# The season ends on a good note.



## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

I took Finn out to today, which will probably be his last day hunting this year.
Met a guy and his nephew that had been deer hunting and they had shot two pheasants on their way back in. They had no dog and both birds hit the ground crippled.
One bird landed in some thick thorny cover and the other, wasn't hit cleanly.
I sent Finn in to find the one in the thick cover, which he found in a few minutes.
The second bird had meandered a good 100 yards from where the guy had seen it go down.That one went back up into the air for a short distance, and the nephew was able to bag his first ever pheasant. It was fun.
I can't say that I agree with hunting birds, or any animal for that matter, that you don't have the ability to track and find after the shot, but today was a day for making new friends and not lecturing folks, so I kept my opinion to myself and was just thankful that Finn got some work in tracking cripples.
Three pheasants worked, two down, one that made it to safety, and no birds to clean for me. As an added bonus we got to work some quail. No shots taken on the quail.It was good day. 

Finn goes in for surgery tomorrow. Doc' found a growth on his neck during his last checkup, and she's concerned about it, so he'll get that removed and biopsied, as well as having his neuter surgery.
I was going to originally have him neutered this coming spring, but I don't want to put him under anesthesia twice. Finn is cryptorchid, so they have to go in and find the non descended testicle and remove it.
All should go well, and I'll do a preserve hunt with him after the 1st of the year, once he's recovered.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Sending good thoughts for Finn`s surgery and recovery. He will have something real nice to remember while not being allowed to run and hunt.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Hoping he is only on rest for a couple of weeks, and he can go back to doing all things Finn.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Thank you both for the kind words of encouragement. 
I do admit, I am nervous about the surgery, but everything should go well. He's going to hate "the cone", but we'll get through it. 
I have the next two weeks scheduled off, and by the end of that period, he should be well on his way to healing.
Finn's "mom" already laid down the law to not start the truck post surgery, and get him worked up. I hope the Mini Cooper can handle everything for a few weeks.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Wishing for a speedy recovery for Finn and hoping for minimal cone blues!


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## InTheNet (Jun 1, 2016)

Good thinking on the anesthesia.
Good luck.

We really think that anesthesia messed with our first v Zolton. He was in the emergency room often and put under numerous times for his injuries. His demeanor changed dramatically while coming out of anesthesia and got worse after each time.


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## TrumpetBlast (Jun 27, 2020)

Always enjoy your hunting tales. Praying for your sweet Finn, may he be back at your side and hitting the grouse woods/pheasant fields very soon. Please keep us updated.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Finn is back home now and finished with his surgeries. He did well according to the Doc'.
He was pretty loopy and disoriented for the 1st few hours, but began coming out of it about 8PM. He's eaten a full meal and is just trying to get himself comfortable.
The non descended testicle required the abdominal wall be opened along his sheath area to allow for access, so he has a line of sutures there. No leg lifting for a little while.
The E-Collar, or "cone of shame", is going to have to be changed for something different. He has his abdominal surgical area, as well as the area on his neck where the mass was removed. The collar around the neck won't work long term, with the surgical stitches in his neck. I'll call Doc' tomorrow and see if she'll let us go to a donut, with some VetWrap to protect the neck area. At minimum, I'll go the Petco in the morning and get a donut, and a clear E-Collar, that will allow him to see peripherally. Not being able to see is kind of freaking him out.
One day at a time and we'll get through this.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

sending recovery ESP, he is a though little guy, but this is a lot to deal with (for him and his humans)


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Thank you for the thoughts. 
So far all has been well. He likes the air filled donut collar much better than the cone. I also have a clear cone for him, which he accepted much, much, better than the opaque white one that he couldn't see out of his peripheral vision with.
I knew the surgery for the non descended testicle would be more involved than a normal neuter. He's been very well behaved so far though,especially once we got rid of the opaque cone of shame. 
It was just by accident that I had scheduled my vacations last year to coincide with hunting season this year, and then his surgery got moved up six months. I can be with him for the first 11 days post surgery with this timeline. I also get my two weeks of vacation back next spring that I had planed on to have his original neuter surgery. Sometime serendipity works. 
It's funny, or ironic, that I spent a good year conditioning Finn to not pee, or poop, on the lawn, but to go out in the woods. and do his stuff . Now, I have him on a leash telling him to pee and poop on the lawn, and he's having nothing to do with that. Luckily, I wasn't diligent getting the leaves up in the back yard, so he has leaves under his feet and he can do his stuff at the wood line. Looks like the leaves will stay down for another two weeks. Hopefully we don't get snow! Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot.


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