Was out prairie grouse hunting middle of October more than a few years back and the rattlers were migrating to their winter den sites. Got by the first we saw and the hunt pard shot it after I called my Gordon to me, all ok .Next one he just walked by, swung around and didn't aim just pointed the 12 at it and pissed it off. Yeah my dog went for the retrieve before I could get to her. She got hit low on the left jowl flap and agin on the left leg. At that point she quit on the snake as I had got to her and got her away almost getting it myself. Hunting pard then pulled his head out and took the snakes off with a load of 4's. Immobilizing the dog at that point and sending the "pard" after his pickup was the best plan I could come up with at that time. He got the truck to us and I put her in the dog box. both leg and jowl flap starting swell. Kadoka SD was 25 miles away and the vet was in when we got there to call him. He told me to take her to my regular vet in Rapid City and not waste much time. Called them and told them we would be there in a little over an hr. They gave the dog a painkiller and antibiotics(snakes got a dirty mouth). She said most make it, depends on the dogs age, general health, where they got bit. a hit that swells their nasal passages can suffocate them, they pant but don't breath thru their mouth. They are one of the bigger vet outfits in the area they don't stock a anti-venom because it has a very short effective shelf life and is expensive as hell. My dog was down for a couple of days and recovered good enuf she could have hunted next week end but I gave her 3 weeks to recover, she did. You learn somethings in life easy and some damn hard. She left the snakes alone after that and lived to 15.5 yrs old. Going thru that and the decision to put her down Im sure will cost me a few off the end of mine. Part of having and loving a dog. Good luck Mickey.
Magnum Man
