I dont post over here much but I feel this lesson is worhty of sharing with all possible

An embarrassing and scary scenario occurred to me and my pup this weekend.

I hunt over a fantastic little ESS named Ruby Jane (of the) Lake; one of "Brutus's" pups if you remeber the pics of that strong little dog. She is a strong upland dog and is proving to be a good duck dog, we are still learning to look up at times but we are progressing.

On Saturday we hunted a marsh and she spent the morning partially submerged upon her perch.

The morning started swiftly and she made three solid retrieves. We then hit a lull and she remained stationary for what was apparently way too long of a time period. A fourth duck dropped sometime later and she refused to leave her partially submerged perch. I retrieved the bird myself and returnd in question.

I found a dog that had shown no signs of pain via whimpering, leaving her perch, anything, and the result was that Ruby had gone completely and deeply into hypothermic shock.

Upon this realization I proceeded to grab my gun and carry her out of the marsh over my shoulders. By the time we reached the truck, 30 minutes or so, all the while fighting with her to keep her head up and eyes open she had not come out of the state of shock at all. Her eyes were open but I had to fight to keep them open still. I knew she was shutting down from the inside out.

Having a fantastic network of friends and family we had a vet waiting for us sixteen miles away. When she hit the table she had a core temp of 80.1 degrees and a blood suger level that was unmeasurable. ( A dog should be at 101 and 70-80 in BS count)

Ruby spent fsix hours under the care of these fantastic people, she spent time under heating blankets and was pumped full of warm fluids to heat her up via catheter and valium for her seizures (instigated by the fluids I was told). Her BS came up once feeding begans circa three hours later.

She is recovering well. Ruby is eating, drinking, urinating and moving around like nothing ever happened as of Monday a.m. But, we still must undergo a major organ test to make sure liver, kidneys and heart are all functioning well.

She was displeased I left her at home on Sunday. She is outwardly showing a much more intense need for my attention and touch since this occurence. We have spent alot f time on the floor together since she came home, which has traditionally been rare.


A few things I learned:

Feed high protein foods before hunting this dog in cold environmets, (not feeding caused the low BS) ( Low BS in turn was responsible in part for her succeptibility to getting hypothermia)

Elevate this dog completely out of the water at all times when not retrieving, ( Self explanatory)

Be thankful and apreciative of all the people that helped and cared enough to call and check on Ruby.




I realize this was a poor decision on my part and could have cost me a dear companion. I do not need to be chastised by intertrons, I share this information so that other can learn from my foolish mistake.

Take care of your pups guys, they aim to please to a point that it would kill them if you allowed it to get to that point. (As I have proven)


G.Lake


to the gents at the lot, thanks for asking about her and be safe.

to the gents that went out of their way to stop at the vets, THANKS. Your support and friendship is priceless.

Wow, I bet that was really scary. I'm glad to hear everything turned out OK.

Great story on how we need to keep our pets health in mind....Glad things turned out good.....

Another suggestion is to have your dog aclimated to the environment...

Meaning If it is cold out side...might leave your dog outside the night before the hunt so that they get adjusted to the cold...

Many weekend warriors keep their "inside" dogs INSIDE...all week and then wonder why the dogs don't want to get in the water or retrieve...it is because they are use to 80 degree temps and it is 20 degrees outside!?

Just a thought...

If it really gets cold, I will keep Brandy outside with blankets and what not...so they she gets adjusted!

My .02

J.J.

Scary, understatement

Bond a little stronger, well if some dude carried me that far on my death bed and I made it I guess I would be fond of him too, maybe peeved for him letting me get that way but.....


I will agree with ya JJ,
But for what its worth Ruby sleeps outside at night all the time for just this reason, acclimation to climate, being a smaller dog, acclimation is even more important unfortunately in this scenario I pushed her beyond her ability to cope.
Bottom line for me personally, ya gotta watchem like a hawk, they aim to please to a point that it will kill them if you allow.

Greg,

I got ya'...sorry to hear about your dog...

Just wanted to put those suggestions out there...a lot of people don't think about that...


Hope your pup is doing okay!

Sorry to hear about her once again...

J.J.

JJ it was a learning experience albeit embarrassing it is one many can learn from that is why I shared the story. Aclimating a pup to the environment is a great suggestion and a way to take better care of your dog for sure.
Same with feeding high protein foods like A/D before hunting a smaller dog in a cold environment
G Lake

Glad to hear she is better now.

Thanks for sharing..this is something I worry about when hunting. Even with her jacket on, I still watch her

I am sorry to hear about your pup. Check back with us and let us know the rest after the tests.

I am sorry to hear that you both went through this. I am sure it scared you both!

Glad your dog is recovering OK, thanks for posting, we are all still learning, one way or another.

Thanks fo rthe story, I sometimes forget that they are down in the water, and it i sdifferent for them. I shoudl know better too, I was a diver in the Navy, and hypothermia is your biggest enemy. Glad your dog is going to be OK.

I'm glad you guys came out okay... hopefully the tests will be good too.

few have asked for an update after Ruby's follow up and bloodwork so here ya go.
All enzyme levels are elevated somewhat which is too be expected, Kidney and Liver should settle without medicinal therapy. Her Muscle enzymes are OFF the chart, she seized really really hard evidently and caused muscle atrophy thus creating the elevated level.
She has been prescribed Clavomax for prevention of pnuemonia and aiding in killing intestinal bacteria, and two weeks minimum of rest.

Dr. Wilson proceeded to share with me that he has seen a fair number of dogs get a core temperature down to 80.1f, but this is the only one he has ever seen live.

Glad to hear your pup is pulling through.

Glad you saved her ! I agree with Wiskey , hunting dogs need to stay outside. I know its nice once in a while to let them in but they can take the cold alot beter if they are used to it. If they are outside they also grow a much better coat for the winter. Always keep the dogs on a stand or out of the water. We feed our dogs almost double all winter long to keep the weight on because of hunting so much.
Good luck !