Parkers/Setters--Trajedy to miraculous recovery

[Walt Kowalski]

Glad she's home safe! I can imagine your feelings through that long night!

[OH Osthaus]

glad to hear the happy ending- i have never been lost from one of my setters (the dog knew where he was) for more than about an hour. ONE GUT WRETCHING SOUL SEARCHING HOUR -

over night is unimaginable.

I bought locator collars just to prevent it. they will turn on from a long ways off and let me get to them.

[10ga Hammer]

Wow! A horror story with a happy ending! I can't imagine not bringing everyone home safe and sound at the end of a hunt. Can only imagine the emotions you felt that night. Glad the pack is all back together again.

[John Farrell, Charter Member #33]

I walk my dogs down in the river bottoms south of my house. The woods are a vast area and occasionally one of the dogs gets out of sight. For years I would call, blow the whistle, hit the e collar return buzzer signal. All to no avail. One of the dogs was also lost for a full night.

I happened upon a trick several years ago by accident. I was trying to locate a lost dog in thick cover and called repeatedly. I had a pretty bad cold and cough at the time. While calling I saw the dog in the distance and called just as I started to cough, for the thousandth time I think. My hand was near my mouth and I thought I muffled the dog's name. The dog heard me and spun around to face where I was standing. Thinking fast, I repeated the action of covering my face with a cupped hand and called again. The call is directed downward from the hand cover. The dog came to me like it was on a string.

Now, all of my dogs are trained to the voice command as I cup my hand between the lip and nose and call the dog. The call emanates from my position and not from 360 degrees where the dog cannot zone in on the sound. It works with a bare hand or a gloved hand. Try it sometime.

[Gary Laudermilch]

Harold and others,

I run a bell on my dogs as I just love listening to the melody while hunting. After many years chasing dogs I realized I was having difficulty discerning the direction of the bell in some instances. I decided it was time for some help so I added a beeper in point only mode. That piece of annoying gadgetry lasted one season. So, I decided to bite the bullet and spring for a Garmin Astro. I have been using it two seasons now and while I was forced into a technical solution for my hearing loss, I would highly recommend the unit for all dog people. It works great and you can use it as much or as little as you wish. However, when the dog is lost, as in your case Harold, it may save the day and prevent that sleepless night of anxiety. The Garmin Astro works as advertised and is amazingly accurate. What price piece of mind?

[Snap Cap]

Gary, I was somewhat skeptical of the collar/GPS units when they first came out. I was particularly concerned that with the weight factor and trying to keep the collar/shoulder harness transmitter/antenna upright, but the newer models have solved both those problems and just keep getting better. Garmin, SportDog, and others have even incorporated the GPS system with the training collar functions into one unit. I use them on both of the boys and they don't seem to notice them at all. I started using the GPS collars to try to avoid the situation that Harold experienced. I spent many days and nights in my younger years searching for lost hounds and don't care to relive those experiences.

At the end of a grouse hunt, I not only know where the dogs are, but with the topographic map data installed, I am able to find a route to return to the truck without having to cross 3 mountains and valleys, two streams and the great swamp. I also like the feature that allows me to set a boundary area for the dogs to work in and gives me an instant alarm if they cross out of the perimeter.

A lot of the farms and areas I hunt have become more developed with busy roads and highways nearby. I set the GPS hunt area with a generous buffer zone between it and such hazards. Both of my dogs are trained to recall with a single beep on their remote collars and this has worked well to bring them back inside the safe area. Nothing is perfect, but this system does reduce some of the worries.

Gary, I can't use the beeper collar either for two reasons, each time the GPS collar transmits the dog's position, the beeper collar "hawk calls" that the dog is on point and because each time the collar beeps, the dogs think they are being recalled. So for me it is GPS with the bell. Fred.

[Harold Pickens]

Fred,
Beautiful Brittanies!! My first bird dog was a Brittany, and I had him for 15 years. He was a very popular stud dog in our area back in '80's, but I never kept a pup out of him. I often think about getting another one of those orange and white rascals, but I never seem to see any britts locally any more.
As for Betty, she was very quiet and subduded yesterday, but seemed much like her old self this morning. She wouldnt eat yesterday (and she is a chow hound) and seemed sick. Muzzleloading deer season had ended the day before I lost her and there were many gut piles seen that day (including one of mine from the buck I shot Sun. with my muzzleloader). I think she got into one of those gut piles that night--she sure smelled like it!!
I may get her out this weekend, but will probably hunt her alone because with 2 dogs and 2 bells, it sometimes gets a little hectic---can be alot of fun too, since both of my dogs back very well.

[C.O.B.]

Harold I'm sure glad it worked out in a positive manner. When Tara a white GSP was just a pup she took off one night in a March snowstorm. The section was two miles long by a mile wide with no roads going through. We put up flyers and adds in the paper to no avail. After a week I figured the coyotes had a snack but one day when we came home from work she was on the deck a much thinner pooch.

I always use the point mode on the E-Collar. When Gunner started to lose his hearing (and mine isn't much better) he disapeared one opening day of Pheasant season which is October 20. The day warmed up into the 70's and I couldn't find him. The fact that the beeper collar was silent told me he was moveing somewhere and hadn't collapsed from heat exhaustion. It was a scary couple of hours but I found him and we went for a dip in a small pond to cool down.

[Double Lab]

Harold;
Glad you and your pup were reunited. I can just imagine what was going through your head. EIHDH is a reality and one of my best hunting buddies is a Veterinarian and informed me of it 20+ years ago. I've encountered it twice with my dogs over the years, once with an English Pointer and just recently with one of my labs. I always carry a small squirt bottle of honey in my vest and if I see any sign of it I heel them, give them a shot of honey, then let them chill for a few minutes. Most guys don't hydrate their dogs enough so if there is'nt a pond or stream nearby I make sure they get a drink every 30 minutes or so. One word of caution though- If you come upon a pond or ditch covered with green or blue algae DO NOT allow them to lap up water from it. It can be toxic to them. My Ex used to say to me that she thought I cared more for the dogs than I did for her. I guess she was right because I still sleep with the dogs every night and they never complain about my snoring.

[John Taddeo]

Harold ,I also use a Garmin astro on a pair of shorthairs and when coupled with the satelite imagery which Garmin offers as a download to the G.P.S. unit ( although untraditional) it sure gives you peace of mind to enjoy your time in cover. I have used the "on point" option as an alert and followed the screen right to a pointing dog. Nice