Porcupine encounter

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Mon May 11, 2015 9:29 pm

Yesterday I took my 7 month old pointer on a walk in the woods. She went on point (but it looked different than her bird points), so I looped around to see what she was pointing. It was a porcupine in a hallowed out tree trunk. She then moved and pointed from the side I was on, which is when I realized what it was. My reaction was to grab her collar and lead her 15 yards away before releasing her in a different direction. I didn't say a word.

Did I handle this correctly? She hasn't been collar conditioned so she didn't have an e-collar on... Any suggestions on how to handle this in the future?

Thanks.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Tue May 12, 2015 7:41 am

Ecollar conditioning is the easiest, safest, best and fastest.

I'd have handled it a bit differently, giving her a good NO! and a darn good shaking or cuff. It is an encounter you do not want and want to discourage whenever made.

reba · Post by **reba** » Tue May 12, 2015 8:49 am

You and your dog were very lucky.

I had one of my GSP's "porcupined" and it was terrible.

You did good; but if it happens again use an e-collar on FULL BLAST; which would be 10000 times better than getting quilled...........

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Tue May 12, 2015 9:32 am

Somehow, I think getting quill's in a GSP is a given. Bad enough they do it once, they go looking for revenge every time! Had a bunch of GSP's and can't think of one that was never quilled!

nevermind · Post by **nevermind** » Tue May 12, 2015 12:13 pm

I'm thinking it's a good thing your dog doesn't seem that interested in porky's...she didn't jump on the porky even after a relocate and didn't go back after it when you released her 15yds away. When you start using the e-collar for reinforcement I would just give her a little nick and use whatever word you use to call her off things, if you run into the same situation. I might be to soft... I don't like to hammer a dog unless it's just blatantly ignoring my command.

ruffbritt4 · Post by **ruffbritt4** » Tue May 12, 2015 12:44 pm

nevermind wrote:I'm thinking it's a good thing your dog doesn't seem that interested in porky's...she didn't jump on the porky even after a relocate and didn't go back after it when you released her 15yds away. When you start using the e-collar for reinforcement I would just give her a little nick and use whatever word you use to call her off things, if you run into the same situation. I might be to soft... I don't like to hammer a dog unless it's just blatantly ignoring my command.

The two times my dog got mixed in with a porcupine, if I would have know I would have definitely used the ecollar on a high level to get my point across. You don't have time to react, and those situations where you have to take the dog to the vet are not fun. He had to be knocked out to have them taken out of his mouth and face. I think it is better to use the ecollar on a high level.

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Tue May 12, 2015 6:22 pm

Thanks for the responses guys. I know that I got lucky. I think the fact that she has a lot of "point" in her saved both of us from a bad situation. I haven't collar conditioned her yet so she didn't even have a collar on. But I may start running her with it on for "trash breaking" purposes until I get her conditioned.

Another thing I noticed is that her point on this porcupine differed than a bird point. Her tail wasn't as straight. Do any of you notice this in your dogs?

shags · Post by **shags** » Wed May 13, 2015 5:11 am

Why not go ahead and collar condition the dog? It will come in handy later. I start my dogs pretty young, like about 5 months - when they begin to blow me off and are too fast to run down

They wear collars every single time they are cut loose, mostly because I never know when a trash breaking opportunity will occur. We have lots of deer ( and nearby roads, not a good combo) and skunks.

And yeah, style varies with species of game

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Wed May 13, 2015 6:50 am

Well I haven't had her that long, maybe a month and a half, so I started the training as if she was a brand new puppy (with some adaptation). So we hadn't reached the point to collar condition quite yet. But it's my next project because I need to make her recall bomb-proof.

setterpoint · Post by **setterpoint** » Wed May 13, 2015 1:35 pm

you were lucky the dog pointed and not went right in. I had a setter that took hold of one she had to go to the vet she had them in her mouth all over her face. she never did that again she would just run around them in a circle from then on

mask · Post by **mask** » Wed May 13, 2015 6:46 pm

I have a simple rule for porkys and rattle snakes. I kill them all. I do the best I can to break given the opportunity and every dead one is one I don't have to worry about.

greg jacobs · Post by **greg jacobs** » Wed May 13, 2015 7:42 pm

I see these pictures of ten or fifteen quills in a dog. Never seen any of my shorthairs attack a porky. Just how many chomps does it take to end up with 2 or 3 hundred quills in their face, in their mouth, in there tongue, under there tongue. Shorthairs seem to really hate porkies. And they hate them even more after the first time. Had one that I bet had 400 quills and a long way from the truck. Must of had 500 square feet of cheat grass flattened down taking turns holding him down and pulling quills. What a nightmare. Nobody was happy that day.

Greg

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Porcupine encounter

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