Tough couple weeks for the pup.
Two weeks ago we came back from a hunt, and despite me looking over him pretty closely, I found 4 ticks on Teddy a couple days later. Unfortunately they were buried pretty good and I really had to dig to get them out.
Besides squirming out of puppy curiosity over the tweezers, he didn’t seem to mind, but there were four good-sized bumps that are still in the process of healing today. The bumps don’t seem to bother him much and aren’t infected, but I’m a little concerned about Lyme Disease, as they were a species that can carry it (western black legged ticks).
I’ve previously had a dog with Lyme’s and it did affect him, so I’m watching it closely.
Then part 2: earlier this week another health issue– he and another Vizsla pup were running to get out the door and jammed each other at the frame.
Teddy starting howling and crying something awful and I was sure he broke his right front leg, as he started limping terribly and flopping his foot forward lamely.
After a couple of minutes he started prancing around again, but I could tell he wasn’t playing as hard as normal because he was letting that other younger, smaller Viz pup mount and dominate him. Not his normal MO.
I decided to take him to the vet yesterday and the diagnosis is a sprain, not broken, which is good, right? However, the hard part is for him to “take it easy”– which the vet noted was going to be a challenge for a puppy. And it has.
He’s going nuts in the house without his daily park times, to the point he’s running around, diving under the couch, and, yup, hurting himself all over again– crying, limping, and coming to me expecting a solution.
Well, here’s the solution, pup: stop being so gdam clumsy and chill out for a couple of days. Do they make straitjackets for dogs?
Re. the ticks– I’m not thrilled with the idea of throwing Frontline or other harsh chemicals on my pup, for his sake and that of my young kids. I don’t trust those long term treatments to be benign.
I have read about putting tea tree oil, or sandalwood, on as a short term repellant before I go out to the field for the day.
Has anyone had success with that, or other tick treatments?
Thanks in advance for any wisdom.
PS– I have found one thing that seems to calm him down– a fire! First fire in the hearth this season and he walked right up and made himself comfortable and cozy. Nice to know, hopefully it will stay chilly!
rookiebird 
Just found your blog from your comment on mine. What a great job you’re doing. Nothing like the experience of bringing a new pup into the bird world. They become such a huge part of your life.
All of my shorthairs have been mesmerized by the fire place and the heat. It’s one of those safe sedatives.
Good luck on the rest of the season.
LikeLike
Thanks Larry! Your blog was among a handful that inspired me to chip in with some ramblings. How much you get out, and in those CONDITIONS, let’s me do some vicarious hunting while I’m digging away in the salt mines.
It’s interesting to me that there seem to be more, and better, blogs themed around chukar hunting than other upland hunting. I wonder why that is?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting, and I think accurate, observation. I think about the ultra endurance athletes I know, and most (but definitely not all) are super articulate and thoughtful and – like chukar hunters – have lots of time to think while Sisyphusing their way to a pretty arbitrary goal. Road hunters (and flatland bird hunters?), by contrast, have to concentrate on complex multi-tasking operations while seeking a fairly optimal calories-expended-to-calories-gained goal (could be 1:1000, while chukar hunters’ ratio would be the opposite). Hmm. Food for thought?
LikeLike
Calories expended for thought more likely! Both are going for a particular type of experience, like fly fishermen vs. lure fishermen (I do both so no side taken on that one!), or microbrew lovers vs. Budweiser (again, uh, both). So what lends chukar hunting to contemplative keyboard clacking is… failure? Maybe similar to why there is so much good writing about baseball and not so much about other sports.
LikeLike
Calories-expended and failure in chukar hunting sort of go together in my opinion. I have been lucky enough to get out a lot each season chasing the chukar bird, and first and foremost I love watching my dog (or dog’s in the past). In my opinion there is no country like chukar country to watch a dog work and the chukar is more often than not an obliging bird. Although they can be flighty, part of the thrill of watching your dog is watching him (or her) hold them from flying or at times watch him screw up. Take pheasant hunting for example. What a thrill to take one of those long tailed birds. But, how many times do you really get to watch a pointing dog do their thing or does it just happen? In chukar hunting, it’s not uncommon to have your dog on point for five to ten minutes while you try to position for the shot. That whole time you are inspired by the abilities of the pointing dog. (I’m sure it’s probably just as much fun with a flushing dog, but my preference is the pointing dog).
Secondly, and to the calories, is the mountain itself. There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment. Almost every time I come home from a hunt I know I beat the mountain. I may have not shot well or even seen any birds but I got to the top. My inspiration was the chukar and my trainer/coach was my dog. Together they make every muscle ache worth it.
And than there are the days when your dog is perfect and you shoot well. As the saying goes, “it doesn’t get any better than that”.
LikeLiked by 1 person