Remi's hardest track yet

Thank you Justin and Suzette for this beautiful write-up of Remi's track. Remi  (Remy von Moosbach-Zuzelek) is owned/handled by Justin Richins of R&K Hunting Company. Now 7.5 years old, he is a son of FC Joeri vom Nonnenschlag and FC Gilda von Moosbach-Zuzelek. He is one of the most accomplished dogs we have ever bred. Thank you Justin!

Yesterday, was quite a day. It started off with waking up to our little Yorkie completely lifeless. We rushed him to Marion Lott, at River Valley Vet, barely breathing. They spent quite a while trying to bring him back & get him going again. He had gone into hypoglycemic shock, and I thought for sure he was gone. As we were anxiously waiting, praying he would respond to their treatments, he finally began to show some signs of life. 

During the midst of this, I received a phone call from our friends at J&J, saying they had wounded a deer Wednesday evening, and were wondering if Remi the wonder dog could track it down. I left with Remi & his gear in tow, and we headed towards the mountains. This turned out to be one of the most intense, grueling, difficult tracks this little teckel has done. We started out in the high country, in a mix of chaparral & pine trees, worked our way around the mountain, down a rock slide, through several thick oak brush and maple stands, down the middle of a few two track roads, and across some grazed off pastures.  Just as we were about to call off the search, due to extreme fatigue, exhaustion, and being completely out of water, we caught a glimpse of what looked to be an antler between some grass and sage brush. Sure enough, against all odds, and some extremely wicked terrain, Remi saved the day once again! 

The track was over 3.5 miles long, not including all the loops and back checking work the dog has to do, to continually double check himself. Calculating that distance in, the miles were easily doubled. Every time I work with Remi on a track, especially one of this magnitude, he never ceases to amaze me. Especially considering he has been run over by a 3/4 ton truck, which required him to have a total hip replacement, was gored by a deer, which lacerated his liver, and punctured his intestine, went head to head with a coyote, multiple throw downs with porcupines, disappeared the whole day, after jumping out of the truck in the rugged mountains of Wyoming, to go after an antelope that he watched fall down after trying to justo through a fence, signaling the "this must be a wounded animal I need to track" response. My little soul mate has definitely defied all odds on multiple occasions. We gutted the deer, gave Remi his liver reward, then quickly sped home to watch my other son play his last football game. He threw some amazing passes, and a long distance  touchdown pass. I am so grateful for these boys of mine. Definitely a proud papa, full of miracles day.

Justin Richins

www.thehuntingcompany.com

R&K Hunting Company Inc.

www.submoafirearms.com

A busy Thanksgiving weekend of deer tracking for Judy and and her dachshund Mossy Brooke

Mossy has had a busy week again this past week.  The only problem has been that most of our tracks have ended up with no dead deer being recovered, much to Mossy's disappointment.  The majority of these have been after a front leg shot, having found bone consistent with an upper long bone of the leg at the sight of the shot.  The areas these deer were shot were so thick that Mossy on leash dragging me could not move fast enough to catch the deer. And, at this point in Mossy's career, running off leash is just not yet an option.  We are getting closer to that point, but this will probably take a few more seasons of tracking. She is too vulnerable at this age to the dangers she has no idea exist, and she can move too fast.  When I was tracking off leash with Bear, he could make a deer with a leg wound move fast enough that it would usually bed down or stop and stand to defend himself once Bear had run it a mile or more, giving me time to get to them and dispatch the deer. Same scenario on a couple of occasions last year when Mossy ran off leash. As she became older and more sure of herself, she would venture further away and I am now concerned about her safety--highways, coyotes, wild dogs, snakes, etc--so on leash she will be for a while longer.

This young man, Jason had been deer hunting on several occasions, but had never had the opportunity to shoot a deer.  I have a stand that I take kids and have had a camera on it, but deer were coming by only during the night with an occasional doe during the day.  I explained to Jason that we could go and if we were lucky, we might see a deer. And, so we did.  After being in the stand for an hour with Jason sitting perfectly still and quiet, this 8 point walked out.  On the way to the stand, I had gone over the things we should and should not do to keep from spooking the deer.  His actions in the stand were those of a young man who had listened to everything we discussed and then followed through with them. I was very impressed.  When the deer was broadside, Jason took the shot. The deer hunched as if it had been hit.  When we walked to the site of the shot, my heart dropped when I saw bone--thinking--oh NO, another leg wound.  On closer inspection, the bone did not resemble a long bone.  So, I called Craig to bring Mossy as we could find no blood or the deer.  Mossy to the rescue.  She immediately picked up the trail--going in a direction in the woods I knew the deer did not go--but I allowed her to continue to track.  Glad I did because she had found Jason's deer very shortly. The deer was hit low in the brisket, but caused enough damage for the shot to be fatal. 

