Let's See Your Dogs!!

You make very good points but I was referring to deer hunting and hog hunting - should have clarified, sorry.

The way most of those dogs are treated, in fact all of the ones that I have seen, is terrible.

 

Dogs used in hunting deer or boar are extremely dangerous to other animals. If they get loose and come across your typical dog, it doesn't end well. Not to mention the owners of those dogs aren't typically outstanding owners. Bird dog owners are a completely different category in my opinion.

 

Using dogs to hunt deer is a thing? I did not know this.

 

Virginia is known for hunting black bear with dogs also

 

Yeah, I get the bear, boar, and cats thing. Just don't understand the deer part

 

I'm in Florida and there is a lot of deer dog hunting here as well. I also know some in Virginia who hunt deer with dogs. Not my thing, I prefer still hunting for deer

 

I live in the west. It's all spot and stalk. Fair chase regulations.

 

Wa. has always been one of the most restrictive for use of dogs and hunting other than upland game. You can still use them for coon hunting in Wa. but that is about it. Most all the other Western States still allow dogs for hunting bear and cougar. Although that is changing quickly mainly because of HSUS. The Human Society has spent millions in many States trying to outlaw hunting with dogs. They succeeded in Ca. in 2012 by outlawing use of dogs for hunting bear and cougar. They failed last year in Maine to outlaw hunting bear with dogs. Idaho and the rest are next up on the plate for HSUS.

It is a slippery slope, first you outlaw something then it leads to another and then another. Before long you no longer can use a dog to hunt anything. And that is exactly what the HSUS is after.

In many of the northern States if you see a dog chasing a deer in the winter it is legal to shoot the dog. And some people do, can't believe it is legal to do it but it is in many States. The argument is that the dogs chase for sport and the deer expend so much energy running in the deep snow that they die of starvation because they lack the energy to forge for food.

So the first time I was in the swamps of North Eastern North Carolina and saw people hunting deer with dogs I was shocked. I always still hunted them and all big game. If you look where hunting deer with dogs is it is usually swampy, from Ontario, Canada to Florida where they do it. The reasoning is that you can't move through the swamps to hunt and they need the dogs to push the deer out to the hunters. I watched them sit in tripods in the back of their pickups with shotguns and buckshot to shot the deer as they come out of the swamps. The dogs are usually far behind and normally hounds and bay just like hunting rabbits. After awhile I came to accept it. It is that slippery slope thing. Even though I may not hunt using that method it would be wrong for me to judge or claim that is wrong. Because then next someone would come along and say that still hunting deer with a bow in the woods is wrong also. Wait, there are millions of people in the US that already do....

 

Yeah the life of a hunting dog is pretty rough!
Harsh traveling conditions:


Cheap motels:

 

Thanks for explaining the swamp hunts, makes since. And for the record, I'm not against it, just didn't understand it.

 

I think bird dogs have the life!

But, I don't really appreciate the way the bears and cats are hunted with dogs. It's not much of a hunt when you walk up and kill a treed animal. Also they decimate a whole mountain, they kill every bear or cat they tree.

 

So my wife and our Shiba puppy didn't see eye-to-eye at first, but he eventually wore her down as she started to understand the breed a bit better. Early this year she made the comment "I love him, but the only way I would have another Shiba is if I could have a small female" (mine is a giant Shiba weighing in at 30 pounds and not overweight). Well, THE VERY NEXT DAY a local rescue group posted that they had rescued 2 special-needs Shiba puppies from a puppy mill down south of here (I live in MO, no shortage of mills). Our chiropractor, who is also getting certified in animal chiro, saw the posting and contacted us, knowing that we have a Shiba and understand the breed (they are a bit different). They rescued a male and femaie from different litters about 2 weeks apart, and the mill was planning on breeding the female because she was very tiny in an attempt to make small Shibas. Well, there's my wife's tiny Shiba, it was kind of meant to be.

But, they are special-needs. Both have vestibular disease, which our vet thinks may have been caused by an infection in the womb or right after birth, affecting the nervous system. It makes their world spin, like they are constantly dizzy. The female would just walk in tight circles to the left (almost named her Danica). They are very healthy otherwise, so we decided to take them on and give them a chance to adapt to their condition. Depending on the severity, puppies can usually adapt, while adult dogs that get it may be unable to walk and will vomit from being so dizzy.

Both are now over 6 months old and doing relatively well. The female (Poppy) was much worse than the male (Brecken). She went through a big growth spurt that seemed to be very painful for her and wouldn't eat or drink, and we had to feed her baby food through a syringe for a week to keep her going. When she came through it, she must have had some kind of nerve reconnection, and the vet said her eyes and vision had improved significantly. And her legs had grown about an inch in a week! She'll still only be about 12 pounds, though. She's learned to navigate the house and doesn't do the tight circles, although she still mainly goes counter-clockwise through the house and uses mostly peripheral vision.

Brecken, the male, is mostly normal but will also be a bit small, but he's thick and stocky. Both seem to have a disconnect between their brain and their hind legs, and Brecken's back end will try to outrun his front end when he gets excited. Poppy occasionally stands there and kicks one of her hind legs straight back, but that's usually when she's tired. They're still growing and developing, though, getting better day by day and are happy and healthy otherwise.

Sorry for the long post, just want people to know that even special-needs dogs can turn out to be happy, healthy companions!

Here's Brecken snoozing:
20170512_212322_1494642353489 by MrTenBeers, on Flickr

 

Some days I question all of it.

 

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT:


Heavy "snowfall", "fog", and "clouds" spotted over Eastern Ohio/Western Pennsylvania. Expect delays and "fluffy" conditions.

 

Taz, 10 month old catahoula

 

That face...

"Stop screwing with that damn camera Robert and go get me a snack. Getting tired of repeating myself."

 

Definitely needs a snack. Poor dog looks starved.

 

Colors are right but the structure is wrong.

Thats okay. I've had folks that can't recognize my Rottweiler properly either. One woman asked if she was a pit bull. I was like, "Seriously?"

 

a rottie for a pit???? that's just ignant
by himself with no other dogs around he kind of looks like a dobe. put him next to a doberman and he's definitely not hahha