Lost the Pooch

[NorthwoodsLife]

Against my wishes, my wife took our dog 'Bow', out for a late night free run a couple nights ago. At 2 AM.

As she tells it, (I was asleep), after a slow walk, he took off after something. Full run. He ignored her commands to return.

Lots of large coyote activity lately. And although we have them, not too much wolf activity.

I'm pretty sure he's gone for good. Chow for a predator.

Going to chill out dogless for a while. Get a couple puppies next year and start over.

Goodbye my friend. Bow at our stream.

 

[GeoHorn]

Dog collars can trap a dog in brush and fences.

Sorry about your dog.

People who don’t know dogs don’t know what it’s like and what family-Members they are.

 

[Lil Foot]

I hope he turns up, but it sounds like a long shot.

 

[Motion]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Sorry to hear this. It's an awful feeling. You know your woods better than I, but I hope he shows back up at your door filthy and stinking and hungry.

 

[ctfjr]

Sorry to hear that Northwoodslife but Bow may still return. We had a dog many years ago that did the same thing - bolted into the woods after a deer. We were pretty upset but a week later he showed up. Dirty but none the worse for his adventure.
Here's hoping.

 

[D2Cat]

Dog collars can trap a dog in brush and fences.

Sorry about your dog.

People who don’t know dogs don’t know what it’s like and what family-Members they are.

All depends on what the collar is made of. There is a reason many horse owners only use leather for halters.

 

[Flintknapper]

Sorry to hear that Northwoodslife but Bow may still return. We had a dog many years ago that did the same thing - bolted into the woods after a deer. We were pretty upset but a week later he showed up. Dirty but none the worse for his adventure.
Here's hoping.

A 'Lab' I had years ago just disappeared one day. Was gone for a full week.

I was heartsick about it. A neighbor (nearly 1.5 mile away) called one day to tell me his dog was in heat and that my dog had been hanging around off and on.....if I was looking for him. I went over and retrieved him.

Just saying.....they can be gone for a few days or longer and it doesn't necessarily mean they met their demise.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

sad, I lost Cloudy, my cat for 30 hours,8 weeks ago.probably got treed by coyote. he came back, to vet for IV, syringed water and 'food' into him for 2-3 weeks. He's made a full recovery.
He now sports a Tractive GPS tracker on him. BEST $80 I've ever spent ! Dang he gets around but ALWAYS comes home when I call him.
when Bow returns , I strongly suggest the tracker. Peace of mind is priceless.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Against my wishes, my wife took our dog 'Bow', out for a late night free run a couple nights ago. At 2 AM.

As she tells it, (I was asleep), after a slow walk, he took off after something. Full run. He ignored her commands to return.

Lots of large coyote activity lately. And although we have them, not too much wolf activity.

I'm pretty sure he's gone for good. Chow for a predator.

Going to chill out dogless for a while. Get a couple puppies next year and start over.

Goodbye my friend. Bow at our stream.

View attachment 125113

I am sorry for your situation. What we have done with hunting dogs is leave our coat that we were wearing (for the dog) and note (for whomever might find the coat and dog and ask they leave coat if no dog and to call if they find the dog). Sometimes the dog will come back and stay with coat that you leave. Good luck.

 

[GeoHorn]

All depends on what the collar is made of. There is a reason many horse owners only use leather for halters.

I make sure my dog’s collar is sufficiently loose he can wiggle out of it.

I used to have Labradors. Named Pippa and Eight-Ball. (I love Black Labs and name the Black ones after games-of-chance…. BlackJack, Eight-Ball, Roulette….) Pippa was a yellow Lab.

…. Hard to understand…but Pippa could not swim!

She was determined to Get the Stick thrown into the water…but would have to be pulled out or she’d drown. She would splash the top of the water with her front paws while her rear-end sank and would pull her down-under after a minute of thrashing.
The way she survived was to bite down on the stick along with the other dog…. or hold onto the other dog’s collar and be pulled-along by Eight or BlackJack.