So, Mossy's and my Thanksgiving weekend turned out perfect.  A young man with his first deer and Mossy finally finding her reward at the end of the track. Life does not get any better for a WHD than this.  She guarded this deer with her entire body, but allowed Jason to act like his was his for a few minutes. 

*****

Mossy Brooke received another call this AM.  The hunter had shot the deer 3 hours previous, had found blood for 50 yards and then had lost the trail of blood.  He and his buddy had walked in the woods for 2 hours searching for the deer.  They then ran into another hunter up town who told them about Mossy. We arrived and after talking with the hunter found that the deer was quartering toward the hunter who had made an app. 150 yd shot with the deer going down on his front legs, then jumping up, crossing a fence, and running off. The hunter had gone down to the site the deer was standing when he shot and found blood.  He heard a crash about 75 yds to his left and assumed this was the deer.  

Mossy started on the blood trail, went directly uphill and then to the right. The hunter advised me the deer did not go that way--he heard him crash to his left.   "When will she ever learn?"--were Mossy's thoughts at this point I am sure as I pulled her off the track and took her back to the area of the crashing noise. She appeased me for a few minutes and then we were off on Mossy's track again. 

Within 100 yards, I began seeing large pools of gut shot blood, then thru a thicket losing my glasses, and across the creek.  Now, Mossy is pulling hard, I have lost my glasses and cannot see very well, and the hunter has gotten behind. I am calling him to catch up so he can be my eyes and shortly Mossy is standing over the dead deer.  Thank goodness the deer was dead as without glasses I did not see the deer until she was touching it. Three blows from the whistle and the hunter comes running to us. Mossy is awesome, awesome, awesome. And, I have learned that along with extra batteries, flashlites, etc., I will have an extra pair of glasses.  Another awesome morning with my little Mossy Brooke.

When you track wounded deer with a dog in snake country: safety tips

By Jerry Gregston

Recently there was a question posted on the United Blood Trackers Facebook Group from a prospective buyer of a dachshund puppy. He is located in nothern Texas and was concerned about getting a small sized dog because of possibility of running into a snake.

Jerry Gregston from SW Oklahoma wrote this article to address questions that had been raised raised. Thank you Jerry!

First of all, the disclaimer. I am neither a veterinarian nor a herpetologist, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night! I am just a guy who dearly loves his tracking dog. A snake bite is something that could happen where we track, and I didn't want to get caught off guard. So, I did something anyone could do, I began to research, ask for info, and quiz those in the know. Any information contrary to or in addition to the following, I would very much like to hear, as this is again just a layman's perspective.

In our area (SW Oklahoma) poisonous snakes come in the form of rattlers (Western Diamondback), water moccasins, copperheads and coral snakes, and unless you are very lucky, these, plus or minus a few indigenous to your particular area, can cause a big time bump in the road that leads from the hit site to that prized animal the dog/handler team is trying to find. There are several weapons in the anti-snakebite arsenal. I will touch on some, and ultimately each handler will need to pick and choose what seems most reasonable and affordable for their needs.

Snake Clinic/ Avoidance Training: This is a training that actually can stop a bite before it happens. No treatment can compare with not being bitten in the first place. The use of a shock collar when the dog approaches a de-fanged poisonous snake leaves a lasting impression. Finding a clinic in your area can be a problem, and it can be a little tough for the handler to watch, but this is a "tough love" decision that has to be considered.

Anti-Venom Injection: This is given to the dog in the event of a bite (usually when arriving at the vet), and in actuality, the dog will likely get several of these injections depending on the severity of the bite. The downside here is, yes, you can carry it with you to administer immediately, but the drug is expensive and short lived (it will be out of date by next season). Note: if purchased online be careful of expiration dates and on dosage as there are different strengths and dosage is dictated by the size of the dog.

