Equine Dentistry...one of my other passions

One of my passions as a veterinarian is equine dentistry. I get tons of satisfaction and reward from floating teeth! It's pretty neat to see a horse improve in performance and weight gain after I've worked on their teeth. Below are some photos of a horse that I recently worked on.

You'll notice by my license plates where my first passion resides!



Notice the ulcers from the sharp points on the cheeks!

New Blog...are ya Nuts?

Yes I am! I just started a third blog that will deal strictly with the health and conditioning of bird dogs. I have been toying with the idea of writing a book on conditioning, nutrition, and specific health issues related to bird dogs. Please check it out here. Comments are always welcome and appreciated! Thanks!!

Filson's Shooting Bag

This is my favorite piece of equipment while pursuing quail on the heartland prairies. Below are the details per Filson's website. I've had several of them...they're virtually indestructible too! I have carried water for the dogs, shells and 3 roosters and 8 quail in my bag for several hours on a glorious day in NC Kansas!


Shooting Bag

Style Number 211
Retails for $110.00


Belt:

Genuine bridle leather
1 1/4" width
Solid brass roller buckle
Dark Tan is Oil Finish Tin Cloth. Otter Green is Oil Finish Shelter Cloth
2 brass snaps allow buckle to be replaced
Belt loop
7 holes punched approx. 1" apart
Made in USA

Pockets:

2 side bellows pockets, each 9" High x 10" Wide x 1 1/2" Deep
Rear bellows pocket 10" High x 11" Wide x 2 1/4" Deep
Rear bellows pocket lined with coated nylon for easy cleaning
All pockets have flaps with one-hand snap closure


Fabric

Dark Tan
Oil Finish Tin Cloth, 12.5 oz. 100% cotton duck, 2 ply by 2 ply, paraffin treated for maximum water repellency. Genuine Bridle Leather, 100% cowhide, vegetable tanned

Otter Green
Oil Finish Shelter Cloth, 8.5 oz. 100% cotton, 2 ply by 2 ply, paraffin treated for maximum water repellency. Genuine Bridle Leather, 100% cowhide, vegetable tanned.

Weight

approximately 1 lb 10 oz

Fitting

Oversized to be worn over your hips, with extra room for bulky clothing--order by your waist size. Customers at the small end of a size may want to order one size down, if worn over normal clothing.

Sizes

S, M, L, XL

Care

How do I clean and care for my Genuine Bridle Leather Belt?
Clean away surface soil or buildup by wiping with a damp cloth, or scrubbing with a brush, using warm water to loosen up any caked mud or dirt if necessary.
DO NOT professionally dry clean or machine wash.

Common Uses

Shooting (sporting clays, trap, skeet), upland bird hunting, waterfowl hunting

FAQ

I just received my new belt, and some of the bridle leather has this whitish film on the surface. What can I do about this?
New bridle leather may form a milky looking film on the surface, resulting from natural waxes in tanning process. This can be removed by wiping down the leather with a clean, dry, soft cloth.
Is your Oil Finish Tin Cloth waterproof?
Our Oil Finish Tin Cloth is not totally waterproof, but it is very water repellent, especially for a natural fabric like cotton. In a sustained downpour, the fabric will begin to absorb water, but you can expect to stay dry and comfortable for hours in the rain.

Country Of Origin

United States

Paraphimosis and C&H Pure Cane Sugar

Last week a 16 week old Pointer pup presented to my clinic with a condition termed paraphimosis...which is a condition where a male dog has the inability to retract his penis into the preputial sheath or prepuce. I've only seen a handful of these dogs over the last 12 years. This was the worst one...minus the stallion that had this condition for several days before the owners called me, and the horse was euthanized due to the dead, necrotic tissue!

This puppy's penis was so swollen and engorged to the size of a large man's closed hand, and the sheath's opening was the size of a quarter. Good thing I'm a equine vet because the first thing I sent my techs for was the C&H Pure Cane Sugar packets...they all looked at me as if I were crazy! Sugar has a hyperosmolar affect and can reduce edematous swelling of mucosal membranes! It took a few minutes, but we were able to replace the penis into the sheath, and I sutured a portion of it closed to prevent it from happening again. This puppy recovered very nicely and is back to normal thanks to C&H!

This photo was taken after the penis was replaced into the sheath. The before photo was too graphic to put on here (poor pup)! You can still see the swelling associated with it and note the two sutures at the tip of the sheath

Twenty-Four Coveys and the Final Hoorah!!

Gary Ruppel and I headed to Kansas at 0'dark-thirty Thursday morning to chase birds in great quail country for the final weekend. It was great to say the least. We loaded his dog trailer with a mixture of 10 bird dogs from Labs to Pointers to setters to what he called a "novelty"...my FB English Cocker, Ellie. By the last day of the season, Gary was convinced that Ellie was an awesome bird dog...very animated and energetic...and she was HECK on those late January Roughnecks!!! We moved 24 different coveys of quail which included a nice junk-yard covey of scaled quail. There were plenty of roosters around to keep it exciting...there were times when the dogs were on point, and I expected a single quail to find a brilliant iridecsent rooster erupting from the cover! One of the highlights was working down a shelter-belt tree row on the last day with Gary and one of his labs. Gary was talking on his cell phone when he noticed the dog acting birdy...he closes the gun and puts the phone between his shoulder and ear and shoots a large rooster through the trees without dropping the phone! The rooster dropped dead on the opposite side of the shelter belt. I couldn't believe it either, but saw it with my own eyes!

As I was cleaning my gear and dogs this morning, I couldn't help reflect on the 2008-09 gunning season! It's been a great year! I was able to chase my dogs at least once a week for the past 6 months on nothing but wild birds! We put over 16,000 miles on the Tacoma! What a great year indeed! I've made lots of new friends and memories to last! My dogs improved significantly, but still need some work! I'm very pleased with them!!! Karen has been great to me...picking up the slack while I was chasing the girls...I feel very blessed! My dogs are thin and tired...but man did they enjoy themselves! Autumn was indeed made for pointing dogs afield!

Below are some of the photos from the last Hoorah! I'm already making plans for this Fall!