Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Take caution when hunting old homesteads and farms, as fencing and machinery can be hidden by brush and weeds. Finn received a large laceration this day that ultimately needed staples.
A look at Trumbo's first aid kit with nearly everything to cover a catastrophe. Most of these items, including the first aid kit itself, remain in Trumbo's truck. However, the tools on the bottom left, zip ties, and other occasional items are added to his hunting vest, depending on where the hunt takes place.
The grouse woods can be perilous for impalements. In this instance, Trumbo and his youngest setter, Zeta, found themselves climbing deadfalls for hundreds of yards. They were stacked up to five high with foot-long branch stubs along the trunks. Fortunately, zealous Zeta avoided injury.
Running a dog in rocky terrain can lead to damaged paw pads and broken toenails. Carrying toenail clippers can be important for treating torn nails and preventing further damage. It's also a best practice to run dogs in boots in abrasive terrain like this.
Barbed wire is the gift that keeps on giving, and bird dogs cannot get enough of it. Take caution where fences are covered in heavy weeds or grasses, as dogs don't always see them while on the run. Finn once cut her tongue severely on a fence like this one – a wound that bleeds profusely and is challenging to treat.
Every parent has that one accident-prone child who requires routine medical attention. Bumps, bruises, and scrapes are typical for these kids, and parents know better than to be far from first aid supplies. These kids are often athletes who play hard and are exposed to myriad injurious scenarios, no different than a hunting dog. The advantage for the child is their ability to tell mom or dad where "it hurts."
A look at Trumbo's first aid kit with nearly everything to cover a catastrophe. Most of these items, including the first aid kit itself, remain in Trumbo's truck. However, the tools on the bottom left, zip ties, and other occasional items are added to his hunting vest, depending on where the hunt takes place.
The wrestling mat or football field offers a healthy dose of collisions and torque on the limbs. Bird dogs often have trouble with different limbs, such as in the grouse woods, which can cause significant problems for a pup. Lacerations, impalements, sprains, prickles, and pokes are all on the daily docket, whether running the forest, prairies, or pastures. Barbed wire, old machinery hidden by vegetation, porcupines, badgers, brambles, and cactus are just a few of the threats to a hard-charging bird dog in search of a fleeting feathery scent cone.
Barbed wire is the gift that keeps on giving, and bird dogs cannot get enough of it. Take caution where fences are covered in heavy weeds or grasses, as dogs don't always see them while on the run. Finn once cut her tongue severely on a fence like this one – a wound that bleeds profusely and is challenging to treat.
Finn, my oldest Llewellin setter, has been the accident-prone pup of the family, mainly because, to her, barbed wire fences are a nuisance to be overcome, not avoided. Our first barbed wire incident came at the end of a long day chasing pheasant through various creek and ditch bottom tangles. Among the tangles were fence rows hidden by high grass and poison hemlock. I realized Finn's toughness because she never made a peep, but her appearance, face covered in blood, told a different story. There were no visible external injuries, and it took a moment to realize the blood was coming from inside her mouth. Her tongue was sliced deeply down the middle from panting while zipping through the fence.
The grouse woods can be perilous for impalements. In this instance, Trumbo and his youngest setter, Zeta, found themselves climbing deadfalls for hundreds of yards. They were stacked up to five high with foot-long branch stubs along the trunks. Fortunately, zealous Zeta avoided injury.
Years later, a similar hunt in similar cover left a hind leg lacerated through to the muscle. Again, Finn never made a peep. It must have happened early in the hunt because we were done before I noticed. The wound was clean and no longer bleeding, but ended up receiving staples.
Excursions east led to Big Sky Country, where porcupines and prickly pear play. We were into sharp-tailed grouse thick as yellow jackets on an apple cider press. The prickly pear was growing low and sparse, and I foolishly assumed that Finn dodged it all. It wasn't until I laid our first sharp-tail on the tailgate and returned to the cab to hand her a treat that the cactus spines appeared on the bottom of her largest pad. Two white specks were all I could see, protruding enough to grab with my multitool pliers and pull out spines over an inch long. Finn never even flinched.
Broken toenails, grass seeds in the eye, and the occasional bout of low blood sugar are the other most common follies with my girls, which lead to the quick care items that I always carry either in the vest or the truck.
In my vest, you'll find the multitool for pulling porcupine quills and cactus spines, cutting wire, snares, and anything else needed. Honey or NutriCal is another staple item to stave off hypoglycemia in a hurry. Hand shears are tucked away in there to cut blackberries in the event I lose a bird or a dog becomes entangled, which happens frequently on the Palouse. Vet wrap, iodine swabs, and zip ties are also ever-present. The zip ties are more to soothe paranoia, but if the dog becomes trapped in a conibear, I'll be glad that I have them.
A comprehensive canine first aid kit awaits in the truck. Truthfully, it's better than most human kits and will save any living, breathing thing in a pinch. Saline eye flush, QuickClot powder, a wound stapler, alcohol and iodine swabs, antibiotic ointment, sterile gauze, medical shears, forceps, bandages, and various medications are among the 100 other items at the ready.
We're staring down the barrel of another bird season, which means it's time to pull out the first aid kit to account for necessary items. Remember that medications expire, eye wash can leak and evaporate, and disinfectant swabs can dry up. Additionally, items like QuickClot can be easily misplaced when pulled from the kit in a hurry. Case in point, it took me 15 minutes to locate my stapler this week because I had reorganized my hunting gear last fall.
The dogs will be running before you can pronounce "antihistamines," so take a moment to evaluate and restock your first aid kit now, before that fence nick or porcupine encounter interrupts a fine day afield.
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