Don't forget bring dog water along.

[Mike Leonard]

Here is living proof the I don't always ride a horse. LOL! these hot dogs are cooling off a little in the tank to beat the hot southern Arizona sun.

When lion or bear hunting in hot weather make sure you can either get your dogs to water or carry some with you because heat and water deprivation will kill a dog pretty quick when they go to working hard. Aslo as they heat up and pant hard they lose a lot of their smelling ability. If you can get them in the shade and give them a drink and wet their feet and bellies down they will really perk up and go back to work. Heat stroke even when non-fatal will burn a dog's brain and for some reason they will never be the same.

When hunting some very long and dry canyons in the hotter weather I pack an additional horse or mule and carry two 3 gallon plastic water cans in the panniers as well as some rubber water bowls and a spray mister bottle to wet them down a bit. Most of the time the packhorse is no bother and I can also carry climbing boots, ropes and lunch in there.

[Big Mike]

Ridn A mule Mike!! Looks like a cur/cathoula in the mix too. have you no shame!!!! LOL

[sourdough]

Good point mike. When you start loading dogs in the morning they are excited to go and don’t even think to drink, I carry extra water spring summer and early fall as those are the months dogs are most Susceptible to heat stroke. Summer is a no brainer, but spring and early fall are deceiving as it nice and cool in the mornings and the temperature can climb very rapid with the hounds being in their winter coats heat stroke is very possible and can be fatal and like you said if they don’t die from it they will never be the same ever again they will hunt alright, but as that temperature starts to have it’s affect on the dog’s the one that has suffered heat stroke will be looking for a place to shade up. Watch your hound’s close some of the signs I have noticed are subtle, dragging a hind foot when they step, wide eyes, and heavy breathing this is when it’s time to take a brake and get them watered out. If you don’t you will find yourself using every bit of water you have trying to get one cooled down and that’s only half of it. The after math of heat stoke leaves you with a hound that has no control over it’s motor skills as well as muscles contract so hard the the dog legs seize and if there is no water between you and the pick up you better plan on leaving that valuable friend on the mountain if not one or two more. Some hounds can handle the heat very well, but they all can become a victim to the heat. A good rule of thumb is when you drink give them hounds a shot of water it does not have to be a lot just enough to wet their lips it will keep them some what hydrated until you come across a suitable place to drink or when they need watered out. And don’t forget yourself!!!

sourdough

I must have been drunk this morning when I wrote this!!!!

[Mike Leonard]

Big Mike,

I wish I owned that cur dog bitch but I don't. I will tell you one thing she is worth more than both those mules put together. She has caught more lions than most guys will ever see. Watching her is funny: the hounds strike a cold track and she is right over there checking they start to work it out, hunters off the mules looing for a track to see if they are going the right way. Watch this dog if it is the right way she goes if not she is back looking smelling up high on the brush rearing up on her legs figuring it out. Pretty soon dogs sort of fizzle out and come back she is watching as much as to say told you so over here, so they go over boom and away they go again. If it gets warmer she no guessing where she will be right in the front, and when you finally hear her no need to worry she sees it and it is either going to tree or bay. She may not be as cold nosed as some of the other dogs her owner has but let me tell you she is a secret weapon and without her not nearly as many lions would get their pictures taken. LOL!

[pegleg]

That red dog is giving the bluetick the eye. is that a mixed pack?

[ChasinTail]

pegleg,

not a mixed pack... except that giant beagle!

The little bluetick is Bailey, and she pesters Jesse (redbone) all day. that's probably a "don't even think about it!" eye... haha.
I'm behind the camera on this one, but I didn't realize that Copper (red dog inside the tank) had put her head inside Donnie's mule's mouth. Haha! Camera tricks!

[Mike Leonard]

Tyler,

That's not a giant beagle that's a Harrier. LOL! Well maybe not a real harrier but Hondo has a bit more hair than Donnie's beagle. LOL!

[Mike Leonard]

Speaking of the man behind the camera here he is conducting business in the field. Notice old Elvis the mule(better know as Giraffe) because he is 16 hands plus is watching his back trail for illegals slipping across the border. LOL!

[ChasinTail]

Damn it Mike, you're suppose to tell me when you're gonna take a picture so I can suck in my gut! I better get on one of those Pumasorous hunts so I can get in better shape!

[Mike Leonard]

I just had a phone call from a friend and it prompted me to keep the warning on water and hot dogs going. This man has a littermate to my Hondo dog and this dogs was doing extreemly well on lions on the dirt and has already caught a number of bobcat as well. He decided he would switch him over and run some bear with him just to see how good all around he was. Well the little dog really went right to work on the bear and running them very hard. these dogs are the kind that press for the front and really can smoke a running track thru the rough stuff. Well he caught some bear but he got on an extra bad spoiled bear and he just kept running and covered a lot of ground. Well as the day drew long the dogs started dropping out they heard this dog in the race going hard most of the way and then he dropped out. Well the bear did like a lot of spoiled bears do finally went to his security trees and went up. when they got there just a couple of dogs were there and not the spotted dog. These dogs were shot but they were at the tree and the picked up the other dogs on the way out and they found this dog laying on his side where he had fell out. They got him some water and finally got him to the truck and home. Well the next morning he seemed ok and he was at the kennel gate wanting to go. It was a cool morning and they went out and got on a lion track and this dog went on and they treed the lion. Well when they got to the tree this dog was just treeing his head off and they made commnets about what a nice job he had done. while they were watching him suddenly he stopped treeing sort of humped up and walked off all stoved up looking and laid down. In a couple minutes they went over and his eyes were glazed over and his hair was all standing up on end. ( classic heat exaustion), and in a few minutes he was dead and stiff as a board. Now it was still cool when he died but the effects of the hard bear run and building up all that lactic acid in him had not complelty worn off and then he went on this lion and jumped and treed and then got on the wood hard, and it pushed him over the edge. Too bad but it happens, and why him rather than some of the other dogs? don't know maybe he didn't take water that morning maybe becasue of his hard running ways he put extra excertion on his system but none the less a fine young hound is dead. It could have beern any of the dogs or all of them or none of them but the combination of heat, lack of hydration and shade and extreme excertion is what causes heat stroke. So do what you can to prevent it.

[LCK]

Excellent post Mike. Folks don't take this serious enough until something like that happens. It happens and happens fast. Lost one last Fall only 15 minutes into the race. He had been overheated earlier in the summer. Never was the same and it killed a dang good start dog.