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Lone Star Hunting Retriever Club |
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President’s Message: Hope your shot was better than most at our Top Gun shootout. Some of us could not hit the broad side of a barn, and others shot like they were out all week practicing. The Top Gun shoot was a lot of fun. Seth did a great job getting everything set up. Patty Collins had another great lunch ready for everyone that came. Elm Fork had been under water for several weeks but a few days before our shoot the ground dried up and there was no water on the roads or in the field. This year we had 16 club members that came out to shoot. Our youngest participant was Ryan Ferreira, Guy’s son. Ryan was out shooting a single shot and did a great job with it. We will not tell Guy but Ryan shot better than his dad. Way to go Ryan. At this years Top Gun the top five were #5 Gary Mathis – 26, #4 John Wallace – 27, #3 Dale Flenthrope – 29, #2 Bruce Cade – 30, and our Top Gun went to Mike Malone – 31. Way to go everyone on a fun and safe day of shooting with good friends. By the time you get this Fetch we will all be getting ready for the first few hunt tests in our area. They will be the tests of Heart of Texas HRC in Moody, TX on September 8th & 9th, Texoma HRC at the Sea Ranch in Ardmore, OK on October 6th & 7th – Lonesome Dove HRC in Comanche, TX on October 13th & 14th – Big D HRC’s 20th Anniversary in Fairfield, TX on October 20th & 21st – North East Texas HRC Upland Test in Tyler, TX on October 27th & 28th. If you can, please try and support these clubs as they support us with ours. Remember to get your entries in early to guarantee you a spot. Also a reminder, Big D has moved their test to a different location. Hope to see you at some of these tests. On a Lone Star Note, we have moved the meeting date for this month. The September meeting will be the 2nd Thursday of the month, which is on September 13th. That will be for September only, and we will move it back to the 3rd Thursday of the month for the rest of the year. Again the September meeting will be on Thursday the 13th . This months meeting we will be talking about new club officers as we would like to do the elections in October. We will also be talking about our hunt test in March. We need to be looking for Hunt Test Board Members, Raffle Chairperson, Hunt Test Secretary, Game Steward, Gun Steward, and the list goes on and on. Also we would like to look at new locations for the test. We do not have to move the, but I thought that should be a topic of conversation. As most of you know, the hunt test is a big event for the club and we need members to help out with this event. Also it looks like we are moving the date of the test. Our normal date falls on Easter this year. I am in the process of getting the new date locked into place. See you at the line. Kyle
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Regular Club Meeting -
Thursday September 13th @ 7:00 PM
Misc: Travel tips
Pre- and Post-Event Physical Care The process of preventing injuries to your sporting dog begins well be fore the hunt and does not end there. Well before the season injury prevention begins with conditioning of your dog. A well conditioned dog runs longer, hunts harder, and finds game more effectively; but most of all they are better prepared physically for the stresses of the hunt and therefore able to avoid injuries. A short warm up just prior to working is like a conditioning refresher. It does not take the place of appropriate pre-season conditioning, and adequate conditioning certainly cannot be accomplished in such a short time frame; but a 10-20 minute warm up can remind a well-conditioned body of its training and serve as a wake up call that work is about to begin. This could consist of a few thrown bumpers or tennis balls, controlled milling around at the truck before the hunt or a short roading session. A short swim might be in order if the weather is appropriate. Pre-exercise controlled muscle use (warm up) increases blood flow and cranks up energy metabolism. It also liberates joints by mixing stagnant joint fluid and gearing up the lining of the joints to produce more fluid. When muscles and joints and tendons are not allowed to warm up, they are not ready for the stresses of work and post exercise soreness is increased due to the large number and greater severity of the minute muscle tares that will occur. Ligaments and tendons are more likely to be strained or sprained and joints will not be as readily able to handle the pounding they will take during exercise. Once the event is over, whether it is trialing, hunting or a hard workout, running through a short checklist of procedures can catch and eliminate small problems before they become major ones. In dogs with injuries to joints, tendons or muscles, using ice after workout can significantly decrease the discomfort, disuse, and subsequently the duration needed to get back to 100 percent. Ice cools the tissue decreasing the blood flow so that the tissues contract and swelling is minimized from the micro-tares incurred during exercise. For our dogs, a cold pack wrapped around an arthritic hock will respond much better the next day as compared to the hock that isn’t given care or just hit with some sort of anti-inflammatory medication. Ice packs are cheap. You could have Fido looking like a baseball pro with a plastic bag filled with ice and held in place with an Ace bandage, however large cubes of ice do not seem to work as well as crushed ice does. What you really need is a source of cold that conforms to the area needing attention. You can make your own with a few simple ingredients: zipper plastic bags, alcohol and water. Use 2 or 3 parts water to 1 part alcohol (Rubbing not Jim Beam, although it would work in a pinch). An alternative would be to soak a small towel in the solution and freeze in a zipper bag. The towel is less likely to make a huge mess should the bag burst. Ice could be used to massage problem areas. The massage does not need to be soft but do not rub so hard as to cause discomfort to the dog. Dogs will have to be trained to leave the wraps in place. That might be a chore because we all know how dogs love to chew. The feet need to be check after exercise for thorns and abrasions. Long haired breed s can pick up burrs and debris that can cause irritations. No matter how much heart your dog might have if his feet are out of commission so is he. Dog boots sometimes work well if we realize the severity of the terrain before hand. EMT gel seems to work well on pad lacerations and abrasions. Dr. Character recommends washing and drying each foot to flush away debris and other small irritants that could become lodged there. Something that I have noticed while hunting with Gus Hutchison and his English setter, Punkin, is her ability to pick up burrs. They especially seem to accumulate in her arm pits. All dogs, but especially longhaired ones need to be given a full body check for burrs after work. Thinking ahead and using some
simple methods to care for your dog before and after working should help
him stay healthier and in the field longer. |
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