Snake Vaccine: There is available now, a snakebite vaccine. This vaccine does not prevent problems from a bite, but makes symptoms less severe.  Although vet opinions here varied, it was described to me as being as if the dog has had one injection of anti-venom when the bite occurs. Obviously that would be a worthwhile thing and would buy some time as you headed for the nearest vet. There are several drawbacks to the vaccine. It's expensive and not permanent (boosters are necessary). It is snake specific. Right now the vaccine is aimed at the Western Diamondback, so it does not protect against all poisonous snakes.

Kevlar Vests: I researched and purchased a Kevlar vest which is used mostly to protect terriers from hog cuts. It fit my Cletus (wirehaired dachshund) fairly well, and it covers the chest and most of the body. Most bites seem to occur on the face and legs, and  while these bites look almost instantly terrible, the consensus of opinion is these are bites a dog can get over, but a bite to the chest or body is much more serious/deadly (there is good info on dog size related to use in snake country in John's book). I was assured that it would stop a snake bite or an errant antler although to date we have experienced neither. We used the vest in place of the harness (has a large D ring in middle of back) in the warm months when snakes were more active. Downside here is that while it is adjustable, it seemed a little cumbersome or restrictive for Cletus and it was hot to wear in the already hot weather.

Snake Bite Protocol for Dogs: OK, we're tracking down that buck of a lifetime and the dog gets bitten....now what? Consensus is stop tracking and give the dog 25mg of benadryl and 5mg of prednisone (20 lb dosage, and the anti-venom if you are carrying it) and get to the vet ASAP. Carry the dog if possible and keep him as calm as possible. Note: a great thing to know ahead of time when you are out of your neck of the woods is the nearest available vet.

Snake Bite Protocol for Handlers: OK, we're tracking down that buck of a lifetime, the dog just makes the snake mad as he goes by and the snake takes it out on the handler (or hunter).....now what? Try to remain calm and remove any jewelry or tight clothing. Position the bite below heart level as much as possible. Do NOT cut or flush the wound and do NOT use a tourniquet or ice. A photo or detailed description of the snake is very helpful, but don't try to catch it. And, no, do Not take your dog's benadryl and prednisone! Now get to an ER ASAP! You know where the nearest ER is.....right?

Decide what meets your needs according to the level of threat where you will be tracking and what your budget will allow. Make yourself be prepared for something you hope never happens.

Help find Bella, a blood tracking dog from Claremont, NH

Update: Bella has been found!

Rob and Diane Richardson from New Hampshire are looking for their blood tracking dog Bella. In Diane's words:

We were doing a wounded deer track on 11/14/13 at 379 Jarvis Hill Rd, Claremont, NH and just as Rob was reeling her in to call a halt to the track and the night, Bella somehow got off her gear and zipped off still tracking the buck. We searched all night and never found her. She ALWAYS comes to Rob so this is very unusual.

Bella is a Southern Black Mouth Cur (looks like pit X Lab mix to some people) red/yellow/tan. about 50 lbs. 23-24" at shoulder and last seen wearing a green nylon collar that has her name, license (Unity), Rabies tag and Microchip tag.

She is people and dog friendly. Traffic naïve and will run in front of autos without thinking. She is a trained (licensed by NH Fish & Game) Blood tracking/Wildlife recovery dog and is trained to track wounded deer. She may still be in pursuit of or with the buck she was tracking - do not shoot her! Bella has SEVERE food allergies and needs a specific diet!!!

If found in need of medical care transport immediately to her vet Claremont Animal Hospital.

$100 reward for her safe return no questions asked.

Diane & Rob 603-542-7344 or Claremont Animal Hospital 543-0117 or the Claremont Police Department.

Update on Tommy

On Saturday Tommy was injured while he got away from John and followed a wounded buck. Today he had a surgery to repair his abdominal wall. His injuries proved to be more substantial than our vet initially had thought, and today Dr. Montario had to stitch through 5 layers of muscles. On the top of it, as it turned out, Tommy had a sharp plant piece stuck in his right eye, very far, almost behind his eye ball. Only when Tommy was sedated and his eyes thoroughly examined the problem was discovered. 

Tommy's recovery will take several weeks, and for the next two weeks he will be confined to a crate. We'll give him a lot of TLC, but I am sure he'd rather be tracking than staying in the house by a warm stove.

 

Tommy gets injured on Saturday while following a one-lung shot deer

Saturday was not a good day. John and Tommy went on a call to help a local hunter recover a lung-shot deer.  At one point John had to drop the tracking leash in heavy brush. He thought that he could recall Tommy, as he had done many times, but this time Tommy was hot on the deer. He was located two hours later tangled in goldenrod 400 meters farther on.

