A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

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kris Schaumburg
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A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby kris Schaumburg » Thu Dec 26, 2013 8:55 am

I felt the need to post this up, in hopes that maybe someone would take the time to read, and maybe it would help someone. If you don't want to read this whole post, can you scan the bold below for just a minute? If you feel the need to post a comment about how ignorant I am, or the fact that I murdered my dog, that is fine as well, I'm coming to grips with both of those. Some of you might know that I ran a well conditioned almost 4 year old boykin spaniel. She was in what I would consider top shape, but definitely not carrying any extra fat. In a typical week, it was not uncommon for to log 10 road miles at well under a 10 min pace, plus two to three hunts either upland or retrieving. A number of factors in the following story, may not seem relevant, however, in hindsight for me several things contributed to the perfect storm that led to the loss of my dog, Sarcelle. On Christmas eve, Alex and I made a decision to hunt a large lease I have that is a long boat ride from the house. It was cold, but not frigid, far from the coldest conditions on an absolute temperature basis that the dog had ever hunted, but the 20-25 mph N wind definitely put quite the sting in the air. There was ice in the pirogue, so I'd put the temps somewhere around 32 early but probably 35-40 during the hunt. We generally hunt a different lease which is closer to the ramp, and generally I feed the dog a biscuit or something a couple hours before the hunt on the way down the road. Well, going to this ramp on Christmas eve, nothing was open, and the dog did not get a breakfast. I had dog food in the car, but didn't think to give her any. The 30 minute of so boat ride was uneventful but cold, and the shooting started out relatively slow. We picked at birds till 8, when we had planned to leave, probably having only 4 or 5 in the bag. Around 8 the birds began moving, both of us discussed how miserable the boat ride would be in the wind, and we moved the deadline to 9 am. The dog logged a couple more retrieves, and around 845 we dropped a couple birds. One was a wounded grey for a pretty long retrieve across a mud flat. The other was a dead bird in the decoys. She was sent on the grey making a good retrieve. Second was a dead shoveler in the decoys. She could see the bird, but would not enter the water. In hindsight this was probably the first sign. She generally had a fairly vigorous entry when able to mark. She eventually made entry and passed the bird 6-8 ft downwind and continued on. We stopped her called her back, she missed the bird again and returned to us. I got her downwind of the bird and sent her, she went but not vigorously, fetched the bird, but began to not listen. We began to pick up and placed the dog in the boat. Shortly thereafter she began to shake vigorously, her vest was removed and she was placed in my dry jacket. Not long after she lost control of her rear legs and shaking became more violent along with painful audible whining. As stated before we had a long cold boat ride. I placed the dog inside of my jacket inside of my waders with me. At some point during that ride, she died for all intents and purposes, giving the death throws that we as hunters are fairly familiar with. We returned to the ramp, and I rushed her to the vet, all the while assuming she had passed. At the vet, she did have a heartbeat and was breathing, but was severely hypothermic. They warmed her, but she remained unresponsive and I transferred her to a 24 hr er vet for Christmas. At that vet she was treated by a trauma specialist, who's recommendation was to treat and do blood work. After 24 hrs she worsened and is now gone. The trauma specialist was at least able to tell me why this happened. The hypothermia was a condition caused by what is called "hunting dog hypoglycemia". I am not sure of its prevalence in labs, but the more I read online, the more common it seems in the thinner sporting breeds, especially in conjunction with wet cold conditions. I am now surprised I had not previously heard of this. I am attaching a relatively lengthy article on the subject http://wenaha.blogspot.com/2010/04/hunt ... cemia.html . If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, the key points I would like to convey are in bold below:

Hunting Dog Hypoglcemia is often linked to strenuous conditions often associated with cold and wet. Signs:
Stage 1: Whenever hypoglycemia develops while a dog is being hunted, the first physical or behavioral evidence of it will be a gradual onset of fatigue. However, it should be emphasized that, in the vast majority of instances in which fatigue becomes evident during hunting, hypoglycemia will NOT be the cause. In most cases, the dog is simply becoming physically exhausted and/or overheated, or is experiencing intestinal or stomach cramping. Nevertheless, any dog that appears to become fatigued while hunting should be carefully observed for the possible appearance of stage 2 symptoms.

Stage 2: In addition to fatigue, the dog begins to evidence incoordination and/or staggering. At this point, it is urgent that all physical activity immediately cease, and that either the dog be fed (its regular dog food) or a concentrated glucose source, such as:

(1) 50% glucose solution in water or,

(2) corn syrup, be administered by mouth.

