Bit of a fright this morning

David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Popps dived into woodland and didn't come out again. I made the mistake of going to look for her when she didn't reappear and she must have come out and found me gone, panicked and ran off trying to find me on the usual route home. I've got a tracker on her and it updated to show her position in the road about half a mile away when my phone rang. It was a chap saying he had my dog. Phew! It took me a good 15 minutes to get to where they were. So grateful to him. He'd got her on a lead as he had a dog in his van. Apparently she'd crossed the railway line at the crossing point and was running in the road. It could have gone so badly - either injured, dead, or stolen.

Took her out this afternoon and she was completely wayward so in the end I put her on the training line I carry with me. I think that's going to be the regime for a while.

On the upside the tracker worked well and had her pinpointed pretty exactly.

Been having waking nightmares about it all day. Hey ho! Onwards and upwards. Tomorrow we are dogging-in for a shoot on Saturday but I'm a bit reluctant to let her off lead to be honest. We'll see.
 
kateincornwall

kateincornwall

Location
Cornwall , UK
I think we have all had these ` heart wrenching ` moments, David . I remember Reuben legging it in the forest and me having to be rescued along with him from behind a deer fence, he was just a youngster . I understand the reluctance to let her off again , I was the same . Its tough and quite horrible when these things happen, all we can do is some re-enforcement and put it down to experience . albeit a scary one x
 
Loraseal

Loraseal

Location
The Hague, The Netherlands
Thank goodness you have a tracker. Clearly a well thought device for Poppy. The thing is you can go over the things you should have done or didn't do but it does not help you. Focus on the fact you got her back. As @kateincornwall said chalk it down to experience.
A very very nerve wrecking experience.
 
M

M.F.

That’s scary! Lucky for the decent guy to catch her and call you. There is a spot where I don’t let Snowie off leash. He crossed a busy road there following a scent at high speed, deaf to my calls. Everyone else’s dogs are off leash there, it’s an off leash play area. But as you say, waking nightmares. Now at least you know and can take precautions. Best of luck!
 
Candy

Candy

Biscuit Tin Guardian
Location
West Yorkshire, UK
Oh, how frightening, definitely for you, probably for Poppy too. I'm so very glad you had the tracker and that she met a kind and responsible person who contacted you. However, all's well that ends well, maybe Poppy will have learned from the experience and not wander away again :fingers:, at least you know the tracker works, and as you say, 'Onwards and upwards!' You haven't had her from a tiny pup and even if you had, things could still have gone a bit awry at times. I have no doubt that you're doing a great job.:rock:
 
Granca

Granca

It happens so quickly. Thank goodness for the tracker and the great response from the man who found her. Yes, onwards and upwards…
 
Shaz82

Shaz82

Location
Essex, U.K.
My friends springer does this a lot and we have a railway track near by too, it is so nerve wracking. Some research somewhere, maybe on this very forum, said that a dog will usually return to the very place it left the owner. Very scary for you though, glad she is back safe.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Shaz82 said:
My friends springer does this a lot and we have a railway track near by too, it is so nerve wracking. Some research somewhere, maybe on this very forum, said that a dog will usually return to the very place it left the owner. Very scary for you though, glad she is back safe.
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Yes I think that's where I made a mistake. When she had disappeared for a while I started to get concerned she had got stuck or onto the railway that backs onto the wood and went to look for her.
 
David

David

Moderator
Staff member
Oberon said:
Glad all is ok! Great job and excellent foresight having the tracker on her. It’s horribly frightening when this kind of thing happens….
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The tracker worked well but wasn't updating her position quickly enough so when I had her stationary in the wood right next to the line (which is what prompted me to go and look for her) she had actually moved. I've since updated the settings so it updates position every few seconds. It will be at the expense of battery life I guess but I'd rather have a more real-time track.

I've really got to get to grips with the situation. She's far too free ranging and will ultimately get into loads of trouble. For example this morning I was introducing her to flushing pheasants out of a hedge row back towards where they should be and she actually flushed two Roe deer and we had a "Fenton" moment. For those not in the UK try googling "Fenton" :hungover: - here's the link Fenton. She is really quick and they weren't making any ground on her. The worry was she'd follow them over the field hedge, which she is quite capable of clearing.

Lots to work on and it's really only just starting to become clear that she has potentially a few serious issues. I'm on a shoot tomorrow and I'm going to ask around for a good gundog trainer in the area because that would go a long way to helping with a lot of her issues etc.

Lovely dog - loads of heartache. :rofl:
 
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