Tommy had already tracked two miles, but he was ready to go, and now three of us tracked another 1/2 mile through a big swamp. We finally quit when the deer swam across a big pond and water became to deep to follow. Actually Jolanta got stuck in the swamp up to her butt. We had smears of blood to verify the line right  until the end. But that's just the beginning.


This is the last leg of Saturday's track with Tommy. Tommy was found hung up in the brush around 4 pm where the yellow marker is, and we restarted him by the red marker. We found the first blood smear on the branch around 1/3 rd into this track leg. Now the swamp is not as big as it is pictured on this google map. Once we entered the swamp we started to see fresh blood smears on swamp grass. We terminated the track where the purple marker is. When we got back to the car people in the house by Rte 157A said that they had seen a deer running by from the swamp direction. This graphic was created by My Tracks, an app for Android phones.

On Monday we noticed a bulge on Tommy's right flank. It looked like a big hematoma, but we took him to our vets since he also had bad eye irritations. We wanted to be sure he did not have a scratched cornea. The eyes were not damaged, but the inner abdominal muscles had been torn and intestines were bulging out as in an umbilical hernia. Thee was no internal damage beyond this and no damage on the surface of his hide. We don't know exactly what happened, but probably he had an altercation with the buck during the time  that he was out of John's control. He was tough enough to keep tracking,  and we were unaware of his injury.

Another problem. We have a bitch that was brought in from southern Pennsylvania to be bred to Tommy. She is not quite ready yet, and we don't want to ask Tommy to breed her right after his surgery. So we must wait until Thursday, after the breedings, to have the damage to his abdominal wall repaired. Tommy does not seem to be in any pain, and he is eating well. But we are watching that hernia! He won't be able to track for 2-3 weeks following his surgery.

Another hazard for tracking dogs

by Andy Bensing

As an avid outdoorsman I usually love learning and experiencing new things about nature but sometimes there is a limit.  A recent blood tracking expedition taught me something I really didn’t need to learn. 

Last Tuesday night after a very routine blood tracking call earlier that day in MD I found myself lying in bed in the dark scratching like crazy on my legs.  The itching and small bumps immediately brought the thought to mind that I had again gotten into some chiggers earlier in the day.  Actually, the itching and bumps were less than I had experienced in the past from chiggers so I was pretty happy about that.  I found out a day and a half later it wasn’t chiggers that I had gotten into but instead my dog Eibe and I had gotten into a nest of tick larvae!  Tick larvae are very, very small and I had not noticed them at first on myself or my dog but by Thursday morning they had been feeding on Eibe for a while and had blown up to a size that I could now easily see.  Commonly called “seed ticks” for their close resemblance to small seeds, Eibe was covered in them!  Without exaggeration I would estimate there were at least 1,000 or more engorged tick larvae all over her body!  Upon close examination I could even see the discarded exoskeletons from some of the larvae who had molted into the nymph stage.  The engorged ticks were so small that I wasn’t even sure what they were until I used a magnifying glass and could see their legs.  A quick call to my vet and a little internet research held the solution to the problem.  Unlike adult ticks and just like chiggers, these larvae don’t attach very securely when feeding.  That’s why I easily rubbed them off my legs unknowingly the first night and did not end up with any engorged ones on me.  All that was necessary to get them off Eibe was a simple flea and tick shampoo and a flea comb through her hair once dry. 

Except for the fact that I can’t stop itching from just the thought of all those creepy little critters all over my dog and some inevitably crawling around my house the whole thing ended pretty easily.  According to the research I have done, the likelihood of tick borne diseases being transmitted by the nymph stage appears low.  Now the only big question left is what will be my next dog disaster?

Engorged tick larvae on Eibe’s back and belly.

Shed larvae exoskeletons after molting to the nymph stage.

Engorged tick larvae on Eibe’s back and belly.

Just a few of the dead ticks collected from the drain after Eibe’s tick bath.

This chart shows the comparative size of the larvae, nymph, and adult tick.

Two incidents of blood tracking dachshunds that ingested rat poison

I was to post this letter in November, but things were pretty hectic here during tracking season and the message got misfiled. Only recently when another United Blood Trackers member's dog, actually Billy's daughter, got really sick because she ingested rat poison, I recalled the first post. It was written by Dan Forystek, a handler from Illinois:

We had a bad thing happen last week and rather than see anyone else experience what we went through I'm forwarding this info in case any of you have this misfortune.