She was also a “wanderer”… uncommon for a female. She could Not be Trusted to remain in the house-yard unless supervised. She would disappear for hours-on-end…and Eight would follow her anywhere…. while Roulette would come and “tattle” on them.
Pippa and Eight would show up around 4 AM with sore paws and soaking wet. Who knows where they’ve been on this 1500 acres with 2-miles of shoreline on a river-bend.

Anyway, since she couldn’t be trusted, I once gave her a bath and while allowing her to remain outside the house while she dried…but unwilling to stay out there with her to prevent her running-off…. I placed a 13-foot piece of chain around my breezeway cedar support-post and connected it to her collar. She laid down. I went inside.

Ordinarily, I NEVER chain a dog up. I ONLY did this ONE TIME…while she dried off…. and because of what happened next…. Never Again.

After 30 mins I realized Roulette was constantly barking and looking toward the back-porch pasture/woodlands. Yep… Pippa and Eight-Ball were gone…out of sight….. with Pippa dragging 13 feet of Chain! It had come-loose from the cedar-post.

I knew what would happen. Being “water dogs”…..Those two would head for the river… and Pippa would drown because of that chain.

OR…that chain would become entangled in Brush….or barbed-wire cross-fences…. and she would die of dehydration ..if she weren’t soon found.

I looked for two days…. never found either dog.

A WEEK later…I got a call from a stranger…. a single-Mom who said she “had my dog.”
The dogs all have tag which state “REWARD - Call Ph No XXX-XXXX “

What the woman said next was Shocking…! The woman lived 8 MILES down-river….and The Dog she had….was dragging a long chain!

I told her “Oh… THAT dog is named “Pippa”…. And she had another dog with her that never leaves her side….. a Big Black Lab named ”Eight-BAll”.

”OH….”, the woman replied, “THAT is YOUR DOG ALSO..?? He is right here WITH HER!…but he has no collar so I didn’t know they were from the same place.… but they showed up here Last Night…SOAKING WET!”

Pippa had dragged 13 feet of chain more than eight-MILES down-river…. and survived…!! (and 8-ball was right with-her all the time.)

Those dogs lived full lives …both keeping our family alternately entertained, playing with kids and grandkids….for over a decade.

They are buried here.…along with two others who filled our hearts and loved our …. their other family members.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

i appreciate everyone's response and their own stories. I hope he comes back. But doubt it.

Bow has disappeared in the past into the forest before. He usually comes back home in a few minutes. A couple times it was in a few hours. Not 2 days. Our property line on the north and east is National Forest. Forest for miles and miles. Mountain lions, bears, wolves, badgers, and coyotes. And although he's medium sized and acts tough, he's a wimp. Wild animals don't play around, they go in for the quick kill.

In the past, our neighbors a mile west called a couple times and said he's over at their place sniffing around causing a ruckus. They have Golden Retrievers. But those times that he went to the neighbors; we had left him home alone. He had figured out how to open the locked shop door by scratching the crap out of the inside deadbolt handle.

Thanks again.

 

[GeoHorn]

Pippa had 10 pups. We had bred her to another Lab…a chocolate named “Weller” (after the whiskey …which the owners …the Harrisons liked…. and Water…which they drank it with….and which “Weller” loved to play in the local lake. They lived in “Horseshoe-Bay on Lake LBJ.

Weller was a brilliant, well-trained dog who knew over 40 distinct and separate commands. He was really FUN to watch when he was put to work.

Anyway… Our Dog… Pippa…a Yellow Lab female…was a second generation descendant of the first Labrador to win BOTH “American Gun Dog” trials…and ”Mexican Field Trials“ Champion.
Her maternal Great, Great Grandmother was the FIRST Chocolate Lab to win the American Field Trials…. However Pippa herself…was just a fun-loving “college girl” who wanted to have FUN.

