Dang Snakes

[Gary Roberson]

Was hunting this morning and my dogs were working a cold trail away from water. The dogs went nearly a half mile and sat down, treeing. I drove closer to them and when I walked into the tree, Hondo limped out to meet me and I knew what had happened.
A snake had hit him in the left hind leg in the muscle slightly above the stifle area. Not a good place for a bite.
I shot the coon out and hollered the dogs to the truck and hauled it back to town. Luckily, my buddy Richard the vet was at work before 7:00 AM and we went to work on the dog.
Things in the dog's favor: He is 60-65 pounds, stout and just turned two, he was sick but not swelling really fast, we were treating him for the bite within 45 minutes of the time he was hit. I checked him at 1:00 PM and swelling was not too bad. He has been on an IV all day. Maybe I will find out a little more when I check on him at 5:00 PM.
Adios,
Gary

[Shorty]

Gary,
Those things are terrible. 99.9% sure I caught a cat the other day. I heard the jump to the tree and they were looking at him when he went up. Walking into the tree before sun up and I heard the buzzer go off. It was really close to the tree and I couldn't find it for the life of me. Scared of the dogs getting it or even me I called them away from the tree. Everyone made it out alive and unharmed. Sure would've liked to put that cat in their mouths though.

Hope your dog makes it alright.

[super white hunter]

Good luck hope he pulls through

[South Texan]

Gary,
Hope your dog pulls through all right. Seems like every year about this time, when the northers start pushing thru till winter really sets in, the snakes get bad. We all better be a watching for the next few months. Good luck with your dog. Robbie

[BuckNAze]

That sucks Gary, my first year in my new house out in the country I had 2 dogs get bit 3 times by rattlesnakes. One was a 9 week old plott who got bit right in the face. Swelled up like no other on his face and couldnt get him into the vet till the next morning and it happened just in the evening. Gave him a little benedryl and watch him most of the night he made it through just fine. The next happened out in the kennels to a bluetick female I got. She got bite in the face once and the neck the other time. Looked about like the size of a girls basketball hanging off her neck, she also is fine, had some drain tubes in her neck and they both got IV's and what not but made it ok. Also after all that happened I went out there to feed another time and was just in some flip flops, was in the 100's and just hot as hell. Well I got to feed in the second kennel and felt something under my feet but thought nothing of it, well turns on when I went to go back in the kennel I had stepped right on the head of a rattlesnake, just went and got the shovel and ended that. I think the road construction on the hill above me and all the vibration from the heavy equipment, plus water at my place, forced them out of their dens and to my house, this year Ive only seen one so far. Hope your dog is fine and everything works out! I think you got him back quick enough that he should be fine, good to know someone who is a vet!

[Gary Roberson]

Thanks Guys. I drove to the clinic and checked on Hondo this morning. He was glad to see me but his hind leg is really swollen from above his hip bone to the bottom of his paw. The vet says he has made the most critical 24 hours but is not out of the woods as we risk kidney failure. He has been on an IV since arriving at the clinic. I really hate the dog getting bit as he is not even my hound though I did breed him. I was hunting him for a friend, Windy Miller at Floresville, TX. He is one heck of a hound and handles the tough trailing conditions as well as any dog I have seen. He turned two on 7/15. He and his littermate sister caught 6 coon on Sat. morning, two on the ground. I caught him off the tree after he treed a coon in conditions that I should not have even been hunting. The wind was blowing 15 mph and there was no ground cover on the ranch I was hunting for the first time.
Shorty, know what you mean and have had that same thing happen to me. A couple of months ago, when hunting at Devine, had the dogs catch a coon in a log jam in the creek. There was a big rattler in the jam with the dogs. Got lucky on that one.
Adios,
Gary

[box rocker]

I have had one or two dogs bit a year for about the last 20 or so years that I have been in southern nm.None of them have died or had to go to the vet. They are lucky if they got a shot of dex and maybe some penicillin a couple days down the line. sounds like your doing plenty for the dog. Good thing you your vet is a freind otherwise I'd say maybe he was milkin ya. I've had some vet bills that were like house payments. They like to charge.Hope the best for your friends dog.

[Gary Roberson]

I was hoping that Hondo did not get a full dose but was wrong. His hindleg is huge. No doubt going to be tissue damage. He remains on an IV as we are trying to keep as many fluids in him as possible to hopefully keep kidneys from shutting down. The kidneys are going to get really busy trying to process all of the junk from the swollen area. Richard says that he is not out of the woods yet but hopefully if things are going better can take him hom tomorrow.
Adios,
Gary

[Gary Roberson]

Lost the Hondo dog this morning. Kidneys could not process all of the junk in his system even though we opened up the leg so that so of the junk would drain. If you have a good dog, keep him away from me as I am the best at killing GOOD one. Though this dog had just turned two on 7/15, I thought he was the best trailing dog I had ever seen. Loosing Rip and Hondo has left me short handed.
I guess I have not learned a thing as I am already trying to get my hands on one of only two males left in that litter.
Adios,
Gary

[bearsnva]

Really sorry your dog didn't pull through. One thing that you can rest with is that you did every thing possible to give him a chance. There are no "what ifs" that you will have to think about. I had to have one of my dogs put down two weeks ago today and it sure sucks to lose one.

[Shorty]

Very sorry to hear Gary. That's one of the downers of living in ths part of the world. As you are well aware hunting this time of year is an added risk. I sure hope you find another one like home. He sure sounded like a special hound. As said before you did all you could do in trying to save his life.
Shorty

[Gary Roberson]

Shorty
I justed put his littermate brother in my kennel. I worked a deal with Brandon Burch, a young man here in Menard who had the dog. Brandon had not been hunting the dog as he had his first little boy shortly after picking the pup up at my house. He calls the dog "Dapper Dan" as he has a pronounced cowlick on the back of his neck just like his mother and sister, Ten. He is a very athletic, strong 60# male with a big bawl mouth. He has been heck to keep in a kennel and when he escapes will be found somewhere in Menard under a tree with a cat in it.
He is an absolute maniac and when I showed him to Windy Miller a few months ago, all Windy could say was "Oh My God!" I am not sure I am young enough to survive getting a handle on this hound...time, lots of miles and TriTronics will tell.
J. Martin also saw this hound and attempted to buy him as well. I just could not get Brandon to turn loose of the dog as he kept saying "but he is going to make one heck of a dog". I agree but I can assure you that he was not if he did not get out of the kennel.
Adios,
Gary

[hectorp]

Gary, sorry to hear that Hondo didn´t make it. Good luck with Dan. With snakes out there, you never now what will happen. Snakes are one of the risks dogs have every time you take them hunting.

Saludos,

[South Texan]

Sorry to hear that Gary. When you said he was bit in the muscle above the stifle area, I was worried about it. Not a good place. Good luck with the littermate. Robbie

[Gary Roberson]

The littermate Dan dog is quite a specimen. He is a 60# tight hided raskal and extremely athletic. J. Martin Bassinger tried to buy the dog about a year ago and we could not get it done. He is a master escape artist and gets out of the kennel every week and will be found somewhere around Menard sitting under a tree with a housecat in it. If I can get the raskal under control where he is hunting for me, I think he will make an excellent hound. He is already broke on deer which helps in this country. I am a little worried about the first porqupine he sees as this hound is very aggressive on catching/killing things. I have been seeing lots of porqys here lately as they are starving like everything else.
We nearly got a rain yesterday. It showered but not enough to measure.
Adios,
Gary