Cold Weather and Hounds

Had a friend call me a while ago , telling me that this morning he saw guys out running their hounds on coyotes. They had shot 5 and were running another and got it also . When the hounds came out to the road my friend noticed that the hounds were blowing out bloody bubbles from their nostrils. When he mentioned this to the houndsmen , their comment was that the hounds are tough and can take it.
Todays temps this morning were anywhere from minus 30 to minus 32 degrees. My friend is also a houndsman and coyote hunter and will not run his hounds in these bitterly cold temps.
Running hounds in these temps only leads to serious health problems down the road and a shorter life for the dogs , frost bitten lungs are something that can happen and a few coyotes are just not worth it. These guys say the hounds are tough, it's fine for them to look at it that way from the confines of their warm truck and they only get out of them when they spot the coyote coming across the field.

I have had my own hounds for years and we ran many , many coyotes but not on these extremely cold days. On days like this, my dogs enjoyed the comfort of a nice warm kennel, there were always better days to run them .

There are very few breeds that should be out in these temps and none of them are hounds

Should of called the Humane Society. They are not of the Nordic breed family that can take theses sort of temperatures. Even dogs in the Yukon Quest and Iditarod have to have a percentage of huskie to compete in these extreme temperatures.

Good posts.
We only go out if it's above -10 with no real bad wind. Even though they are driving me crazy right now, and would all 3 be very glad to go, I wouldn't take them. Mercy they have their private parts / ears exposed to the snow and it's -20 here. Those irresponsible guys in the OP should see how they'd like it.

frostbite = $$$$$$$ bill at the vet

No one should be running their dogs under these extreme conditions. I've added fresh bedding to their dog houses every other day for the past week or so. If they had blood coming out of their nostrils like your buddy said that's bad, and I'd be surprised if the dogs aren't into see a vet in the next day or two. That's darn right cruel...

Unfortunately try as you might, sometimes you just can't fix stupid!

Too bad he didn't take a cell phone pic and promptly report it. Animal cruelty at it's finest! Buncha a-holes.

Probably the same type that doesn't mind going home a dog or two short every now and again.

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Originally Posted by Dakota Creek

Unfortunately try as you might, sometimes you just can't fix stupid!

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Well said my good man.:)

I spoke with my friend this morning to find out where this happened .
He said it was in an area north east of Stratford, if there is anyone on the forum that knows of coyote hunters that were in the area where this happened , let them know that there are those out there that will be keeping an eye out for them , and they will be reported.
My friend said that he didn't want to start an argument with these guys and was too upset to even think about taking a picture or even taking down license plate numbers , but would do it next time . He said that this morning he was thinking about it more when he was feeding /watering his own hounds and was ticked off with himself for not reacting to the situation yesterday.

Dog could have gotten into it with a racoon or a coyote as well. Was your buddy hunting with these guys or just passing by. These stories always have a few different versions to them. A friend of my buddies sisters boyfriends cousin said he thought he seen.....lol.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

Well said my good man.:)

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She's a lady. :)

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Originally Posted by little brit

Dog could have gotten into it with a racoon or a coyote as well. Was your buddy hunting with these guys or just passing by. These stories always have a few different versions to them. A friend of my buddies sisters boyfriends cousin said he thought he seen.....lol.

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Coons are not out traveling in minus 30 plus degree temperatures, and wouldn't cause bloody bubbles to be coming from the nostrils as the dog is breathing. ?????

no but a yote bite on the nose will .I seen three Mennonite boys going to work Monday morning at 6 am it was -35 and thy had horses hooked to buggys going down the road at a good tilt ,are we going to report everything we see that we don't agree with .we have had many hounds come to the road with blood al over them .most times it is a little cut on a ear or nose but because of the white hair it looks bad .Dutch

I'm not trying to defend these guys at all but sometimes a bit of blood looks worse than it is. My dog has cut himself a couple of times this winter and with him having quite a bit of white hair it looks spooky but by the time we got home he had cleaned it up and you couldn't actually find the cut. Back to running hounds on yotes in extreme temps, doesn't show much respect or care for his hounds. Can't fix stupid unfortunately.

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Originally Posted by Sharon

She's a lady. :)

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Really didn't know that my apologies.

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Originally Posted by terrym

I'm not trying to defend these guys at all but sometimes a bit of blood looks worse than it is.

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I agree - you'd be hard pressed to see my dog NOT covered in blood after a hunt. He's a hard goer and a bit light in the head, his face is always torn up - he slows down for no cover lmao. I do agree though - these are extreme temperatures to be running dogs. I would love nothing more to run mine - he's driving me insane being cooped up. Just not worth it though.

