Sunday was hot, humid and a sad day for me...

my grandson and I stayed and watched the 2 dogs running their hogs...they would bay up and then break bay...the other three dogs were out of hearing and so our friends went to the three dogs...I had it in my mind to call the dogs off on account they were out of shape but they got their second wind and weren't coming off...this was going on for an hour or so...the younger dog came within hearing distance so I called him off and had to persuade him a little with the Garmin and he shows up and we load him up...

I saw earlier where the three dogs were treed and I was thinking my friends caught them up...about 30 minutes later they moved and treed again...my thought was that they moved to a breezy place with the dogs...I saw where the other dog started running his hog towards the other dogs so we head that way along the creek side...we went about 3/4 mile when we see one of the three dogs come out and meet us and he was hot...he wears a vest...about that time the dog that was running alone shows up and he is hot...he also has to wear a vest...I quickly realized the 3 dogs had had one caught because they were nowhere close to our friends...I looked at the garmin and 2 dogs were still showing treed about 400 yards west of the creek...We leashed a dog and headed to the dogs as quickly as possible...the leashed dog was hot but we might need him for a short bit if it is a big boar...when we got there one dog was laying down by a dead pig about 70 pounds or so and one of my up and coming 2 year old dog was laying on his side and couldn't get up...he was over heated...I took off his vest and collars and fanned him and talked to him...I decided the best thing to do was to go back to the wheelers and unload our gear and come back quickly with some water...by the time we made it back he had passed away...

If we had known the dogs had one caught instead of being tied up in the shade like I had thought he would still been alive...hind sight is 20 20...more than likely they caught and killed one and then rolled out about 150 yards and caught and killed this one...and that was too much exertion in the high heat on this past Sunday...the creek turned out to be dry of water so that did not help matters any...

This pup was doing very well and at one time I had thought about getting rid of him as a young pup because he was going to be bigger than I liked...but at a young age he showed me he had a mouth like I never heard before when baying and a style of bay I really liked...he would get down on his front and get right up in their face with a continuos barking that would make anyone proud...I knew he was going to be very gritty by the way he acted on a bayed hog...he proved he was worthy of a running vest the first time he came in contact with a big boar...he lived over it but I had to doctor him up hence the vest became a necessity for him...he had a great personality along with his hunting ability and he became one of my favorites in my yard...

I like my dogs to be fierce on a hog...but the downside can be over heating from too much exhertion when fighting a hog if one does not show up right away to help...seems the younger dogs tend to be worse about it...

once a dog earns his right to live at my house then he is like family...so it is hard when losing one...