While hunting out of town I was invited to an old farm house that some friends and relatives were renting while bowhunting. They had running water, hot showers, good food and a real bed. They knew I had none of the above and although that didn't bother me much I decided to accept the offer after making it clear that where I go so does Ishi, my blood tracking dog. "By all means we would like to see this dog we heard about" was one reply. 

The first evening there Ishi was all over snooping around and I was right behind her keeping her in check, or so I thought. After she ate she laid down on the kitchen floor barely out of sight. I heard her chewing on something and jumped up to see what it was. A cube of rat poison. I quickly grabbed it and opened her mouth removing all that I could. Looking up in shock at the only other person there at the time I said good thing I caught her so quickly. The cube of poison was barely touched and I got what I figured was all she chewed off. After a couple of phone calls getting info about effects and what to look for I thought we were in the clear and kept her at my side and in sight no exceptions.

The following day her stool showed the tiniest amount of blue die. It was just the beginning. The next sample that evening revealed an entirely different story completely died blue/green in the entire stool. It had passed through her entire system and the poison was at it's fullest effect. 

A return to the farm house revealed containers of poison hidden in every room, behind trash cans and couches and chairs. In the kitchen was a new two oz. container that Ishi snatched up the first day we visited there 48 hrs earlier. I called our vet to locate an emergency clinic that would be open all night, packed everything up and drove an hour and a half away. Arriving at midnight I provided labels and samples of two different brands of the poison used. 

She was given a transfusion of plasma and her blood platelets were checked to monitor the ability to clot. She spent the night there and the following day I picked her up and visited our vet for another blood platelet level check. She will be getting vitamin K for three weeks and R &R at least for a week unless the next blood test reads differently. Our vet said the plasma transfusion that I okayed, all though very expensive, made all the difference in a more certain recovery. Ishi is expected to make a full recovery. After many questions I learned that if you suspect your dog has ingested rat poison you can induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide, about a cup to a cup and a half. Tilt the dogs head back and if you have a turkey baster or squirt bottle slowly squirt it into the corner of the mouth followed by some water. A visit to your vet is next.

Dogs eating this poison is not all that uncommon as the poison has a strong appeal, more than a dog can resist.Small dogs can move large pieces of furniture in an effort to get the prize according to the E.M.T.

Did you ever think you would have to ask someone who invites you and your dog to stay, " Oh by the way you don't have any rat poison lying around, do you?"

Dan Forystek

*****

Ginger's ordeal started on March 11, and I learned from Kevin Clark "Jolanta, please include Ginger in your prayers We took her into vet this morning vomiting blood coughing They X-rayed her and only part of her left lung was inflated. They are treating her as if she was poisoned. I'm not sure how or where she got into any poison They informed me that her condition had not gotten any worse today but that they were gonna give her a blood transfusion". A week later, yesterday, Kevin reported that "Every day seems to bring a little improvement. She is starting to get around a lot better. She will go in Wednesday for blood work. She's on vitamin K and an antibiotic 1 time a day."

I heard of other dogs that actually died after ingesting rat poison. Make sure that when you take your dog to unfamiliar place you ask people whether there is chance of finding rat poison around. There are many articles on the web about poisoning with warfarin, for which Vitamin K is an antidote, like this one - click here. But this is not the only poison available.

Be aware that Bromethalin does not have an antidote. It is labeled as a rodenticide, it is often used for rodent-like mammals such as moles and voles. It is often hidden inside a worm-like bait to attract moles. Learn more about it by reading this good article.

News from Georgia where the handlers and their tracking dogs have to be tough

Randy Vick is an outstanding handler and UBT member based in Pavo, Georgia. We have written about him and his blood tracking dogs before. His primary tracking dog is an eight-year-old Annie, a Kemmer Stock Mountain Cur. This year he was also using his young Drahthaar Pepper.

Randy Vick is holding Annie, his outstanding Kemmer Stock Mountain Cur

In Randy's own words:

Here are some pictures of the 41 deer that we recovered in south Georgia and north Florida during the '12-'13 season.

