Lost dog!

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Axis II

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Squirrel hunting tonight with my buddy we had some action until his 8yo mountain cur decided to disappear on a track and didn’t come back when called or toned on the shock collar! Usually he’s within 200yards and always comes back when called, shocked or toned. My buddy shocked him and he ran by us whimpering and headed south ignoring commands, tones and shocks. We circled the woods yelling and whistling and nothing! 20min later I hear him fire up close to the houses and then nothing again. We searched for over an hour and nothing! I’m fearing the worst maybe a bow hunter got him, buddy thinks he got in a hole and his collar got caught or collar malfunction and he was trying to get away from it.

Anyone have a clue?
 
Collar may have stuck in the "shock" mode, and he's trying to get it to stop. There's
not much else I can think of that would explain a trained dog behaving like that.
 
LoonWulf said:
That's a bummer!
even pig hunting I haven't lost a dog yet. One of the tricks doggers use out here is to leave a shirt where ever the truck was parked and come back and check it for a few days. As often as not the dog will be there.
Click to expand...
Exactly the same trick we use with bear and lion hounds.
 
Dibbs said:
Collar may have stuck in the "shock" mode, and he's trying to get it to stop. There's
not much else I can think of that would explain a trained dog behaving like that.
Click to expand...
He thinks that is the case but the dog didn’t make any noise other then whimpering when he ran by usually he yelps and comes running to ya.
 
LoonWulf said:
That's a bummer!
even pig hunting I haven't lost a dog yet. One of the tricks doggers use out here is to leave a shirt where ever the truck was parked and come back and check it for a few days. As often as not the dog will be there.
Click to expand...
He left his jacket. Bad thing is the dog stays in the house so he’s never spent the night outside.
 
Hope you guys get him back. Wow. Just awful.

Sadly in another 2 weekshere in Eastern NC lost dogs will be a common occcurence. More often than it should be with no one caring to look for them.

Kudos to you and your buddy doing what you can to get him back.
 
Unusual. Generally, a dog will run to his owner when shocked .. for protection from the pain. Make sure the transmitter isn't stuck in the shock mode. Take out the battery and go back to the jacket. Call to him sporadically for a couple of hours. If you leave for awhile, put some kibbles for him to eat and he may stay there.
 
Anytime one takes a hunting dog to the woods there is a risk of injury or loss. Those that are better trained have a lesser chance of risk. Sometimes it's not the dogs fault.


ohihunter2014 said:
Squirrel hunting tonight with my buddy we had some action until his 8yo mountain cur decided to disappear on a track and didn’t come back when called or toned on the shock collar! Usually he’s within 200yards and always comes back when called, shocked or toned. My buddy shocked him and he ran by us whimpering and headed south ignoring commands, tones and shocks. We circled the woods yelling and whistling and nothing! 20min later I hear him fire up close to the houses and then nothing again. We searched for over an hour and nothing! I’m fearing the worst maybe a bow hunter got him, buddy thinks he got in a hole and his collar got caught or collar malfunction and he was trying to get away from it.

Anyone have a clue?
Click to expand...

First off, really no reason for a squirrel dog to be 200 yards away. In my many years of using shock collars on bird dogs, I never had reason to shock a dog more than once during any hunt, as they were properly trained before the collar went on. Generally the tone was all that was needed. Have seen more than one dog run for the hills to avoid being shocked over and over again. don't take long for a dog to realize what a shock collar is and who is pushing the button. From what you wrote, your buddy needs to step back from his transmitter. Hopefully your friend had a tag on the collar as most lost dogs will go to a nearby house, especially when scared. Used the old shirt on the roadside many times back when I used to run hounds for coon. Generally works for a dog that ran outta voice contact and knew enough to follow it's own scent(and mine) back to the parking spot. Those dogs running scared from gunshots or something else, not so much. As for a Mountain Cur spending the night outdoors, unless it's dead of winter and extremely cold, it's not a problem. Around here iffin I had a dog act like that, I be guessing it got a face full of porcupine quills. Another reason not to let a good dog get that far away from you in the woods.
 
buck460XVR said:
Anytime one takes a hunting dog to the woods there is a risk of injury or loss. Those that are better trained have a lesser chance of risk. Sometimes it's not the dogs fault.




