Big's Tales

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Raw Fish Can Kill Your Dog

I had my dog “Big” vaccinated against everything I could think of; Parvo, Distemper, Rabies and I don’t know what else. I vaccinated him against everything but me. Every morning when I get ready to leave, Big, my two-year old Black Lab, meets me at the back door with his tail waging and jumping up and down with excitement. He follows me out to the truck, running past me bumping his wet nose against my hand, and beating my leg with his tail. Sometimes it seems like he is going to leave a bruise, then he waits for me to open my truck door so he can put his head inside and find some corn nuts or chips I dropped there the day before. But not this morning; today he met me at the truck with his tail barely waging, and he was so calm, I knew something just wasn’t right. Then he walked up to me and laid his head against my leg as if to say, “ Daddy I don’t feel so good”. That was a sure fire sign that something was wrong. My wife and I left to go into town, and Big looked like he had lost his best friend.

When my wife returned about 11:00 in the morning, she gave him a dog biscuit, but he just took it out of her hand and dropped it on the porch. Most of the time if you blinked twice it was gone. She decided she’d better call the vet and they told her it sounded like Salmon Poisoning. They asked her if he had eaten any salmon or trout that came from the ocean in the last 7-10 days. She said I had given him some raw salmon when I was cleaning a salmon, seven days before. They told her to bring him in right away, and that if he wasn’t treated soon, he might die. She rushed him down to the Veterinarian Hospital, where they gave him a shot, put in an I.V. and kept him overnight. The next day and later, Big is back home, waging his tail and being his old self again.

I had never heard of salmon poisoning before so I asked the vet what it was all about. It seems there are two different strains of this disease, one for salmon and one for trout. Both are deadly if not treated, but like Chicken Pox, once the dog has been treated for them they never get them again. The disease is only from sea run salmon and trout, so you don’t have to worry about land locked fish.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have paid if that was what it took to get my dog well. I thought that 14-pound salmon was a pretty cheap meal until I had to pay the vet bill.

I was in a study group the other day, and someone asked what is love? The definition the book we were studying said, “Love is not a sentimental feeling, rather it is a sacrificial action. It means interrupting my schedule, expending my money, risking my reputation, ruining my property, even for a stranger, so that I can do what is best for him”. As for Big, I feel I would do all of that for him, and more.

It was once said, there is a difference between a smart man and a wise man. A smart man learns from his mistakes, and a wise man learns from others mistakes. I hope if any of you are planning a trip to the coast, you learn from my mistake and keep a close eye on your dog if they are playing on the beach. If you return home and 7-10 days later your pet looks sick and has a 105 temperature, don’t wait to get him to a vet. It maybe nothing, but then again you might save its life.

Remember to only take what you can eat, and leave the rest for the next person. People first, then money and then stuff. Make a youngster's day take them with you, kids spell love TIME. As always, good luck and be safe.

Is there really a Pointing Lab?

"Pointing Labs? Don't be silly! Why don't we leave the pointing to Brittanys, English setters and the like. Pointers should point and retrievers should retrieve."

Does this sound familiar? Frankly, these statements echoed our narrow thoughts until a few years ago. Of course, we had firsthand knowledge of the Labrador retriever's intelligence and grand desire to please. We were also aware that Labs were successfully trained as drug finders and seeing-eye dogs in addition to their usual work from the duck blind and merrily finding-flushing-retrieving in front of the upland hunter.

We appreciated fancy portraits of Labs posed regally with Dukes, Earls, Princes and other British Royalty, usually behind gigantic, orderly formations of driven game bagged from Scotland's hedgerows.

Pointing Lab reports from sober, sane observers were received occasionally; these dispatches were treated, at best, as abnormal flukes and promptly ignored.

The truth of the matter is that we were, like most human beings, reluctant to alter our preconceived notions. It took the Sage of Kelloggs' Kennels, Mayo Kellogg, to convince us that our skepticism might be totally unfounded. It can be said, without reservation, that Mayo Kellogg is living legend in sporting dog circles. The Kellogg family has been breeding Labs since 1922 at their base near Madison, SD and were the first to import the breed west of the Mississippi River. Mayo literally grew up with Labradors. Working with his father, he often observed some their dogs freezing into a rigid point on game birds. Suggestions that this characteristic might be developed further were vetoed by the senior Kellogg. Nonetheless, the youthful observer mentally filed this data.

Kellog started focusing his efforts toward developing a strain of pointing Labs in 1982. The stellar sporting canine scribe, Larry Mueller, Outdoor Life's Hunting Dog Editor, heard of Kellogg's success and believed the pointing Lab would fill a niche in the ongoing search for versatile hunting partners. Following a firsthand look, Mueller's column featured Kellog's pointing Labs in 1985. Interested readers responded immediately. The local mailman and telephone lines were kept hot as literally thousands of inquires arrived at Kellogg's headquarters.

Pointing Labs had gone public in a big way.

Our first Pointing Lab came directly from Mayo Kellogg. We have since started and trained more than 400. A few have been outstanding, most were very good, some adequate and sprinkling might be classified as learning-impaired. Our training and handling techniques were developed and refined on the job over the years. Formerly cynics, we have become firm supporters of the Pointing Lab movement. We sincerely believe this strain can and will continue to improve.

Above all, we would like to thank God for providing us still another opportunity to work with His magnificent products.

Jim, Sandra and Nick JimSaNik Pointing Dogs

E-mail jimsanik@micrord.com