Pippa …was All About Herself! A lovely and frisky, funny dog…with nothing on her mind but whatever pleased herself… and was extremely well-behaved…IF… IF … you were present.
The Moment you turned your head…. She was “On Her Own!”. LOL

Well… ONE of her ten pups was kept by us and was “Roulette”… Truly a fantastic, well-behaved, smart dog who slept in the bed with us, was loving to children, happy with strangers…but protective of us if we were asleep. (Kept my Mother (who Roulette LOVED)….cornered with barking …in the hallway outside our bedroom when Mom tried to tip-toe into our bedroom to ask me a question at 5AM… When I sat up in bed and said, “Good Dog,!”…. Roulette then wiggled-up to Mom and leaned against her legs.
Absolutely a trustworthy and loving, dedicated companion.

Another of her litter-mates…. went to a family in central Texas… and five years later made the News…when ”Bubba” saved a small child from drowning in Lake Travis.
Bubba was at a picnic with his owners and noticed a child struggling in the water and lept into the lake …swam out to the kid…and allowed the kid to hang-onto him while he swam/pulled the kid back into shallow water. The local news carried the story when EMS was called to check the child over.

A year after That…. Bubba went Wild in the Night… awakening his family to the burning house…which they all vacated safely. But when the Fire Dept arrived… Bubba shot back into the house and the Firemen prevented the Father from attempting to go in after Bubba to save him.

A few minutes later, Bubba was seen to jump out of the side-window of the house with the family cat in his mouth.

Unfortunately, the cat didn’t make it… died from smoke inhalation. Bubba suffered burned paws…but otherwise was unhurt.

The family sent us pics of the event and their local paper story about it….but unfortunately we lost that computer in a storm and cannot retrieve the hard drive and lost contact with Bubba’s family.

Dogs Truly ARE “Man’s Best Friend”.

 

[Flintknapper]

Pippa had 10 pups. We had bred her to another Lab…a chocolate named “Weller” (after the whiskey …which the owners …the Harrisons liked…. and Water…which they drank it with….and which “Weller” loved to play in the local lake. They lived in “Horseshoe-Bay on Lake LBJ.

Weller was a brilliant, well-trained dog who knew over 40 distinct and separate commands. He was really FUN to watch when he was put to work.

Anyway… Our Dog… Pippa…a Yellow Lab female…was a second generation descendant of the first Labrador to win BOTH “American Gun Dog” trials…and ”Mexican Field Trials“ Champion.
Her maternal Great, Great Grandmother was the FIRST Chocolate Lab to win the American Field Trials…. However Pippa herself…was just a fun-loving “college girl” who wanted to have FUN.

Pippa …was All About Herself! A lovely and frisky, funny dog…with nothing on her mind but whatever pleased herself… and was extremely well-behaved…IF… IF … you were present.
The Moment you turned your head…. She was “On Her Own!”. LOL

Well… ONE of her ten pups was kept by us and was “Roulette”… Truly a fantastic, well-behaved, smart dog who slept in the bed with us, was loving to children, happy with strangers…but protective of us if we were asleep. (Kept my Mother (who Roulette LOVED)….cornered with barking …in the hallway outside our bedroom when Mom tried to tip-toe into our bedroom to ask me a question at 5AM… When I sat up in bed and said, “Good Dog,!”…. Roulette then wiggled-up to Mom and leaned against her legs.
Absolutely a trustworthy and loving, dedicated companion.

Another of her litter-mates…. went to a family in central Texas… and five years later made the News…when ”Bubba” saved a small child from drowning in Lake Travis.
Bubba was at a picnic with his owners and noticed a child struggling in the water and lept into the lake …swam out to the kid…and allowed the kid to hang-onto him while he swam/pulled the kid back into shallow water. The local news carried the story when EMS was called to check the child over.

A year after That…. Bubba went Wild in the Night… awakening his family to the burning house…which they all vacated safely. But when the Fire Dept arrived… Bubba shot back into the house and the Firemen prevented the Father from attempting to go in after Bubba to save him.

