Should you always trust your dog

Big game tracking season is in a full swing now, and one of the messages shared by many dog handlers is "Trust Your Dog". When a dog is experienced and earned your trust by all means - trust her. But when you have a young dog, without much experience in natural tracking, be careful! It is very important how you handle your dog. This short story illustrates my point of view. Hoss is just six and a half month old, and this is his first tracking season. He came from Bernard Demers litter, and he is owned by Nathaniel Newman from Ohio. Nathaniel have put a lot of training into Hoss during summer, and this is what happened recently.

John/Jolanta,

Good afternoon.  My pup Hoss and I had a good Saturday morning as we received a call from a muzzleloader hunter.  The hunter reported over the phone a 15 yard broad side shot with a ton of blood at the hit site.  After arriving at the hit site the shot turned out to be more of a 30 yard shot at a quartering deer with a decent amount of blood at the hit site with no other visible blood anywhere.  I got Hoss on the hit site and gave him the command to begin tracking. He started out and appeared very confident even though we could not find any visible sign.  He led us to a dry creek bed that contained a tremendous amount of deer sign/traffic, we followed this for about 15 yards and then I could tell he lost the track.  

Since there was no sign to confirm he was ever on the right cold track I took him back to the original hit site about 60 yards away.  He went right back on the same track he initially followed, but this time I slowed him down tremendously in hopes we both would not miss anything.  I ended up locating 3 drops of blood about the size of a pencil eraser over a span of about 50 yards which made me very excited to know he was on it.  We ended up back at the dry creek bed but this time he very eagerly climbed the bank.  He led us to a nice healthy doe about 15 yards beyond the bank of the creek.  Hoss and I were very excited and he made claim to the deer by tugging at it very aggressively.  After tying up the dog and then examining the deer, we found a high and little far back entry wound with no exit wound, which explained the lack of blood.  The slug was later found in the right rear leg by the hunter during the skinning process.  I am very happy to see my pup reap the rewards of a lot of dedicated training this spring/summer.  We absolutely cannot wait for our next Ohio tracking experience… 

Hoss first recovery. Restarting him was critical to the final outcome.

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Millionaires Prefer Dogs to Cats Should They Reconsider

By Tamara McRill

As it turns out, the pet most likely to be shedding fur in the lap of luxury may not fit very well on a human lap at all. A recent survey done by the Spectrem Group shows that millionaires overwhelmingly pick dogs as their pet of choice: 58% own dogs, while only 37% are cat owners.

Thats a big difference in pet ownership from the rest of the country. Humane Society statistics show that 39 percent of U.S. households own dogs, while 33 percent own cats. But those households actually own more cats total than dogs: 8.2 million more cats, to be exact. This is because feline households are more likely to have two cats, while canine households are more likely to have only one dog.

So why do millionaires prefer dogs over cats? Are they missing out on something the rest of the country gets about cats?

Looking for Love and Loyalty

One of the theories floating around is that millionaires might prefer the unconditional love and loyalty dogs give them. A love that is unattached to their ginormous bank balance. That is something youll certainly get in spades from most dogs.

But heres a secret most cat owners could tell these millionaires: cats love deeply and faithfully too. Now I dont know if it takes longer for a cat to become deeply attached to its human, since I have always been a very hands-on pet owner. I do know, from having many cats in my youth, that kitties can love just as fiercely as dogs. Maybe it does come down to having the time to play and bond.

What about Time?

Having owned both cats and dogs, I would say that dog ownership takes far more time out of your day. Larger breeds cant get the type of exercise indoors that most cats can manage, and all dogs need to be walked. They also need to be taken out to potty.

Some wealthy people may choose to hire someone to handle those dog details, but Im assuming they could just as easily hire someone to change the litter pan.

Travel Companions

Perhaps it comes down to being able to take their pets with them. Assuming that many wealthy pet owners travel frequently, they may choose dogs as their four legged companions because they can go more places with them. Although both cats and dogs can certainly travel, dogs are more accepted in hotels and other locations.

Of the other factors I could think of, dogs and cats came out even. Having a high-powered job is stressful, but petting either animal is a proven stress reducer. Its certainly just as fun to hand out a FELIDAE cat treat to a purring pal as it is to toss a CANIDAE dog treat to a drooling buddy.

Top photo by Puppies are Prozac
Bottom photo by Suzi Duke

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