I had a rough experience this morning with my 11 yr old Lab, Suwannee. Five of us lined the bank of a small pond. One of the hunters was another club-member's son-in-law, I'd never hunted with before.
Usually, I keep Suwannee close by because he won't obey anybody but me, but this morning he followed the others. Before I could get him back under control, someone shot (too) early and Suwannee broke to retrieve. In the poor light, the other guy's son-in-law mistook the dog for a crippled duck and shot him.
I heard the dog squeal and went to see what happened. Suwannee did't seem too upset over the incident and went on to retrieve some more ducks. We picked up 9 woodies, 2 gadwalls, and 2 blue wing teal.
No bad damage done (luckily), but like Dick Cheney's Lawyer, Suwannee got 4 pellets in the side of the face. My vet prescribed some antibiotic and said no bad damage done and to leave the shot in.
The guy's son-in-law was so broken up by the inexcusable "accident", I couldn't work up much of a rage this morning, but now I'm getting madder and madder. My two sons on the other hand were ready to jump the guy right then. I've been with hot-headed quail guides who'd probably have whipped the guy's butt in a similar situation.
Sorry for the bummer post, but I just needed to vent a bit...Geo