The picture was taken at the end of the outstanding 70-hour old track that had been rained on for 3 hours the night before we tracked it. It was a gut shot and all blood was washed away but Annie followed it 1200 yards on lead. The only sign was a half dozen drops of intestinal matter along the track and finally 6-8 beds along a 100 yard stretch. The buck had only been dead a short time when found.

Several deer were bayed alive, off lead, and though we did not know it when this picture was taken, my Drahthaar, Pepper, had been gored by the buck pictured in the cypress swamp (picture above, which is showing Annie with the buck). She quickly recovered from her wounds.

On one track I did shoot wrong deer that Annie jumped on the trail, but the hunter excused me and we went on to recover his wounded deer. He paid to have my buck processed.

Pepper was gored in the back and hip, Annie lost one front upper tooth, somehow, and I have fell and bruised/tore my kneecap twice.

Luckily, all fairly minor injuries, and we are all healed and ready to go tracking. At a 46% (41 for 91) recovery rate, we were blessed with another great tracking season.

A tracking dog gets gored by a wounded deer

 

Justin Richins's Remi tracked this deer for 1.6 miles! Unfortunately, he also got gored by the deer. Justin realized that only after they got back to this truck. Last evening Remi underwent an emergency surgery. His chest and internal organs are OK except for the liver, which got lacerated. He is not out of the woods yet so have him in your thoughts. Remi's vet is optimistic about his recovery.

Get better soon Remi!

A twelve-year-old hunter Madison gets her liver-shot deer thanks to Dan and Keena

Two years ago Tommy and I found a deer for a young local hunter Dan Hardin. Last year Dan got his tracking license, and started to track with our Keena. Ultimately Keena will go to live with Dan (she is totally in love with him), but in the meantime he comes here to pick her up when there is a deer call that he can take.

This is Dan's report from the call he took several days ago.

By Dan Hardin

I got the call for my second track of the year just before 7 PM as I was on my way out of the woods. This was the first deer for a young hunter Madison (12 years old) who made the 15 yard shot with her compound bow. Her father Jim was in the stand with her and saw the arrow hit the middle of the deer but a little far back, while still being within the rib cage. The arrow, which wasn’t found, was sticking out as the doe took off, but the blood showed an exit wound. There was an easy blood trail visually and Keena took off intently. Heavy fog and a light drizzle previously made scenting conditions good but the stillness of the air seemed to spread the scent over a wider area.

The trail took us through a sparse forest with mixed trees and heavy thorn bush undergrowth. We made the 300 yard track to Madison’s last blood and practice arrow. Keena tried several directions but didn’t seem sure so we went back to last blood where Madison spotted blood on the opposite side of a tree. It showed that the deer had looped around the tree and backtracked. We continued crawling under thorn bushes finding steady dime to pea sized drops when the blood really picked up. Keena in her excitement had cut her ear on a thorn that opened a blood vessel, which bled quite a bit.
 

After the bleeding stopped we were waiting for Jim to return with some tape and paper towel.  Keena would shake her head and reopen the scratch, which was stopped each time by applying moss and light pressure.

 

Madison had gone ahead on the blood trail to confirm that we were still on the right path and advanced the trail an additional 40 feet on her own. Jim returned with the medical supplies and we wrapped Keena’s ear which was a task since she was pulling hard to run down the line again. It was only another 10-20 yards when I saw the doe down by a fallen tree maybe a little over 100 yards from where Madison and Jim had lost the blood trail.

Jim gutted the deer right away, kindly donating the liver and some blood for training purposes, and didn’t think that the meat would be lost. The paunch was intact and the liver starred by the Muzzy 100. Congratulations Madison on your first deer and Keena on her fist find of the season!

 As a side note this was my first track using my 1000lumen Cree headlamp for tracking. It lasted the three hours advertised on full power, which made the blood stand right out. I had attached the battery pack to the headpiece and it was comfortable to wear. One issue that is to be expected with a light of this power is the heat generated, which could cause a burn if you are not careful. (There is no risk of this on low power from my experience.) The other issue is that there isn’t a noticeable dimming of the light before the battery runs out. It just stops working and that is it. They don’t sell replacement batteries, but I was able to find an equivalent online and install the needed socket.

One lucky dog

Teddy sent us an update about Fitz, who three weeks ago was injured by Teddy's lurcher.