Stage 3: In addition to stage 1 and 2 signs, muscular tremors and spasms may occur, which may result in abnormal postures.
Stage 4: In addition to stage 1, 2 and 3 signs, the dog may begin having seizures/convulsions.

Stage 5: The dog is completely unconscious and unresponsive, a condition which is referred to as coma.

Stage 6: This stage is death, which may occur in untreated animals as a result of exposure (and hypothermia) or, in either treated or untreated animals, as a result of severe damage to the brain and/or other vital organs from hypoglycemia and/or anoxia.
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eSJay
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby eSJay » Thu Dec 26, 2013 9:01 am

very very sorry for your loss kris.
thanks for the informative post though.......hopefully it will save a life in the future.
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I believe in hitting him very hard with big shot from a big gun....."

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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby mfalkner » Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:40 am

Kris,

Thanks for posting this. I know it had to be hard to write, but hopefully will save someone else from this tragedy.
simplepeddler
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby simplepeddler » Thu Dec 26, 2013 10:52 am

Thank you for posting, that took some courage.......My heart is heavy for your loss............
I have been blessed to hunt with a number of vets. One an old fraternity brother that treats my dogs like his own.
He has repeatedly asked my to keep a small bottle of corn syrip in my blind bag......just four oz. or so.................now I know why........
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby KarenKlotthor » Thu Dec 26, 2013 11:53 am

Kris, I am so sorry for you loss, thanks for posting and letting others know about this. I will now make sure we keep corn syrup in our boat.
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby BAY KINGFISHER » Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:09 pm

Kris, so sorry for your loss, Alex told me the aweful news earlier today. Thanks for the courage to share and the article to educate others. Dee went through a similar episode when she was just a yr old. Thankfully we were close to the truck! Please share on the main forum as well. A lot of folks could gain from reading this post.
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medic11
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby medic11 » Thu Dec 26, 2013 4:32 pm

Damn it man, I really hate to hear about your loss. We ask a lot of these animals and they love to do it. Thank you for sharing, hopefully people will take notice.
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby hdforester » Thu Dec 26, 2013 6:47 pm

That's one of the saddest things I have ever read. So terribly sorry for your loss.
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby SkippyJ » Fri Dec 27, 2013 7:34 am

So very very sorry for your loss!! Thanks for the info, I'll be adding a tube of oral glucose to my bag

Chip
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby jacksbuddy » Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:31 am

Thank you very much for posting this. It would explain some of what Jack did during the Coot Shoot last year, and why it took him so long to recover from it.

My prayers are with you.
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deltadukman
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby deltadukman » Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:51 am

Sorry for your loss Kris. My brother has a new boykin he is now hunting with and it makes sense. I will pass the info along to him.

Also, the same thing can happen to us hunters(humans). I am not in the best of shape, but not that bad out of shape, but in the mornings if I haven't eaten anything with some substance and after a long hike or a lot of physical exertion to get to a spot, and if its pretty cold, I have had the same thing happen to myself 2-3 times and its scary. I got blurred vision, sweating like I have the flu and cant stop, and start yawning uncontrollably and feel like I cant move and fighting sleep. Eat something high in sugar and im fine. Ive been to the point where I thought I wasn't going to be able to make it out. Talked to a doctor about it and he said its hypoglycemia. Likened it to a diabetic not getting enough blood sugar.
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby Blake Williamson » Fri Dec 27, 2013 8:54 am

Sorry to hear this man! Thanks for sharing
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uncleC
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby uncleC » Fri Dec 27, 2013 9:22 am

sorry for your loss.... I would imagine you have done a lot of "what if and second guessing" by now... don't beat yourself up.... sounds to me like you really loved your dog and did everything you could once you realized there was a problem... again, I am sorry for your loss...
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby js » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:02 am

Thanks for posting went and got a bottle last night and put in my bag for just in case so sorry for your loss it's never easy losing a family member.
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Re: A Warning/Obit/Guilt Trip

Postby gator » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:39 am

dude, that took some sack to post..........that's why you're my bud.

like I told you on the phone, sometimes things just "set up" in the worst of ways. Sarcelle, had a good life and was doing what she loved to do. if you had left her at home, she probably would have woke up emily and the kids...

great post and you probably did save others the heartache you're going through.

see you soon when you invite me down for a hunt, justin
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