bow hunt on this private property.
The buck was hit at 3 PM yesterday, while I was at the Vets with both my dogs.
Ari was being analyzed and now treated for a UTI in addition to adding
Vetmedin to her other heart meds. Dachs was only in for a regular checkup.
After the Vet listened to Ari’s heart she said she would not take her tracking
any longer.
Friends
called me after dark to ask if I would bring the dog to try to track their deer
if needed and since both dogs received shots and meds I said no, not until this
morning. The hunter and friends tracked this deer until 9 PM with flashlights,
before giving up, and it never laid down in about 500 yards. They marked their
last blood and called me about 9:30 PM to ask if I would track in the morning.
This
morning, after calling the hunter’s info into DEC law enforcement, I thought
about which dog to take. We needed to move slowly and carefully in this bow
only area, so as not to chase deer out to where the gun hunters sit. After some
soul searching I decided to take Ari. When we got to the hunter’s last blood
she immediately got a little too excited and began panting like she was not getting
enough oxygen so I sat down with her and calmed her down. Once calm, the old
girl started tracking and never wavered over 150 yard trail through tall swale
grass and into a thorn apple thicket to recover this 130”+ buck! She was
visibly possessive and proud of herself! The coyotes had eaten the entire deer,
but the hunter was extremely happy to know this buck was not still wounded and
on the loose.
So,
all’s well that ends well. I really felt that if she went slowly she’d be okay,
but also that if she passed away with a heart attack on this track she would
die a happy and honorable death doing what she was bred to do. She’s a happy
girl resting downstairs right now. The Vet felt Ari’s health could worsen any
time. This is likely Ari’s last recovery. As you know, it’s sad to think of her
aging. She and I have traveled many miles and recovered many deer over her
lifetime. Her old eyes look up at me wondering where we’re going on our next
adventure. The love and companionship a tracker and dog share is special! We’ll
keep her as healthy and comfortable as we can as she approaches her 13th
birthday and beyond, Lord willing. I thought you’d like to hear this story and
see a picture of Ari!
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