How do your dogs hold up?

laxhcky4 · Post by **laxhcky4** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:01 pm

Went grouse hunting in the northern MN woods this weekend. We beat a lot of thick brush, walked logging roads/trails etc.

After 2 days of hunting, my dog and my buddies dogs were just beat up. Pretty raw on front/back legs, few cuts and scrapes, my dogs eyes were beat up etc. These were both shorthairs. Is this typical? Do longer hair/wirehair breeds hold up better?

She also rubbed the inside of her toes raw right where her nail touches on the front two paws. I suppose the best way to describe it would be her index finger rubbing on her middle finger. Never seen this on her before this weekend, hopefully it heals up quick. Any thoughts/ideas to help it?

On the first run of the day, she came out of the woods with blood all over her. Her tongue was red as can be, clearly it was hanging out and must have cut it on some thick stuff. I have been roading her and exercising her but that tongue was sure hanging out and she was panting. Do I need to get her in better shape?

We did flush about 15 grouse and were able to shoot 2. The dogs sure didn't want to point them much. this is the first time my dog has really been out hunting for grouse so i half expected that but was hoping for a few points.

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:40 pm

I went out with a friend in the Cascades Friday afternoon and Saturday. Squirt and Bodie usually stand on the passenger seat and slobber all over the dash when we go anywhere. Saturday afternoon they slept all the way home. Got out at home ate their dinner and went back to sleep, didn't even get me up at night to go out. Went out for about 5 min Sunday morning then slept on the couch the rest of the days. Bodie came in full of blood one time also. Looked like he'd cut his tounge but couldn't find any thing. Had eight flushes and one Blue. The Blue was the only one I saw, just heard the rest!

Oregon Cascades grouse country. That's Bodie in the lower right corner.

mudhunter · Post by **mudhunter** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 3:37 pm

The dogs can get beat up pretty bad sometimes. The Pads tend to get chewed up by rocks, the tails split by thorns and saplings and the belly and legs beat by logs and slash! That's grouse hunting!

Younger dogs seem to get beat up the worse, as they learn they tend to not get it as bad. Plus a younger dog tends to chase more (deer and wild flushes) and I think that is when they tend to really get torn up!

DogNewbie · Post by **DogNewbie** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:12 pm

Do you guys just let the dogs rest that week or are you treating them in some way?

Tim

Grange · Post by **Grange** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 5:42 pm

My dogs get scraped up by raspberry and black berry shrubs, but that isn't much of a problem. They have been on 9 day grouse hunts and other than a few scratches and very tired they are in good shape. That said I've taken my lab to the emergency vet a few times for getting seeds in her eye.

My dogs have gotten very beat up pheasant hunting. After three days of hunting my dogs' pads are partially raw and the fur around their eyes and nose are bloody. After 5 days, which the longest we've hunted, they look like they are walking on eggshells unless they are hunting. I usually put my lab up for a half day on the 4th day. The tall grass is much harder on my dogs than the thickets they run through in the grouse woods.

RoostersMom · Post by **RoostersMom** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:23 pm

Just got back from about 7 full days of hunting - with one day of driving in the middle. Dogs slept all day Sunday and are just starting to perk up a bit. They sure do wear themselves out. I've added Rimadyl to the older dogs' diets at night so they can sleep better at night and not be so sore the next day. The last 3 days in the Sandhills were tough on them.

JKP · Post by **JKP** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:44 pm

Three dogs is a minimum IMO....each dog gets a 3 hour shift daily and my old legs get to rest a few minutes when I get a new dog.....don't seem to wear down as fast and I get a good 3 hours work.

jarbo03 · Post by **jarbo03** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:11 pm

In my experiences, the shorthairs and so forth, do seem to get more roughed up on our hunting trips. All dogs would be tired after 3 or 4 days of hunting, but my lab and britt would look normal with no visual signs of the hunt. The pace at whicha dog works will also determine how beat up they can get, mine worked slower than others. I also take my dogs for walks on pavement to toughen up their pads and it also helps to smooth the claws.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 5:13 am

laxhcky4 wrote:Went grouse hunting in the northern MN woods this weekend. We beat a lot of thick brush, walked logging roads/trails etc.

After 2 days of hunting, my dog and my buddies dogs were just beat up. Pretty raw on front/back legs, few cuts and scrapes, my dogs eyes were beat up etc. These were both shorthairs. Is this typical? Do longer hair/wirehair breeds hold up better?

Pretty typical, there's no way to prevent it. That's life as a bird dog. Long hair breeds suffer just as much or more when you factor in their tails.

laxhcky4 wrote: She also rubbed the inside of her toes raw right where her nail touches on the front two paws. I suppose the best way to describe it would be her index finger rubbing on her middle finger. Never seen this on her before this weekend, hopefully it heals up quick. Any thoughts/ideas to help it?

Hunt the Dakota's sometime. If you don't boot them, their feet get so bad after four days, they can't hunt. I've never had that happen to a grouse dog, but I've seen it. Boot her if you're worried.

laxhcky4 wrote: On the first run of the day, she came out of the woods with blood all over her. Her tongue was red as can be, clearly it was hanging out and must have cut it on some thick stuff. I have been roading her and exercising her but that tongue was sure hanging out and she was panting. Do I need to get her in better shape?

We did flush about 15 grouse and were able to shoot 2. The dogs sure didn't want to point them much. this is the first time my dog has really been out hunting for grouse so i half expected that but was hoping for a few points.

It's still hot in the grouse woods, her tongue hanging out has nothing to do with it.

It sounds like your dog needs a LOT of work on grouse if you say that "doesn't want to point them much". Is she steady on other birds? Grouse are tough to hunt, one of the worst birds for a dog. Just stay with it.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 5:15 am

JKP wrote:Three dogs is a minimum IMO....each dog gets a 3 hour shift daily and my old legs get to rest a few minutes when I get a new dog.....don't seem to wear down as fast and I get a good 3 hours work.

Good grief, I run one dog these days and she goes ALL day, in the north woods or in the Dakotas. It's just a matter of conditioning and desire.

tnbndr · Post by **tnbndr** » Tue Sep 27, 2011 6:13 am

I have two dogs but did not do that because I wanted to hunt longer. I just enjoy the heck out of their company. Either of my dogs will run all day if we are hunting.I have to force them to rest and drink. But then they sleep well at night. They do get beat up depending on what we are hunting. In the grouse woods it seems to be more body scrapes and gashes, face from brush. In the pheasant fields it is face, eyes, pads if there is snow or ice. They seem to tough it out. I give aspirin or Rimadyl at the end of the day and just let them rest for the week. Usually takes two to three days after a weekend of hunting before they are moving and acting anxious again. I

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