# Puppy Rescue (pic)



## mhodnettjr (Jan 30, 2005)

Today I was out behind my uncles property. He has a hundred acres that has some great wetlands on it. We were doing some beaver trapping out there this morning and having a lot of fun in some nice area. exploring deep in the open floodings and thicks tag alder swamp, we had decided that at almost 2 miles from the nearest road we had gone far enough. I told him that I wanted to go just a bit further, and proceeded to walk another hundred yards out. Right below my feet i was startled and found there was a freezing little beagle out here in the middle of nowhere. He tried to get up and run from me but he fell at his first step and his back legs werent working. It was obvious that this cute (and stinky) little fella was in trouble. He didnt have any easy to find ID tags on him just a shock and locator collar. My uncle soon came out to help me and we put the little guy in my back pack and i hauled him all the way back to the cabin. I took him home and got him up and moving, got him warm and gave him some food and water. He seemed so scared by all this but never was aggressive and was always willing to take my help. Finally I found his name tag and called his owner, and thats when i was suprised a bit. The guy talked to me for a moment, then came to my house from houghton lake to get his dog. He was polite and seemed quite interested to see my beaver pelts that i was busy putting up. He also told me that this was one of three dogs that were gone, this was the second recovered. However, he never offered even a thank you or seemed grateful that his dog was safe and was taken good care of. Oh well it felt good to help the little guy out, he was sure to have died out there, I dont think that he was very far from it when we picked him up.










Good luck little Levi, the thoughts of keeping ya myself were there until i seen your collar


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## target-panic (Jan 9, 2006)

Great deed mike...................You'll probably miss him.........

Geo....


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## David G Duncan (Mar 26, 2000)

Mike,

What a beautiful looking beagle!!

Just goes to show that trappers are some of the best and most kind hearted people on earth IMO.

You are my hero, for saving the life of this adorable puppy. Sorry that his owner did not live up to your expectations.


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## ottertrapper (Jan 6, 2006)

Mike,

Great job rescuing the beagle! Too bad the owner wasn't excited he probably didn't care he just uses them to hunt and thats all. Either way I can imagine you feel much better knowing you saved him hopefully he will live a full and happy life!


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## mmw52880 (Jan 21, 2003)

As an owner of hounds myself, I will thank you for the good thing youve done! If I ever have the bad luck of losing a dog I hope that if someone finds it, it will be someone like you. Some people just take it for granted when people do them a favor that they are supposed to do it. 

Matt Duby


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## ZeeK (Jan 31, 2006)

A great deed you have done!!! As a beagler who cares for his dog's I had a scare friday when my 9 month old pup dug his way out of his pen to check out a HOT lady in town I guess.. the other dogs owner found him this morning at her house and called!! I slipped her 30 bucks and thanked her numerous times while i was picking my dog up!! It was a long 3 days without him, horrible feeling!!!!!


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## mhodnettjr (Jan 30, 2005)

I know what you mean Zeek, my pointer is like a kid to me. If some one found him in that kind of shape and took the time to care for him i would have been really glad and grateful, but like otter said it was probably just a tool for the guy and not a loved pet.


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## mallardtone-man (Nov 20, 2002)

Way to go, sounds like the guy was kind of an a$$ though.


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## Robert W. McCoy Jr (Jan 18, 2002)

Thanks for being a good person and returning the dog.

The are alot of great people on this site and your one of them.


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## initforfun (Dec 21, 2005)

Hey man Thank You from me. I own beagles and could only hope if one went astray someone as kind as you would find them. Hats off to you!!


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## east bay ed (Dec 18, 2002)

as someone who has lost a beagle before i can only say "thanks". unfortunately my beagle "barney" was not so lucky. spend a lot of weekends driving the roads around my house looking for what should have been the best beagle i ever owned. he had a name tag on him and a white circle inside his right ear so i thought for sure someone would call me. 
he is gone but not forgotten.


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## brent164 (Mar 6, 2005)

you said that the dog had a shock collar and a locator collar on him, was it not working or was that owner really that lazy not to use it??? i hunt with my buddy who has **** dogs, and i know he always uses locator colars for just those instances!! Just curious....


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## Hunt4Ever (Sep 9, 2000)

Sleep well knowing you did the right thing. That dog will dream about you and your kindness. I pray that if my dog gets away, she runs into someone like you.


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## J-Lee (Jul 11, 2000)

I hope if one of mine got lost someone like you would find em, Good Job.


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## Capnhook (Feb 14, 2004)

Mike,
GOOD JOB!! We should all be so lucky as to have somebody like you around when we need a helping hand. You know in your heart you saved that dogs life, whether the owner appreciates it or not. WE ALL THANK YOU!!!


