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10 minutes from retrieving to "should be dead"

212K views 226 replies 193 participants last post by  APHIL 
#1 ·
It is my understanding that traumatic events are often dealt with by talking about them to friends and strangers alike. No opinions, agenda, or B.S. here...just an account of what has been one of the toughest days of my life thus far.

The pain and grief I'm burdening my conscience with is more that anyone could possibly throw at me, so please save the "reply" button for support of my dog and not reiteration of what I now understand was terribly poor judgement on my (and only my) behalf. This morning I laid on the edge of a field in Jackson county Arkansas asking God and whoever else was listening why it had to end this way. On the week that Ace will age out of the Derby, I watched the life quickly slip from his eyes as I stripped my waders and clothes off trying to warm him while my hunting partner was running for the Argo.

We've been after the ducks pretty hard so far this season, and this morning was no different than normal. Picking up birds until about 8:30 when the "faucet" seems to shut off. Except, the faucet opened up on a buckbrush hole around 9:00 and two of us headed over to slip in and get in on the action. Even being his first season to hunt, 30 something days into it, he's really added "duck dawg" to his short, but respectable resume', dotted with some derby points and Q placements. While most of our spots have platforms or at least logs to get the dogs out of the water, this "makeshift" hunt had no decent place for a dog to stand. Seeing the sheer number of birds and knowing that we only needed a few, I figured 30 minutes tops...surely he can stand in knee deep water for that long. About 45 minutes into it he had just made a retrieve and I noticed a strange grunt/moan on the return that I've never heard before. As he came to heel, and another group was making a pass, he continued to make the sound. As he's not a "whiner" when birds are working, I gave a "quiet-nick". Continues to make the sound. Now I'm scratching my head. Knowing that he'll air even in swimming water, I rule that out. I chalk it up to "he's cold" and say "let's call it, my dog's getting chilly". As we're easing out, he becomes disoriented and begins to just tread water. I walk over and ease on his collar to pull him along. When his legs floated up to the sides, I knew we were in deep kim shi. Hypothermia was rapidly draining his time with us, as his core body temp continued to plummet. When I let go of his collar to pick him up, he sunk (head and all). Now I've heard of people doing amazing things in times of extreme duress (single person flips over car that is trapping someone, etc.), but I have never made it through 250 yards of beaver-run, smart-weed filled stump hole filled buck brush in under 20 minutes with my shotgun and blind bag. This morning I did that plus a 67 pound lab in 5. By the time I got to dry ground he was limp and unable to support his own head. I stripped my jacket, outershirt, and fleece to wrap and then curled up next to him while my partner (75 yards behind me without carrying a dog) was making to to shore to get the Argo. He had his first seizure on the edge of the field, gasping for breath, foaming at the mouth, and contracting every muscle in his body. As his eyes rolled back I pleaded with him "I'm so sorry buddy, I never meant for it to end this way"..."I never would have done this to you on purpose"....this was 10 minutes from the time he picked up the last bird. And I prayed for the first time in a long time. The selfish grief that burned from the fact that I was losing my first "real" dog and best friend was sickly overshadowed by the anguish that I felt from seeing the pain in Ace's eyes. That image raises the hair on my neck as I type this and will likely haunt me for many years to come. Argo pulls up and I hop in, with him in my lap, wrapped in my jacket, and I take the longest 1/2 mile ride to the truck that I'll ever take. Get to the truck, start engine, petal to the floor trying to get warmed up so that the heat kicks in. Lay Ace in the passenger floorboard and use everything dry that I had (handlers jackets, frogg toggs, gloves, etc) to get the water off. Then pile on my bibs, coat, and fleece to keep him warm. Second seizure hits as my buddy climbs into the driver's seat for the 45 minute ride to Jonesboro, where we have no clue how to find a vet on Sunday morning. Was going to give him some Coke to provide a shot of glucose, only to find out that his jaws were locked shut, front teeth piercing through his bottom lip from the seizures. Totally immobile and unresponsive, I pinch, pull, and pat to keep him from shutting those eyes. Notice that his gums are solid white. A few times he takes "his dying breath" and I jackleg attempt canine CPR. 10 minutes from Jonesboro and we get a call from the vet who responded to a page from his answering service. He's 15 minutes away, so I wait out another of the 5 longest minutes of my life in the parking lot. He pulls up, unlocks the doors, and I carry Ace in with the gut feeling that this would be his last vet visit. I prayed again for the second time in a long time. What happened in the next 4 hours is nothing short of a sho' nuff' miracle. I usually don't buy that cheesy crap, but I "seen it with my own eyes". With a core body temp of 84 degrees at the vet (so we'll call it close to 80 before the 100 mph heater wide open truck ride), a blur of heated tables, blankets, heating pads, warm saline solution through an IV began. 2 hours into it, we got to 90 degrees. He began to shiver (which was a good sign), and opened his eyes. At 2.5 hours, he picked up his head and took a drunken look around. At 3 hours, we were at 94 and and eased outside to relieve the bladder (another good sign that the kidneys were functioning). At 3.5 hours he ate a high-protein tube of some honey-substance. At 4 hours he was at 97 and I was hauling to Memphis with him asleep in the back seat, destined for the emergency clinic. Out of the back seat in Memphis he's got pep in his step to air and meet the awaiting staff with vet chart faxes in hand. He leveled out a 101.5 for tonight and is resting while fluids are administered. And while this seems to be the happy ending, I'm fully aware that he's not out of the woods yet. A condition known as D.I.C. (can't give you the true acronym, but the slang is Death Is Coming) were clotting ability is reduced is a definite possibility, along with a string of other ailments, including kidney, heart, lung failure, and the potential for his "internal temp regulators" to spike and throw him into HYPERthermia in the near future are all very real threats. But that's tomorrow. For tonight, my dog is alive. And in better condition than he was on the edge of that field this morning.

