First of all i would like to extend a public condolence to Bansnake for the loss. He has more than heard it personally from me since I was the one who had his dog in my hands when he died. It was tragic and it took a lot out of the experience of our hunt.
I would like to address the comment about the lesson learned about not allowing the dog around the area where you clean birds. I guess that is the way of second hand information. Trigger seems to have died from inhaling a pheasant bone while running back to a member of our party whenn he was called. He was called in becuuse he was running around the motel eating something. Turns out that other folks had left the wing bones of some pheasents around. All I know is that we kept him revived and trying to get air for about 15 mins and 3 of us took turns doing CPR on the dog, primarily myself.
I think the post was made with good intention but it indicates a hint of neglect on the part of the folks who were hunting the dog, which is primarily myself. In general, if you were not there dont pass judgement on an incident. It happened, it was a freak thing. Every parking spot on the prarie has bird parts from where successful hunters dress birds before leaving the field. The suggestion to not clean have a dog around areas where birds are cleaned is a bit unpractical.
Dogs will be dogs! I think it is great the we all love our dogs like family, but my dogs get to have fun and be dogs. Trigger was where he was in training after I helped Bansnake to solve some training issues that were unsolved be a well known and revered trainer of this area. Bansnake learned a great deal from the time he had with trigger and he will do a great job with the next dog from what he has learned. But to suggest that you can protect a field dog from the flukes that occur is presumptuous and offensive to me as the person who watched a dog I had coached the training of die. I tool him with me a the request of Bannsake in a effort to furhter the talent of the dog.
I can say that I have grown up training bird dogs and have seen some crazy stuff. I was present when a FC running in a major all age stake was killed in his brace by a pine branch puncturing the dog's lung. So what would the moral there be? To not run your dog in the woods cause a stick might get him. Rediculous. They are working dogs and for those of who train for more intese work than is found at field trial or hunt test, the field can be dangerous!!
I dont think there are many guys on this site who would have even known how to deal with what happend or recoginized the he was asphixiating. I have sowed dogs up in the field, seen a fence lay the stomach out on a nice bird dog and we got him to live, treated for many field ailments....
I dont appreciate the implication that neglect is the cuase of triggers death, things happen to field dogs!
Leadership in Service<br /><br />Dream Big and Dare to Fail..<br /><br />\"And the sky was full of Anatadae\".. Mr. Buck
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