Hunting instinct lands Miska in trouble

Sometimes it's a mixed blessing owning hunting dogs when what they hunt can cause injuries or sometimes worse. Miska has very strong instincts for hunting both feather and fur. We don't get much wild upland game where we live so most 'hunting' around here is for fur. When I say 'hunting', I am not carrying a gun to shoot game with; Miska just hunts naturally whenever we head outdoors.

Yesterday while out walking along our usual trail in our neighbouring conservation area, Miska found a creature in the woods. I usually know when she's hot on the scent of something because often she barks at it, usually because it's up a tree. In this case, it was on the ground. I could see her and Nova working as a team to corner it. It was big and dark and ambling along the ground. Fortunately Tyro and Diva didn't join in when they heard me shouting 'leave it!' at the top of my lungs. My shouts turned to screams, however, when neither Miska nor Nova paid any attention to me. When they get so excited and aroused by the hunt, I'm sure they don't hear me at all because they are so focused on the prey.

At first I thought it was a raccoon, then I thought it was a skunk and because the dogs were so close to the creature, I was certain they had been sprayed. But I couldn't smell any skunk odor. Finally Miska backed off and away and then I saw her face - she had a muzzle full of porcupine quills. Boy, she got it good. Obviously, she had tried to bite the porkie. Nova was spared. Of course, it had to be the one occasion when I didn't have my cell phone with me and we had quite a long walk back to the house. Poor Miska kept trying to paw her face. I tried to carry her for a few yards but an extra 43 pounds of weight was very difficult to hoist for long. Needless to say, I was so relieved but so exhausted to get her home. My vet was closed for the evening and doesn't provide 24 hour emergency service so I phoned around to find a clinic that was open after 6 pm. Fortunately I did, only five minutes drive away, and so a short while later, she was recovering and sleeping off the sedative and I was $110 poorer. Ouch - those quills really, really hurt when being pulled out which is why they need to be sedated. She had a few in her mouth but most were around her muzzle; maybe about 40-50 quills. It could have been a lot worse. Will that teach her a lesson? From what I've heard of other people's experiences with their dogs, not likely.


The photo at R is of Miska's brother, Vadasz taken in April 2008 with a number of quills in his body. Most likely he had found a dead porcupine and rolled on it because of where the quills were situated. They were also quite soft and easy to extract.

Then on today's walk, Miska found half a body of a squirrel. That wasn't something she killed and ate; probably leftover kill from a fox or coyote. Being the ultimate retriever that she is, she always brings these things to me. Oh happy day- NOT! Fortunately I had a bag to dispose of the carcass and a treat to give her. Sometimes I wish she didn't like to hunt quite so much.