In Memory of "Ginger"

If you hunt with multiple dogs, you have to come up with cost effective ways to care for all of your furry friends throughout the year. This can be a bit challenging – and decisions you will make depend on the breed of dog, time of year, location and climate.

I live in West Central Florida where it is between 75 and 95 degrees 75 percent of the year. We hunt with Walker Hounds. Please refer to the story I wrote called, "Dog Tales," for more information on this breed.

Living Conditions and Care

Our dogs live outside in dog pens. The pens have concrete pads and are covered by a large metal roof. The dogs also have dog houses inside of their pens – to further protect them from the elements. The pens are surrounded by trees and brush to help guard them from sun, wind and rain. It is our ritual to feed and water our dogs in the afternoon each day. This is when the pens are cleaned as well. We scoop with a shovel and put all feces in a large garbage can that is used specifically for that purpose. Once that is done we spray the pens out with water. We bleach the pens at least once a month. The garbage can I mentioned is dumped once per week – at that time, the can is sanitized, and a new bag is placed inside. We got in the habit years ago of sprinkling lime around the perimeter of the pens – about one foot away from the pens, all the way around. Lime is known to help cut back on odor. Even though we scoop, there of course is still some feces that gets washed out when we spray the pens – using lime helps some.

Fleas and Ticks

You have many options for controlling fleas and ticks on your dogs. Some of these products control only fleas and some do ticks as well. Advantage®, Frontline®, K9 Advantix® and Capstar® to name just a few, plus there are many less expensive over-the-counter formulas available. We have been very lucky to have never experienced a true flea infestation. Because our dogs are on concrete pads, many potential problems with fleas have been eliminated. Because of the number of dogs we have and to cut down on cost, I use a generic flea/tick medication during the summer and during hunting season. I also use a flea/tick shampoo. If I see any fleas on any of the dogs, I start them on CapStar® and if you couple that with shampooing and treating the area the dogs are in, you should be able to get things under control.

Note: Some of these products come in small tubes or applicators and are applied between the dog’s shoulder blades directly to their skin. Some products come in pill form and are to be taken orally. These products are to be used monthly.

Worms

Heartworm, Hookworm, Roundworm and Whipworm – to name just a few. There are many preventatives on the market. One of the most popular is Heartgard® - which prevents heartworm only. It is often used with one of the flea/tick preventatives listed above. I have just learned about a product called Interceptor®. This product prevents heartworm, hookworm, roundworm, and whipworm. Nemex-2® does hookworm and roundworm only. Revolution® prevents heartworm disease, kills adult fleas and prevents eggs from hatching, treats and controls ear mites and sarcoptic mange. All of these products range greatly in price. I personally have found all of this to be confusing. There are so many products on the market, all for different weight ranges, some control one things, some two, some three or more, and ever combination in between – and the prices range from affordable to off the charts. In the past I have used Nemex-2® - but am now switching to Interceptor®.

A Suggestion on Deworming

In addition to using a monthly preventative for parasites, my vet has suggested using Panacur® (Fenbendazole) twice per year, once before hunting season and once after hunting season. This product comes in granules and can be sprinkled on wet food. It is a three-day process used to treat gastrointestinal parasites. Fenbendazole is useful against roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, the Taenia species of tapeworm, giardia, and several species of lungworm and some flukes. This is available over-the-counter, but should be administered only after consulting with your vet.

Ear Care

There are dozens of products for cleaning your dog’s ears and for treating them for all of the ear ailments out there. Yeast infections, bacteria infections, ear mites and "Swimmer’s Ear" are all very common in outdoor dogs. Here are just a few ideas. An antibiotic like Cephalexin® can be given orally for deep infections – this is available by prescription only from your vet. You can also use a topical solution called Ottomax® - also available from the vet. Your dog’s ears must be cleaned before each application with a solution containing alcohol. Ottomax® and an ear cleaner are things that you can keep on hand all year around to treat your dogs when need be. I have one dog, Gypsie, who has chronic ear infections in her left ear – mostly bacteria infections. Another one of my dogs, Blue, has experienced yeast infections in his ears. Ottomax® seems to help keep things under control. Gypsie has been on Zeniquin® and Prednisone® for some of her more serious bacterial infections in her ears. Daisy, the puppy, had ear mites not too long ago and was given an injection to clear that up. It is also preventable by using Revolution® or something similar. It was recently suggested to me that I purchase SWAT® Fly Repellent Ointment for Wounds and Sores. This is commonly used on horses, but is safe on dogs too. It repels and kills flies and you can use it on their ears and faces.

Food

Dog food is basically a preference too. Dry, wet, or mixed? What brand? What combination? How much? Low fat, high protein? Senior, natural, puppy? Based on lots of testing, we finally learned we were far better off paying a higher dollar amount on "better" dog food than using any of the bulk, inexpensive dogs foods for "sport dogs." I can remember years ago walking into a feed store and buying dog food – it was less than $10 for a 50-pound bag. This dog food not only went "right through" our dogs, it also left them acting as if they were still hungry. We experimented with all types of low fat and high protein sporting dog formulas with no great results. We finally started all the hunting dogs on the same thing we fed our house dogs: Purina ONE®. We use the Lamb and Rice Formula for all the dogs, the Senior Protection Formula for our older dogs, and we have always started the puppies on the Puppy Formula – all made by Purina ONE®.

I am not a veterinarian or a dog expert by any means. The ideas and suggestions mentioned here come from personal experience, and may not work for everyone. I learned a valuable lesson recently. I had to put one of our hunting dogs, Ginger, to sleep. She did have more than one type of intestinal parasite, and she was shutting down due to kidney failure. It is not known what came first – the worms or the kidney disease – or if one accelerated the other, but either way, it ended with Ginger having to be put down after just a few days of symptoms. On Monday she was fine, on Tuesday she was not 100%, she ate well on Wednesday, skipped her food on Thursday and by Friday she had to be carried out of the yard and rushed to the vet. She fought for her life all weekend long at the vet’s office and under their care. She deteriorated some each day – though they were pumping her full of fluids, antibiotics and food. On the following Monday night, I did something I had never done before – I said goodbye to a dog. It was a first, as I did not grow up with dogs and had not yet experienced the death of a pet.

Because I did not have Ginger on all of the proper preventatives and because I missed some of the signs and indications of how sick she was with her kidneys failing – I lost her. Her death inspired me to gather my knowledge, notes and thoughts on hunting dog care, and put things on paper – in hopes of helping someone else who may be confused or unsure of what works.

My vet’s office sent me flowers and a nice card the week of Ginger’s death. I want to share an excerpt from that card:

"Dogs lives are too short….their only fault really." – A.S. Turnbull

"What makes our dogs so special is the love we have invested in them and the loyalty they have entrusted to us."