Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

DAVID’S VIEWPOINT

R

eaderCarolineCaineswas

promptedbymyarticleoncanine

teeth(Viewpoint, 26June)to

emailmethefollowingfascinatingstory.

Shehasseveralworkinggoldenretrievers,

allwiththesoundtemperamentswe

expect.However,ononeoccasiontwo

ofherdogshada minordisagreement

inthestableyardovera pieceofhorse

dung.Thedisputewasbrief,buttheirjaws

momentarilycameintocontact before

Carolineintervened.

Shewasastonishedafterwardsto

finda caninetoothontheconcrete,lost

byGigi,itssix-year-oldowner.It came

outcleanly,completewithrootbutwith

veryminimalbleeding.Carolinewas

fascinatedtofindthattheroot was nearly

twicethesizeofthetooth.

Gigiwastakentothevetforinspection.

Thevetwasamazedandsaidhehadnever

seenanythinglikeit before,addingthat

canines are extremely difficult to extract

andit wasfortunatethatGigi’sjawwas

undamaged.Healsoconfirmedthather

remainingteethwereingoodcondition.

Youmightthinkthatthiswouldbe

theendofthestory,butseveralmonths

latera similarthinghappenedfollowing

a minorrowbetweenthesametwodogs.

Carolinewasappalledtodiscoverthat

Gigi’sremainingcaninehadcomeout,

justascleanlyasthefirst.However,

despitethefactthatGiginowhasno

canines,Carolinereportsthatshe“has

notroublenailinga runneranddelivering

thebird.Sheisthebestdogl have, so

thankgoodnesssheisOK.”

Acquiringtheknack

GrahamGibsonisauthorofComplete

TrainingfortheWorkingSpaniel, and

asI mentioned(Emma’sflexiblefriend,

15 May)heisa strongbelieverinusing

flexibleleadswhentrainingyoungsters.

He emailed me to say that he noted that

Iwasusinga flexi-leadwitha collarrather

thana checkchain.Hetriedthisa few

yearsago“butwithverylittlesuccessso

wentbacktoa chain.Theresponsetime

isinstantduetotheclickofthechain,

however,thereisa bitofa knackwhichis

verydifficulttodescribeinwords”.

Grahamisa professional,soI’llfollow

his advice and hope to acquire the knack.

Email:[email protected]

droolingtongueis moreofa signof
heatthanthirst.If youoffera panting
doga drinkit’squitelikelytosplashin
thewaterwithitstongue,butwatch
carefullyandyouwillfindthatthis
is oftenmorea cooling action than
anythingelse.
Flat-facedbreedssuchasbulldogs
andpugssufferparticularlybadlyin
heat,astheycannotcoolthemselves
soeffectivelythroughpanting.
Fortunately,allourgundogbreeds
aremuchbetterat coping,buteven
so,commonsenseprevailswhenthe
temperaturerises.Neverleavea dog
ina hotcar,evenwiththewindows
open,andneverexerciseintheheat
oftheday,exceptinwater.And
if yourspanielis exceptionallyfurry,
getit strippedasit will be much
morecomfortable.
Heatstrokecanbea killerfordogs
andtheydon’thavetobeleftina
hotcartosuffersuchmisfortune.
Knowinghowtodealwitha dog
sufferingfromheatstrokeis keytoits
survival.Coolingtheanimaldownas
quicklyaspossibleis vital.Immersing
itsbodyinwateris themostefficient
waytodothis,butif thisisn’tpossible,
wrappingit inlukewarmtowelsthen
gentlyhosingit orpouring water over
it willbeeffective.
Usinga coolingfanwillmaximise
heatlossthroughconvectionand
radiation. Do seek immediate

emergencyveterinarytreatment,as

heatstrokecancauseseveralsevere

butunseenproblems,rangingfrom

kidneyfailuretoblood clots.

Hottestday

It’suncannyhowtheGameFairso

oftencoincideswiththehottestday

oftheyear.Lastyear,ontheFriday

at Ragley,mycar’susuallyaccurate

temperaturegaugeregistered36ºC.

It mayhavebeenexaggerating,but

therewasnoquestionthatit was

exceedinglyhot,andI wasrelieved

I hadn’tbroughtmydogs.

Thevarioushave-a-gogundog

scurriesevenstoppedoperating,as

it wastoohot.If youareplanningto

takeyourdogstotheGameFairat

Hatfieldat theendofthismonth,it’s

worthrememberingthesitedoesn’t

haveanylakeswherehotdogs can

becooledbyswimming.

It’srareforourdogstohaveto

workonexceptionallyhotdays,but

it can happen. I recall a scorching

Gundogs

Loss of canines won’t affect retrieving ability

“Heatstrokecan

bea killerfordogs,

andtheydon’thave

tobeleftina hot

car to suff er”

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 79

AugustgrousedayontheNorth

YorkMoors,whichpresenteda real

challengeforbothdogsandhandlers.

Itwasimpressivehowthehotdogs

headedforthewetbogstocooloff.

Oneofthepicking-upteamtoldmehe

onlyworkedhisdogsonthismoorfor

a coupleofweekseachyear,butthe

dogscouldrememberexactlywhere

theirfavouredwallowswere.

Arecentinnovationis thedog

coolingvest.Thin,lightweightbut

superabsorbent,thesevestshaveto

besoakedwithwaterbeforeputting

onthedog:theyworkbyevaporative

cooling.I can’trecommend them

highly enough.

Coolingvestsare

readilyavailable

and inexpensive