Lost a dog today.

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A/C Guy
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Lost a dog today.

Post by A/C Guy » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:22 pm

Took our 2 brits out for a little fun and play time in the desert this morning. The area is heavily hunted and they usually find a lot of wounded and recently shot, but not recovered birds. Well, the dogs took off after a rabbit and before I could recall them they were out of hearing range. Our male came back after 5 minutes, but the female did not. We looked for over an hour, then I called my wife for reinforcements. We scoured the area, increasing the range and we kept doubling back, hoping that she would have worked her way toward the Jeep. What a sick feeling that is trying to find a lost dog. After a couple of hours, a white truck comes towards us beeping his horn. He saw the dog and figured that she was lost (sitting under a truck looking around) and he saw us combing the area and guessed that we were looking for something lost. What a relief when he said "Follow me." He took us straight to her. She was sitting under a tree in the exact spot that we had spent last weekend dove hunting. She knew she was lost, when she saw me she started whimpering and shaking so bad while she ran towards me. She jumped in the Jeep and just cried and whimpered for about 5 minutes. I hope that she learned her lesson. I need to be quicker on calling her off those rabbits.

I need to get a GPS tracker, I don't want to go through that ordeal ever again.
"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." John Quincy Adams.

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dawgmama
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by dawgmama » Sat Dec 06, 2008 6:43 pm

Glad to hear you found her. Scary! We lost our first Wirehair in a huge Wi cattail marsh once on a really windy day. She could hear us calling and whistling, but could'nt find us. Finally, during a lull in the wind, I could hear her whimpering, and was able to slog through the muck to get her. She stuck close after that.

She must be a smart girl, to find the spot you'd been at before. How nice that that guy took the time to help you out. People are usually to busy to be bothered. :roll: Once again, glad she's safe, darn rabbits!
"Dead Bird!! Fetch it up!!"
2 English Setters and a 'beasty boy' Wirehair pup in our family of hunters.

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Fowlplay
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by Fowlplay » Sat Dec 06, 2008 7:36 pm

Glad you found her ok A C. I know very well the sick feeling you're talking about.

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Willie Hunter
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by Willie Hunter » Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:23 pm

I’m very glad you found your dog safe and sound.

The last time I lost a dog for an extended amount of time I found him dead in the middle of a road that has little traffic. Finding my boy Jack that day was on of the saddest days of my life. Jack is the picture in my avatar.
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Maverick
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by Maverick » Sat Dec 06, 2008 8:47 pm

it is a gut wretching feeling to loose them for any length of time, thank god you found her. It is always great to hear that all ended well.

Mav...
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And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
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sweetsong
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by sweetsong » Sat Dec 06, 2008 10:15 pm

I am glad you found her!

I had a Lab once that for some reason she would run off once a year and be gone for a couple days. We would look and look and each time someone else found her. Many times I thought she ended up in a trap or killed by Coyotes. One time she was found 18 miles away from our house. It is very gut wrenching!


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tmoneysju
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by tmoneysju » Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:05 am

had a similar experience this fall, one of the worst feelings of my life

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Ruffshooter
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by Ruffshooter » Sun Dec 07, 2008 10:27 am

Glad you got her back. She does show some good common sense, by going to your dove hunting spot.

Remember and old trick when you do not have a tracking collar..... lay across a branch or high ground, one of your shirts or coats that has pleanty of your scent on it. go check it a few times a day. Many dogs will stay right there or near by. It does not always work but It has worked for me. It is a hounds man trick.
The best part of training is seeing the light come on in your little prot'eg'e.

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Buford Boone
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by Buford Boone » Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:12 pm

Took my Britt to the woods for a romp yesterday...and almost lost her.

We were in deep woods and she was really enjoying the day. Though I thought I had broke her of running deer long ago, I think she got after one yesterday.

She was out of sight but the Garmin Astro said she was within 100 yards so no worries. All of a sudden, it said 150, then 175. I hit the recall button (I use the tone for recall and change direction) on the ecollar and watched as the distance went up and up. When she hit 250, I gave a slight stimulation. She stopped and I called her name and hit the recall button again. Unfortunately, I don't think she could hear me from 250 yds away in heavy woods. I felt very stupid for not having a whistle.

The Garmin indicated that she turned, but not in the correct direction. As the distance increased to 450 and then 500 yards (and it did that QUICK!), I began moving in her direction, as indicated by the Garmin.

I found out something I didn't really want to know. When the distance gets up above a certain level (I'm guessing it is 1K yards), it switches to miles. At one point, she was .75 miles (1,320 yards) from me.

At this point, I was running thru the woods as fast as possible. As I ran, the distance to Chick began to come down. When I got about 150 from her, I stopped, hit recall and called her name. The Garmin indicated she was moving away again (I don't know if she heard me or the echos made it sound like I was somewhere else). I gave her a stout "tick", heard her yelp and I moved her direction while yelling her name.

The tick made her stop and, I believe, get quiet enough to hear my voice because the Garmin then showed 135, 120, 90, etc. until she was running up to me.

I was elated, she looked at me like "where have you been? I've been looking all over for you." It was very close to sundown at this time.

According to the Garmin, she ran a total of 6 miles. I guess that 4.5 of those were while she was lost.

I don't know what would have happened without the Garmin but I believe I might still be looking for her. Yep, it paid for itself last night.

An interesting note: I originally bought the DC20 and then upgraded to the DC30. I have taken her to this same patch of woods with the DC20 and the signal faded in and out. The DC30 never lost comm or sat communication. It is definately an improved setup.

There have been recent stories of coyotes killing dogs in our area. Chick is small, about 32 lbs, and very friendly/non-aggressive. I don't think she'd fair well with one or more coyotes.

I'll be keeping a closer eye on her (and never going into the woods without a whistle) for a while.

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Ruffshooter
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Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by Ruffshooter » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:36 am

Glad you got her back. Now that is a true testament for the use of one of those trackers. You ought to call garmin and sell them that story.
The best part of training is seeing the light come on in your little prot'eg'e.

Rick

47sgs

Re: Lost a dog today.

Post by 47sgs » Tue Dec 09, 2008 11:00 am

Glad everything worked out okay. It's a terrible feeling losing a dog, it stresses me out enough that I just won't hunt big running dogs without the Garmin GPS. It has totally eliminated the stress of worrying about where your dog is. I've just purchased the new DC-30, as Garmin has a $50 rebate for owners of the DC-20, so I put one on each dog and don't worry about them.

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