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## davidshane (Feb 29, 2004)

brent164 said:


> you said that the dog had a shock collar and a locator collar on him, was it not working or was that owner really that lazy not to use it??? i hunt with my buddy who has **** dogs, and i know he always uses locator colars for just those instances!! Just curious....


I'm Mike's uncle as I was with him when he found the dog. The little guy definity had a transmitter on his colar along with the shock colar. This dog was the fourth dog that I have been a part of finding in the woods and I would have to say that he was on his last night. From what the owner told Mike, the dog had been lost for a few days (as best we could figure). 

My guess is the guy was that lazy. He said that he still had one dog out there and still had a signal. After three days, I know that I would have policed up my dogs. I would have worried that a yote might find them before I did.


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## 3mancubs (Jan 10, 2005)

Well it's a good thing he didn't get caught in a snare!


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## huntmaster69 (Dec 14, 2005)

Just too bad there are some lazy hunters out there. If I had lost one of my beagles I would be crushed. My boys are like kids to me rather then pets. And at times they are better then having children too.


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## mhodnettjr (Jan 30, 2005)

3mancubs said:


> Well it's a good thing he didn't get caught in a snare!


acutally i think this type of thing happens more than not and a dog that doesnt return is just said to have "got caught in some trapper's snare"


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## Northcountry (Feb 4, 2004)

3mancubs said:


> Well it's a good thing he didn't get caught in a snare!


I wasnt going to post, but cant fight the urge to comment....

First, snaring season is closed.

Second, if the dog got caught in a snare, it would at least be found within 24-hrs, since thats the maximum check time in the lower peninsula. If it remained free, it might never be found.

Third, snares are restraints and do not kill canines very often....especially with Michigan regs. I have never found a wild canine DOA in my snares, and domestics are said to fight the snare very little...because they are conditioned to leashes.

In light of all this, why the big fear of snares?

_PS: _

_Good job Mike, thanks for posting about this event and showing trappers in a positive, respectful manner. I too have found three hunting dogs, went to great effort (and some expense) to capture, secure, feed, water and locate the owners....successfully. In no case was I even thanked or offered compensation. Seems we are just expected to return peoples' dogs._


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## Skinner 2 (Mar 19, 2004)

Dogs have been disappearing long before snares were brought back so whats the excuse for them. Worm holes.

Good job Mike. I think the dog may have been better off with you. Guy seems like a A$$

Skinner 2


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## Robert W. McCoy Jr (Jan 18, 2002)

I wonder if people sit back and think to them selves what type of smart A$$ commit can I post to turn a thread south.

The year is 2006 and there are way to many people living in michigans lower to expect to be able to free cast hounds and not have to have constant accountability for them.

I would bet the dog ran a deer on the guy and got out to far to fast for the shock collar before the guy knew what was going on.


Run a tracking collar. There are no excuses. Keep track of your animals.

You wouldn't blame the guy driving a car if he ran you dog over, then don't blam the trappers if your dog gets cought in a snare or trap and your not able to find them.

It's just part of the risk of running dogs.

I've been running beagles in this state for over 20 years and I seem to be able to go run dogs almost every day and every single weekend all weekend during hunting season and never have a single problem.

I know where my dogs are at, all the time.

And on the off chance one gets away from the pack or is some where he shouldn't be I stop everything and find that dog.

Trappers and Houndsmen better stick togeather. We have a giant bulls eye on us.

We generate the most bad press and probably the least amount of money.


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## mhodnettjr (Jan 30, 2005)

Great Words Mr Mccoy!!!!


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## Tecumseh (Aug 13, 2004)

We can give you plenty of thanks to make up for the one that was missing. Thanks Mike. If you found my dog if it were missing you would get a nice vacation as a thank you.


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## GSP Gal (Nov 12, 2005)

Thank you for finding and taking care of the dog. If I lose a dog, I want you to find it for me. 

Last fall, our 12 week old pup followed the old dog out of the yard. I turned my back for 5 minutes and they were both gone. I dropped everything, called work, and took the day off to find him. We did posters, visited the neighbors, and yes, one of our neighbors uses traps around their chicken coop for the yotes. They were more than happy to pick them up until we found the pup. We left our coats and articles of clothing in the fields, borrowed 4 wheelers. After 2 nights of tears, hours of searching, one of neighbors took out their labs, and low and behold, the pup popped out of the fence row not far down the road. He had slipped his collar. Happiest day of our lives. The labs were treated to gourmet dog treats, and new collars and undying gratitude for my neighbors and their labs. It was a great day. 

--and you did a wonderful thing. 

Even if the a$$ didn't appreciate it, I do. What goes around comes around my friend.

Sandy


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