When I cleaned kennels and fed dogs on Wednesday Sally was throwing up and had a bloody stool. I checked her over and she wasn’t dehydrated nor was she in any pain. I checked on her Thursday morning and she still had a bloody stool. She wasn’t throwing up but she hadn’t eaten much.
Sally on a pigeon.
Tur Bo pointing a pigeon.
Betsy pointing a pigeon.
I took Sally to Dr. Becker at Independence Animal Hospital. I’m not sure if I could even have dogs without Dr. Becker. He doesn’t spend a lot of your money on tests but treats the dog. Many times he will say the dog has this, this or this and we treat them all the same. Here’s some medicine and I’ll give her a shot. That’s what he did for
Sally. This morning she is fine. Eating, drinking and with a solid stool.
Dr. Becker asked me about my water buckets. I empty them each day and refill. Never do I have green slime or anything but he said there is a possibility of birds dropping something into the buckets. He suggested bleaching the buckets occasionally. I’ve never done this but I’m starting today. I will bleach kennel floors, food dishes and water buckets then rinse them with the power washer.
Prairie chicken season opened Friday, September 15, in Kansas. You must be hunting something to be on walk-in property. You can’t just run dogs on it. I use this season to get ready for quail season. I can run the dogs on walk-in property to get them in shape and it helps me get my hunting gear in shape. I try to do everything just as I would during quail season. I put e-collars and GPS collars on the dogs. I carry a gun (a really light one), wear a hunting vest and go where I think there will be quail. I really don’t care to shoot a prairie chicken. Hopefully, when the quail season opens I will know where some quail are.
The forecast for the opener was for warm weather. It started out about 68 degrees and warmed early. I had decided not to go the day before but about 9:00 pm I decided to go. It’s hard not to be there for the opener.
I only took Tur Bo and Luke. Sally was sick, Lucky and Dolly are too old to be out on such warm days and I didn’t take Betsy. I drove out near Emporia Kansas to a place with a creek running down one side. It had some corn, soybeans, with a hay field and some CRP.
The heat doesn’t bother Luke as much as it does most of the other dogs. He covers enough ground that if there is any water he will find it. The cover was real heavy along the road as we went through some CRP to get to the edge of a soy bean field.
The dogs were excited to be out and were really covering the ground. I kept checking the GPS and pretty soon Luke was at over 600 yards. We’ve been working on him staying in closer. I hit the tone button on the e-collar and called him. The GPS showed him at 700 yards. I hit the tone and called him again. The GPS showed him at 790 yards. I hit the tone button and the stimulation on level 2 low. The GPS showed him at 600 and coming to me. A few minutes later he crossed about 50 yards in front of me. I told him he was a good boy.
We went on around the CRP close to the soy beans then along the CRP next to the hay meadow to a long draw that ran close to the hay meadow. A few minutes later Luke was at 600 yards. I hit the tone and called him in. I watched the GPS yardage go to 750. I hit the tone and the e-collar stimulation on level 2 low. He started to me. This time he came to me and I petted him. He looked at me like, “I could find them if you would let me go.”
We went around the soy bean field and I kept both dogs close to the creek where they could get a drink and cool off. Both dogs stayed in front of me the rest of the time we were out.
Dennis Garrison and I were talking about the dogs pointing or chasing off game. I know better than to do this but I said that my dogs didn’t bother mammals much. One of my favorite lines is, “never brag on your dog until it’s dead.” We were about 50 yards from the truck when Luke went on point. He was buried in a thicket next to the corn field. I started into the thicket but passed to the south of him. I came back around and finally saw him on point. The weeds were taller than he was but I could see just a little white. I walked in and a rabbit ran with Luke right behind it. He didn’t chase very far but far enough for me to remember my conversation with Dennis. I said, “nooo” but I was chuckling as I did.
We were out about an hour and it was already into the low 70 degrees when we quit. That was enough for the dogs. And it showed me some of the things I usually have but didn’t this time. I usually have water for the dogs and for me but this time I had none. I, also, forgot to bring the camera. I did have a gun, shells, e-collars, GPS collars and most important, the dogs. By the time quail season gets here I will have it all, most of the time.
Betsy watching a pigeon fly away.
Sally after the pigeons have flown.
Tur Bo after I flushed a pigeon.