[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Todd Poer

Garry it was rough on my dad to lose his dog, especially really not knowing what happened to him. He was there for his usual week of hunting and lost that dog the second day and spent rest of the week agonizing trying to find him and going to nearby towns and vets. He always used bells. He thinks someone might of picked him and was not thinking of a wolf until months later. He was a big Llewellyn and he was a bit rangey for grouse woods but he could find em and never would wander off too far. He was walking down this old rail road bed that terminated into a swamp lake like a dead end. Dog went down into some cover of old clear cut and he could hear his bell working and then it stopped and he went to where he last heard him thinking on point about 75 yards away and dog was not there and never saw or heard him again.

Dog was also very distinguishable for a setter. Seems he got some sort of infection on tip of his tail and it would never heal up. It confound the vet. Part of his tail about an inch or two at time would just die and part of tail had to be amputated three times. Dog had antibiotics pumping through him, clean bandages and ointments etc. Anyway dog had lost two thirds of his tail before it healed up. So if anyone sees an old Llewellyn setter in Minnesota with only 1/3 a tail that would be about 15 now let me know.

Gosh, Todd, your story makes me cringe. What a horrible thing to lose a dog like that. On two separate occasions while hunting in Northern Minnesota, we came upon lost dogs. Both times we loaded them into our truck and, praise be, both times the first truck we found belonged to the owners. I've lost one dog in my nearly 40 years of following them, and it was an awful experience. Fortunately I found my dog well after dark, but it was one of the worst experiences I've every had. I probably hold 'em too close, but they are our family. Thanks for responding to my post. I hope you never have another lost dog in your family, and I hope your father's dog is alive and well, living in retirement with a family that cares well for a short-tailed setter.