A few minutes later, Bubba was seen to jump out of the side-window of the house with the family cat in his mouth.

Unfortunately, the cat didn’t make it… died from smoke inhalation. Bubba suffered burned paws…but otherwise was unhurt.

The family sent us pics of the event and their local paper story about it….but unfortunately we lost that computer in a storm and cannot retrieve the hard drive and lost contact with Bubba’s family.

Dogs Truly ARE “Man’s Best Friend”.

My 'Chocolate". Gone now....but what a dog he was.

 

[GeoHorn]

The “runt” of Pippa‘s litter was named “little-Bit” by Nancy, the second-grade Pflugerville, Tx schoolteacher who bought her from us.

I had told all the new owners they MUST pick up their pups on Xmas Eve before 7 PM….which was exactly 49 -days from their whelping/birth. (This was the recommendation by our dog-Guru who “wrote-the-book’ on dog training… “Family Dog” by Wolters.)

Everyone complied with it…which would give all their children perfectly-timed Xmas-Puppies!

But schoolteacher Nancy called me a week prior to that day… Asking for a “favor”.
It seems Nancy intended to be out-of-town on that day of Xmas-Eve …and could not comply with my insistence on That Day being when everyone picks up their Pups.

Nancy, a single woman, said to me on the telephone, “I’ve got Little-Bit’s bedroom All Ready for her! I am really excited to pick her up… but cannot wait until Xmas Eve because of my promises to my sister to be in Houston on that day!
Please, Mr. Horn… Can’t I please just pick Little-Bit up two day prior?…Please..?”

”Well“, I responded (recalling she was a primary-grade school-teacher… (and my own wife a 4th grade schoolteacher gave me a bit of insight to Nancy’s job)….. “Well… I SUPPOSE you could do that Nancy… After-All, Little-bit IS YOUR DOG… I mean…You’ve already paid for her and all….…
...but You must understand that will be a MONDAY…. and MONDAY is the day we’ll be teaching all the Pups their PRIMARY COLORS….”

There was a loong silence over the phone as Nancy contemplated what I’d said.

Nancy then spoke, “OH! Well… THAT’S IMPORTANT ..isn’t it?”

After another moment I said, “Nancy… Dogs are COLOR BLIND.”

Another loong silence… then…

”YOU are a MEAN MAN, Mr. Horn!”

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Update. Well. Not really... Bow has not returned.

Trail camera is picking up wolves now. Big ones.

My wife is clairvoyant and says that she feels he's dead.

I still wake up at 7:30 am every morning. Which is the time he would wake me to go outside to go poddy.

And I still hear him in the house walking around at night to get a drink of water. Strange.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

Update. Well. Not really... Bow has not returned.

Trail camera is picking up wolves now. Big ones.

My wife is clairvoyant and says that she feels he's dead.

I still wake up at 7:30 am every morning. Which is the time he would wake me to go outside to go poddy.

And I still hear him in the house walking around at night to get a drink of water. Strange.

I am sorry and hope you are doing ok.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

I am sorry and hope you are doing ok.

Thank you. We are fine. But that pooch was the light of youth and activity in a home where old folks live... me and my wife. Always anxious for love and running. and youthfulness.

It has been a great loss, but even though she made it happen, I don't blame my wife. I understand Bow's wanting to go run.

 

[RCW]

Update. Well. Not really... Bow has not returned.

Trail camera is picking up wolves now. Big ones.

My wife is clairvoyant and says that she feels he's dead.

I still wake up at 7:30 am every morning. Which is the time he would wake me to go outside to go poddy.

And I still hear him in the house walking around at night to get a drink of water. Strange.

So sorry to hear. At your first post, I was SO hoping he'd show up.

We love our Geddy, and every dog we've had before. It's always devastating when they leave us...

Best wishes.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

Wolf at my neighbor's field.... Yesterday.