What did I learn?
-You cannot leave a dog in the water, even for a short amount of time. They need a place to get out and shake the excess water.
-I've always been a critic of dog vests...not no mo'. After the ass-chewing I got from the vet, I got a good list of reasons to use a vest.
-You've got to listen to your dog. Generally, they'll show/tell you that something's wrong.
-There could easily be more than coincidence relating the request for divine intervention and the honest-to-goodness miracle that I witnessed today.

The deepest and most sincere Thank You from the bottom of my heart (and Ace's) goes out to everyone that has played a role in today and the upcoming days (you know who you are).
 
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#2 ·
Wow.

That made the hair on the back of MY neck stand up!

Sending up prayers for Ace, and you, that he continues to pull through this and goes on to retrieve on another hunt with you.

All the best and please keep us up to date on his progress.
 
#6 ·
Oh Matt...my eyes welled up with tears. How awful an experience and yet how wonderful that Ace is alive!
God bless y'all.
 
#7 ·
Prayers sent for Ace to make a full recovery.

Andy
 
#8 ·
Matt,

I'm praying for Ace buddy!

I can relate to many of the things you felt today. Our dogs would run off a cliff for us. They'd jump into fire for us. They love what they do. It can go from complete love of the game to disaster in a heartbeat...literally.

It is so easy to beat ourselves up over something like this.

I'm thankful that you, your friends, and the vets were able to get Ace warmed up and stable.

I was discussing on a hunt today, around some gun safety stuff, that an emergency trip to the vet from a hunt with a dying dog is something none of us never want.

I hope nobody tries to pound on you for this on any internet board. What you've done with your wade-in hunt, many of us have done...for decades. This is an opportunity for all of us to learn something.

Here's to Ace running some marks and having a ball next week. One cool thing about our dogs is how quickly they can bounce back from near death. They don't hold a grudge, they don't feel sorry for themselves. They love to be at your side getting "just one more bird".

You hang in there buddy...Ace will do the same.

...praying for Ace....

Chris
 
#10 ·
I had to scroll down too and I am so relieved that he pulled through. You didn't endanger him on purpose. It's not your fault, so don't beat yourself up. When you realized he was in trouble you came through for him and that's all that matters. All the future ribbons & accolades aside-I just hope you have your dog back.

Man-this makes me want to hug my dog!

Praying Hard & Crossing Fingers & Toes-

M
 
#12 ·
Mat:

I'm glad you had the guts to post this.

I hope all turns out well.

We can al learn from your experience and pay more attention to what our dogs tell us when hunting.

Tim
 
#16 · (Edited)
I have sent a prayer for Ace's recovery and your ability for forgive yourself. As it was said, as soon as you realized there was a problem you acted with heroic efforts and much of what you did helped to turn the tide toward's Ace's recovery.

Thank you for posting in such fine detail all of your actions and feelings as the story unfolded. I think your story will go a long way to helping others. First showing them how not to take our dog's endurance for granted and second what to do if something goes wrong.

Again, I am very glad your story turned out the way it did and I am keeping fingers crossed and saying a prayer for Ace's complete comeback.
 
#17 ·
If your story helps to save one dog from a similar plight, your post will well be worth it. I'm sorry for the trauma that you and Ace are going through.

My prayers for both dog and hunter.
 
#18 ·
Prayers for a full recovery for Ace. You certainly have the right outlook on this situation and glad you posted for others to learn. No one can say anything that would make you feel worse than you feel right now anyways. But don't be too hard on yourself. Keep us posted on how the boy is doing.

Kourtney
 
#19 ·
Matt called me last nite after leaving the animal hospital. I was shocked when he first started the story and thought he was gonna tell me something bad at the end. I am glad he is still around he is a very nice dog and i had a litter mate to him and another of us chris C had one they r all very special . Matt i hope Ace make a full recovery and is able to compete next spring and u guys have another good FT seasn. Keep me updated.
 
#20 ·
That took alot of heart to tell us that. You might have saved another dogs life here. Don't feel guilty. You didn't know.... Prayers from Alaska...
 
#21 ·
I had a lump in my throat reading that story. There but for the grace of God could be anyone of us who hunt in the winter. Thank God he pulled through. I don't know what I would do if that happened to me.

Thank you for sharing and reminding us to watch over our best friends.
 
#22 ·
This story brought a lump to my throat.

I prayed for Ace to have a speedy recovery!

Please keep us up to date on his progress.
 
#24 ·
Thank you for your post. I agree but for the grace of god that could be me and my dogs. Wishing a speedy recovery for you and dog.
 
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