Hunting dog injuries?

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So what is the nastiest injury you've seen happen to a dog while pheasant hunting? Two years back my buddies dog went chasing after a wing tipped pheasant and caught a fence post to the chest that was buried in cattails. It pelted basically pelted the dog from the neck to the shoulders. The vet had to do quite a bit of stitching but finally got her patched up. That was by far the worst, but we've had more than our fair shared of barb wire and farm machinery induced cuts and tears that required stitching. One of my friends GSP's must be pretty thin skinned as she had to be stitched up 4 years running. Finally he started hunting her in a vest and calling her off any fence crossings. That pretty much curtailed it.
 
Not nearly as bad as you described, but 13 stitches from barb wire and surgery to remove a mesquite thorn in a foot. The foot got infected and was the size of a tennis ball. It was pretty nasty.
 
The first few years I had Tony I thought he was jinx dog. He was getting Barb wire and all sorts of cuts, seeds behind the eyelids etc. in the field. Then one day he was chasing a cripple and jumped off a cliff after it. The bird fluttered down, anyway Tony broke his leg. That was very messy. He still got the bird too. But that seems to have been the end of it. But I still carry a full range 1st Aid Kit for him. It pays I guess.---Bob
 
Two hunting seasons ago my dog Gauge thought it would be a good idea to jump out of the back of my truck. Man, was that scarey. He had been in the back of my truck many times before and never had a problem. If going more than a mile or so, I would put him in his kennel, but we were going just down the road, so I let him hang out in the back of the truck. Sure enough, when I got up to about 40 MPH, I looked in my mirror and could see him launching himself over the side. Did I mention my truck has a 4 inch lift, so its a ways up there. He hit the middle of the road and started tumbling. I hit the brakes jumped out of the truck and expected to see broken legs, if not a broken neck. He sort of sat up and I could tell he was thinking, "what the heck just happened." I looked him over and could only find a few cuts on his face and and mouth full of dirt. His eyes had a lot of gravel in them as well. I took him to the vet to be sure he didn't have a concussion or any other injury I couldn't see. Other than the cuts, he had a clean bill of health. The vet even said he could hunt the rest of the day if he was willing.

So we returned to doing what we came to do, hunt pheasants. I let him out of the truck in the next field we went to and he was ready to rock and roll.

I couldn't believe how lucky I was that he didn't get injured more than he did. I think his saving grace may have been his youth. He wasn't quite 2 years old at that point, and all I can think is he was a lot more durable than an older dog would have been.
 
I had a dog opening day of Grouse season rip her chest open on something from her chin to her groin, 172 stitches, drain tubes, minus a couple teats, and never got to hunt her again till the last day of pheasant season. That was a miserable year.
 
A couple of years ago I was hunting some cattails when my Lab let out a yelp and came out with a bloody nose. It seemed to bother him so we took him to the vet. The vet pulled a 5 1/4 inch splinter of cattail out of his nose. Talk about a labotomy.
 
Trouble

Three years ago I was hunting the youth season guiding a couple of boys. Trouble cast across the front and dropped his right front in a badger hole, flipping completely over trapping his head underneath. He was folded completely double. He got up, shook off and continued hunting though at a slower speed. I shrugged it off. The next morning when, I went out to scoop pens, he acted like he had a brain injury, couldn't stand or walk. Two weeks of steroids had him back 75%, but he never quite knew exactly where his feet were. I put him down as a 7 year old this winter as his condition continued to decline. What a waste.
 
injuries

I was out training this past week with the dogs and unfortunately happened upon a pissed of badger the dog didn't far well she survived and will be ok with time to heal but man was thata sight to see. I didn't know what to do the dog was always in the way to shoot the beast finnaly i got the badgers attention away from her and shot the badger 4 times 3 to stop it 1 to make sure it wasn't going to get back up.
 
Prairie Drifter, I hate badger holes with a passion. Opening day of 2005 season I was watching Tony work and stepped into a badge hole. I could feel myself going down so I tossed my gun way out in front of me barrels first and let the fall happen. I still store the calf muscle of left leg all to crap. It took 2 months for the leg to heal and my Pheasant season was gone. Even today 2009 it gives trouble at times, it is somewhat weaker than then the right. I even had therapy to build it up and I do daily excerises. Why the almighty ever put those darn critters on the earth is beyond me.---Bob
 
Badger Holes

When I bought Trouble, he was the most expensive pup I had ever purchased. I bought him to be my head sire here at the kennel. His sire was a 5X NSTRA champion out of a 15X NSTRA champion. His dam was a 6X NSTRA champion out of a 12X NSTRA champion. He had it all, and I never got a pup out of him! After the accident he wasn't stable enough to mount a female. I tried AI a couple of times, but I don't think he was healthy enough to produce strong semen. What a waste! Guess I've had my own badger holes in life too. Fortunately, I'm still in the chase.
 
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