[QUOTE=jaycee;876239]Coons are not out traveling in minus 30 plus degree temperatures, and wouldn't cause bloody bubbles to be coming from the nostrils as the dog is breathing. ?????[/QUOTE

They might not be traveling doesn't mean dog can't find them in a hollow log or in a cracked tree. You might want to explain that to one hound in our group. He seems to find them all. On one hunt this hound managed to find 3 coons in a log and some how got behind them in the log so the coons were blocking the exit. We had to cut a hole in the other end to try and get dog out. You want to talk about blood. Few weeks later he managed to wedge him self in a tree and couldn't get out with a coon rippin on his face again.

You have a problem if you cannot tell the difference between bloody bubbles coming from a dogs nostrils and blood from cuts scratches and bites anywhere else on the dog.

Last sunday it was -28 when i dropped my dogs on a yote track. They run for about 4 hours and no worse for wear. Its not the first time and not the last time they will hunt in cold temps. Anyone thats going to call the humane society should sell their guns and hunting equipment and put on a PETA shirt and be very ashamed of themselves. Probably the noses were bleeding from having them down in the hard snow tracking. How about i start a post about a fat lab i seen bird hunting and how keeping it in the house and over feeding it will shorten its life lol

Hmmmmmm 3 posts and you're attacking people who believe a responsible dog owner should have made a better call. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe in calling anybody(especially Peta) but those conditions can cause some real issues. I've run coyotes before people knew we had them so don't paint me in the wrong camp.
I'll bet it wasn't noses bleeding, I'll bet it was ears. The edges of ears take a real pounding in cold weather, not hard to spot an eneven edge due to many days of cold running, and small raw edges can bleed a lot.

And by the way my labs are not fat so find someone else with that example.

Yep 3 posts and probably not many more on this site, not much here for dog hunters.

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Originally Posted by 69firebird

Yep 3 posts and probably not many more on this site, not much here for dog hunters.

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You'll be missed.

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Originally Posted by 69firebird

Yep 3 posts and probably not many more on this site, not much here for dog hunters.

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Actually Firebird, there is quite a body of experience here on this forum. Perhaps not always agreement but good experience in numerous dog venues...not just hounds.

Everything from health clearances, pedigrees, training, trialing and problem solving.

There are some folks with many years of experience and some of the hardest trainers you could find.

Stick around, participate but be prepared to back up what you think/say

Thank You KRAKADAWN. I might only have a few posts here but it doesn't mean I'm new to the subject. My hounds live in a barn with access to outside and straw boxes. Theres no heat, they live in the temperatures that i expect them to hunt in. That doesn't mean i would let them to freeze to death. IMO and lots of others, more dogs die from heat than cold. I could go out tonight and some would be laying outside their straw boxes. I hunt hearty bloodlines that hunt hard and in tough conditions. They have the feet, coats, stamina, and muscle condition to do it. I watch the conditions and how the dogs are preforming closely and make my decisions to pull dogs etc. because i want them to be there and able to run tomo and the next day and the next.

Now imagine the same cold conditions and different dogs living in a heated area (when not hunting) and not properly conditioned. In that case I too would wonder how stupid could the owner be having their dogs out.

The situation needs to be analyzed before starting this thread or posting that someone should have called the humane society etc.

some times my little hound comes out of the bush looing like Jason with a chainsaw ,she gets just coverd in blood from her ears and snoot ,the white hair makes it appear much worse then it realy is ,her ears get tore up real good from the berry canes and her snoot gets it from dragging it thru the snow like a plow ,the cold does not bother her a bit ,but I do watch her close and if I feel she is in any danger she is in the truck ,I would be unable to carry on hunting if it ever came time that we could not run hounds .growing up my family has run hounds all over Canada and the us on coon trials coyote deer and bunnys ,hounds are as much a part of hunting as guns and trucks are ,Dutch

I know many people who run hound crosses in sprint dog teams and they do require special care. They consume double the amount of food required to keep them warm and fit during the winter months. They require extra bedding in the dog house, dog box when traveling and watered in before a sprint race and after a sprint race. I have personally ran them competitively for a good friend of mine for many years in extreme conditions -35 to -38 in a 4 mile sprint race and 8 mile sprint race. They require immediate care after they have cooled down and watered in. They need to be put in the dog box after this period to prevent them from freezing to death. I have seen them all bloodied up from tongues flopping and hitting the cold snaps on the neck line and the gangline. They are tough buggers but to require a person with common sense to realize the public is always watching and the more you can do for the dogs to make them comfortable the better the chance it will be accepted.

Great day to day! Only -10 and all 3 dogs had a great time + me. -8 to morrow so we will be out again. So good to get out after weeks of -20s.

Sounds like I'd be too soft for that game lol

The fiancé and I took the pups out for a walk today too. Much nicer household now. The dachshund required a sweater and we only lasted half an hour due to the cocker looking like the abominable snow man but both are much calmer right now. It's wonderful