First off, really no reason for a squirrel dog to be 200 yards away. In my many years of using shock collars on bird dogs, I never had reason to shock a dog more than once during any hunt, as they were properly trained before the collar went on. Generally the tone was all that was needed. Have seen more than one dog run for the hills to avoid being shocked over and over again. don't take long for a dog to realize what a shock collar is and who is pushing the button. From what you wrote, your buddy needs to step back from his transmitter. Hopefully your friend had a tag on the collar as most lost dogs will go to a nearby house, especially when scared. Used the old shirt on the roadside many times back when I used to run hounds for coon. Generally works for a dog that ran outta voice contact and knew enough to follow it's own scent(and mine) back to the parking spot. Those dogs running scared from gunshots or something else, not so much. As for a Mountain Cur spending the night outdoors, unless it's dead of winter and extremely cold, it's not a problem. Around here iffin I had a dog act like that, I be guessing it got a face full of porcupine quills. Another reason not to let a good dog get that far away from you in the woods.
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He generally does a large circle and comes back to us if no track was found so 200yards maybe pushing it. He toned him several times with no avail and then shocked him and that's when he ran past us heading south whimpering. Idk if he couldn't see us cause of the fallen tree we were standing by or what? I would think he would have smelled us? I've hunted with this guy and dog for about 5yrs and he's never had a disobedience issue with that dog. I think he shocked him 2 more times in the 2hrs we spent looking and nothing. This guy has multiple awards for labs, walkers and beagles for field trials so training and dealing with dogs 35yrs is not new to him. He did leave his coat for the dog by the pond by the house and this morning when he showed up no dog.

About 30min after seeing him run south we thought we heard him north behind a house but the neighbors said they didn't see or hear him. He found him on the other side of a creak this morning south where we seen him run too last night. My guess is he didn't see us standing by the fallen tree last night and kept on going.
 
Well he went back this morning around 8am and found him south of where we last seen him across a creek. The creek wasn't high either like we thought! He yelled for almost 45min until he found him. The dog appears to be fine and maybe just got stuck somewhere and couldn't get to us. He said he began hunting his way back to the truck after my buddy found him like nothing happened.
 
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I’m really glad the dog was found. One thing many people fail to realize is that dogs, especially hunting dogs, naturally know how to survive in the woods alone for a few days by themselves. The exception to that is when they encounter a predator that is higher on the food chain than they are. It’s always a possibility. But it’s not likely. And this just proves that even a well trained dog, is still a dog.
 
Glad he showed up.
I had a real good male golden retriever from British hunting bloodlines years ago. One heck of a fine pheasant hunter with a great nose. Hunting some cover in the middle of Nebraska and he flushed a big native ring neck. One shot busted a wing and the bird came down next to a half section standing milo field (1x1/2 mile). I let him go on the rooster who had a shot wing but nothing wrong with his running gears. The dog had made some incredible retrieves so I let him run it down. I got worried when he didn’t show after a few minutes, started blowing the whistle and I saw him leap into the air twice to try and see out of the milo then nothing.
He was my best buddy and hunting partner and I almost went into panic mode. I left my hunting coat laying on the ground where I was standing when I shot the rooster. We drove around the outside of the square mile section and kept going back to the place I left the coat. Also had to try and contact the land owner because we had permission to hunt where we did but the standing crop was somebody else’s.
6 hours later found him lounging on my coat after he back trailed himself. We were glad to see each other. Never got the bird but I suspect he had him and left him at some point.
 
LoonWulf said:
Glad your buddy got him back.
For a fair share of doggers out here they are an expendable resource, so it always makes me feel better knowing someone put the effort in to getting their animal back.

Well done!
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The other part of my thought here is if you're running a dog, that dog is your buddy. Whether somebody actively thinks in these terms or not, you don't leave your buddy behind. In my opinion, those who consider the dogs an expendable resource have no business whatever with dogs or hunting.
 
mustanger98 said:
The other part of my thought here is if you're running a dog, that dog is your buddy. Whether somebody actively thinks in these terms or not, you don't leave your buddy behind. In my opinion, those who consider the dogs an expendable resource have no business whatever with dogs or hunting.
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I try not to judge, but I feel much the same way. Unfortunately its a part of the mentality for some guys, and they teach it to the people they take hunting.

I have 3 dogs, and I dont hunt them. Too many aholes out and about.
Were I home, I WOULD hunt them with my SILs, they are the kind of doggers i can get along with.
 
Took me three days to find the only dog I lost. She was an 80 lb walker that broke her front leg at the ankle joint. It was to close to the joint to do surgery.
 
A friends squirrel dog got attacked by a coyote. dam near killed the dog. dog live due to good veterinary care but is not in good shape from his injuries.
Glad your friend dog was OK!

Bull
 
Kingcreek said:
My dogs are my friends and they count on me for food water shelter and attention. I would never abandon one just because something went wrong.
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No one abandoned the dog! We searched for 2hrs for him until it got so dark and the fog settled in so thick i couldn't see walking back to the truck so no way we could navigate and find him. Usually he's vocal when called, tracking, toned or shocked and he didn't make a peep that night. Trust me we did everything! My buddy is a Christian and I heard him say words I never have in the 5yrs I've known him. Its not like he just said oh well and walked away.
 
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