Rattlesnake vs GSP

[justdada]

I had a productive morning in SW Kansas, giving the pup his first outing with real birds. He was catching on real well, pointing quail with two seasoned pointers. The owner of the other dogs was just telling me how impressed he was with my dog when the rookie had an unfortunate run-in with a rattlesnake...
The first photo was about an hour and a half after the bite. At this point he'd already gotten a big injection of steroids and some anti-histomines. You can see the bite just below his eye.

 

[justdada]

photo 2

4 hours after the bite

 

[justdada]

photo 3

24 hours after the bite.
Seems we got lucky. He's doing fine and acting like a puppy again... Although a bit swollen still.
Vet told me 3 weeks ago an 80lb lab died in 30 minutes from a bite.
When my pup was hit, one fang actually went clear through the cheek and into his mouth where the vemon doesn't do much. Had both fangs pumped into the cheek, the outcome may have been worse.
Moral of the story is: If you are going to hunt your dog in snake country, pay up for the vaccine!!!

 

[Ridge Runner]

Good to hear he's alright. Let's hope it's a lessoned learned to stay away from them critters.

 

[noharleyyet]

glad he's ok...looks like he's got a chaw of t'backy.

Nice markings jdada.

 

[T Bone]

Wow, very good to hear that he's OK.

Fine looking dog BTW!

Curious, did he naturally back the other points?

 

[justdada]

point

Mr. T, glad you saw this, I meant to write you earlier.
Oddly enough, I had a dream last week about him being bitten, then it happened... wierd stuff.
To answer your question, yes, he did naturally honor the others.
The long version: For the first 3 set birds, he was on his own and kept bumping them out before pointing. After that the other two dogs came out of the trailer; they bumped one on their own, pointed another and he never noticed them pointing but gave chase when it flushed, then... they pointed and he came to investigate, caught scent and locked on in a way that sent rays of light down from the heavens. It was beautiful. The fellow I was with is a trainer, and even he was like, "wow! that was quick" All three dogs held for what seemed like 2 minutes then we sent the dogs in. 40 yards later, Banks locked up on his own bird and within seconds the other dogs were honoring HIS point. 20 yards later, he was bitten, so that was the end of that. I was completely impressed with him though. I think he really figured it out. Can't wait to get him out again!

 

[Basser]

Glad to hear he is going to be ok.

Last year my pup picked up what he thought was a moving stick from the river...snake turned on him but couldn't get his fangs in him. Very lucky on our part as we were several hours from anywhere we would need to be. Didn't go back into snake country until we got him broke.

 

[mattobertin]

Glad he is OK nice looking dog.