 

Here's Fitz after two and a half weeks post-wreck. The staples came out a few days ago and the wound is staying shut. The area itches because of the shaved hair growing back and the leftover adhesive. Fitz moves just fine, although when she runs it seems like the wound pulls at her gait. She gets a stitch in her side as they say. ;-) Other than that she's herself again. I haven't encouraged her into the brush because I don't want the wound to catch on briars or sticks and open.

Fitz, post-wreck. One lucky dog.

Teddy's lurcher injures a mini dachshund by mistake

I have to admit that I needed two attempts to finish reading Teddy Moritz's e-mail, which describes how her mini longhair Fitz was injured. Accidents happen. Teddy has had lurchers since 1984 and has never had one grab a dog before. Anyway...proceed with caution.

Early yesterday morning several of my dachshunds got into a big coon. The lurcher of course joined in the fracas. I don't like having five dachshunds on one bad quarry because the big dog can't get a good grip right away as he tries to avoid the little dogs, nor can he shake the coon and kill it quickly when the dachshunds are hanging off it. The lurcher weighs 65 pounds so when he shakes something he does some damage. Well, unfortunately this time when he grabbed the coon, it bit him on the nose and he dropped it then immediately bent down to grab it again. Instead he grabbed my smallest dachshund, Fitz, who weighs six pounds. The lurcher shook her once and dropped her, realizing his mistake. The coon made a break for the fence line, the other dachshunds after it. The lurcher caught up with them and this time finished off the coon.

When the lurcher had dropped Fitz I ran to her as she was squalling. I looked and saw her intestines were hanging out her side. Not a pretty sight. I grabbed her up, carefully as she tried to bite me in her distress. I got a towel around her to keep her insides from coming out any further and put her in a crate in the car. I grabbed the other dogs and put them in their kennels and drove to the veterinarian. This vet opens at 7:30 a.m., a blessing since the wreck happened at 7. The vet looked at the injury and told me what he had to do. I left Fitz there till 4 then picked her up, all bandaged and drugged. The vet said none of the inner organs had been punctured, which is very fortunate as infection is a real threat if the intestines are perforated. Fitz also had a broken rib.

I took Fitz home, crated her and sat with her for awhile. She groaned on and off during the night but seemed alright. Early this morning I took her out to pee. She sat in the sun a few minutes, then walked to the area where the initial coon fight had been. She sniffed all over the area, then tracked the scent line to the fence where the coon had expired. I had moved its carcase way out to a front field for the vultures, who were glad to have it. Fitz seemed to very much want to find the coon so I carried her to the carcase. She sniffed it then peed copiously on it, walked a few steps away, and defecated on some coon fur. I guess Fitz wanted to find that coon and give it a final insult. The lurcher had accompanied us but Fitz showed no fear of him. In the fracas she might have thought the coon was the assailant. I'm just glad the wreck wasn't any worse.

Teddy Moritz's Fitz with her fancy yellow bandage

Needless to say we wish Fitz a quick and full recovery!

Remi's return from disaster

The last three weeks were so busy that they feel more like three months. First, on May 12 John traveled to Quebec, where upon the invitation extended by the Quebec Blood Tracking Dog Handler Association he was helping develop a new certification test for handlers. When he came back, we almost immediately left for UBT Trackfest in Pocahontas, AR. We got back on the night of May 25, and not even two days later I traveled to Batavia, NY to attend  three field trials for dachshunds. I got back home late last night, and tomorrow morning John is leaving for Michigan to breed Paika. In the next week or so we will write about all these events and post pictures, but tonight I'd like to write about Remi and Justin.

If you search this blog for Remi, you will get a lot of info about this pup, who turned one year old on May 25. Two days before his birthday we received these two pictures from Justin Richins from Utah.

Remi was enjoying life. Then on May 26 e-mail from Justin brought devastating news and tears to my eyes: "I just ran over Remi. We were in the mtns identifying wildflowers, he was running 20-30 yards out as he usually does. I stopped to take a pic of a flower I wanted to identify. I then got back in and started driving forward when heard him yelp. It was then I realized what had just taken place. My truck is a big heavy 4 ton diesel. I'm at the emergency vet right now. He was going into shock by the time I got here vet. I'm an emotional wreck right now but I will keep u informed."

Few hours later another e-mail came: Initial X-ray showed fractures in the hip, ball out of socket and blood work showed elevated liver enzymes. They are not too worried about the liver as they think it could be from shock and say it will heal on its own. They are doing pain management before more X-rays to keep him from going further into shock. Also they think his spine and other organs are fine, We will be transferring him to 24 hr facility in a few hrs. I was just idling along slow with my foot on and off the break getting in and out of the truck to inspect and identify what wild flowers were on the property. I'm guessing this slow moving contributed to this accident because there was no increased engine noise signaling the truck was moving or about to move. I will go up latter today and go look at the tracks and pushdowns so I can figure out how this happened. 

Friday - Remi was stressed and in a lot of pain. He was refusing to drink.

Justin's frantic search for info how to fix Remi started right away. He wrote on Sunday: Ok, so I have been on the phone, internet and researching like crazy, and there are very few options for smaller dogs as parts just are not available.. However, I have found a few vets located in Colorado and one in the Ski resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho who have done hundreds of total hip replacements. I found their info through a manufacturer from Liverpool, England that produces Micro hip replacements! Anyway the vet's secretary in Idaho was kind enough to forward him my emails and x-rays and he called me back within 10 minutes even

though she said he was leaving for England and would not be back for several weeks. From my conversation he had much more knowledge than any other vet I have talked to and has done over 800 total hip replacement surgeries. Tomorrow morning I'm headed to Idaho as he is assembling a team of 4 doctors to work on Remi Monday because he leaves for Liverpool, England Tuesday morning . He believes one of the pelvic fractures must be fixed /plated before doing any work on the side with the broken hip & he will take all options into consideration. I feel good about this decision.

Yesterday, when I was still in Batavia, Justin called that the surgery was successful and Remi's prognosis is very good. John sent this letter to Justin: "Hi Justin, I just spoke with Jolanta as she started back from a field trial 250 miles away. She told me a little about the operation and your sense that the prognosis was good. I have a lot of respect for the way that you handled the whole thing. The tragedy was well publicized in the Borntotrack Group and you have a lot of admirers out here in the East. You set the standard for a man’s relationship with his tracking dog. I’m glad the pain has diminished for both of you."

Today Justin sent a picture taken on his way from Idaho. He said that Remi can walk and he even wags his tail. What a relief! We'll keep you posted about his progress.  

Remi with his new hip on his way home.

This was his message:

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and support. As you all know we traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho for Remi¹s surgery. The doctor Randy Aker there was phenomenal. He spent an extensive amount of time with us prior to the surgery explaining all of the different options and exactly what was involved with each. He was extremely knowledgeable and made sure we understood and felt comfortable before he began the surgery. He was going to try to salvage Remi¹s hip, but once they got in there they found the hip socket was broken, femur head was severed and the end of the femur bone was shattered making it impossible to reconstruct. They ended up doing a cemented total micro hip replacement.

The doctor called me after the surgery to let me know all had gone well. They kept him over night to monitor him. When I arrived to the clinic expecting a lethargic post-op puppy, especially since he had been struggling the previous days to even have any desire to move his head to acknowledge someone lying down near him, to my surprise, it was like the old Remi, full of life and energy. Wagging his tail vigorously and giving me a face full of kisses! They told me he had eaten breakfast that morning and had walked outside to use the bathroom. I could not believe he was walking again let alone 18hrs after his surgery. We have been home for a few hours now and it is clear to me my greatest task at hand will be trying to keep this active little guy down to allow his body to heal. I would never have believed that after being ran over by a 8,000+ lb truck that this little dog would be doing so well. He is truly a little miracle. Apparently he still has many more days of hunting to live out. I will continue to keep you all updated with his progress. Thanks again for your concern.

Remi X-Ray Before

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Remi X-Ray After
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Sincerely-
Justin and Bionic-Remi

While tracking a wounded elk Remi runs into a porcupine

In the last 24 hours we received two pictures from Justin Richins showing that Remi (Remy v Moosbach-Zuzelek) is living an active life.

Justin's caption:This fox realy did not need any tracking but my little budy went nuts when I shot and wanted to track him anyway.

Justin says: Finaly had a chance to track again a wounded cow elk. Remi was doing great on the 16 hr old track, then he came to a thicket that I could not go through. I let him go off lead as I waited on the other side for him to come out and this is how he came out. We were lucky as he could have lost his eye.

For a good article on dealing with porcupine quills click here. Possible complications resulting from the injury due to porcupine quills are addressed here. Unfortunately, our dogs have had many encounters with porcupines, usually when they were off leash running rabbits. Luckily they did not suffer any long-term complications.

Remi, we hope you feel better soon!