Tree Dog Doc

28/04/2025

Very excited to be part of the first full issue of American Field magazine. Thank you to Chris Ingram for giving me another opportunity to expand my writing horizons. The rest of the writing is fantastic and any hunting dog lover will enjoy being a subscriber. Back issues of this issue are available now if you haven’t had a chance to subscribe yet!

15/03/2025

MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT HOOKWORMS

- In the last several years, there have been growing reports of hookworms that won't go away, even after multiple rounds of treatment.

- A report in 2023 showed a hunting dog kennel with multiple dogs whose hookworms would not clear with any currently available US product, requiring importing a foreign product to treat the infection. Other reports previously identified resistance in Greyhound kennels. I have personally heard of or been involved with several other hunting dog kennels fighting a resistance problem as well.

- Parasites can become resistant to dewormers via exposure to them. As dewormers are used, some parasites can survive. These parasites then breed with each other and create offspring that can also survive the dewormer. Over time, the entire population in an environment (like a kennel or property) can become resistant to that drug.

- Traditionally, we have been able to change drugs and get a response. With MDR parasites, switching drug classes is no longer effective, as these parasites are resistant to multiple classes of drugs!

- Currently, the recommendations are still to continue broad spectrum parasite control year round.

- I recommend sticking with one dewormer year-round and NOT switching drug classes throughout the year. This keeps parasites sensitive to other drugs if needed.

- If you think you're having a problem with MDR hookworms, work with your veterinarian to prove resistance and rule-out more common issues like reinfection or environmental contamination.

Castro et. al. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.22.08.0377

21/10/2024

Hunting season has been slow so far, but that’s okay. We added a third kid to the mix this summer, and with a 7 year old and 4 year old already, it has been a challenge to find a minute to get in the woods. In a day and age where everyone seems to want to show off how extreme they are, it can feel like you’re not keeping up if you don’t have your dog in the woods 8 days a week and twice on Sunday. There’s more important things in life, though, like Jesus and family. So for now, we’re taking shorter and slower trips and just enjoying time together in the woods. Veterinary content to (hopefully) resume once time allows again!

02/02/2024

Supplements?

Recently, I’ve noticed a push of supplements specifically marketed to the hound community.

Does your dog really need a supplement? If you’re feeding a high quality, complete and balanced commercial diet, probably not.

Remember, guys, that these are companies trying to make money. That doesn’t mean they’re lying to you or have bad intentions - just that they’re not trying to do you a favor for nothing in return.

Some ingredients often included in supplements have good evidence supporting their use. Others have none. If the claim sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Your veterinarian is a good source of information about supplement ingredients. Don’t ask about the brand - your vet hears 100 brand names a week and can’t keep track of them all. Rather, bring the bottle (or download the label offline) and let them take a look. Most supplements are the same ingredients used by many different companies and those will be more recognizable.

I personally don’t use supplements in my own dogs. I feed the best quality food I can and see no advantage to adding to it.

For a more detailed summary on supplements:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7802882/

10/01/2024

There are a lot of rumors online concerning Purina food right now. Check your sources before trusting them. If there turns out to be solid evidence or a recall, I’ll follow up with it here as well, but so far, there is not.

02/12/2023

New Canine Respiratory Disease?

You may have seen reports in the news recently about a “mysterious” new canine respiratory disease. So far, it seems to be localized and not spread throughout the country. Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC), also commonly called kennel cough, is nothing new, and these dogs seem to have many of the classic signs associated with it (cough, snotty nose, fever, etc.).

The difference that I am hearing (anecdotally) is that some of these dogs progress very rapidly, even to severe pneumonia and death, or seem to have no response to treatment with a lingering cough for weeks to months. I myself had several of the extended cough cases in the last year, all of which recovered.

The question to be answered still is, is this a new disease, a known disease that has changed to become more problematic, or has this been going on for a long time and it just hasn’t made the news? Veterinary labs throughout the country are working to get that answer.

In the meantime, keep your dogs up-to-date on respiratory vaccines, avoid contact with dogs of unknown vaccination or health status, and keep them otherwise healthy.

For more information:

https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/canine-infectious-respiratory-disease-complex-kennel-cough?_ga=2.103069632.1118781198.1701527253-839325027.1701527253

https://colsa.unh.edu/new-hampshire-veterinary-diagnostic-laboratory/canine-respiratory-outbreak?_ga=2.110558149.1118781198.1701527253-839325027.1701527253

06/10/2023

Finally got a chance to read through the first Full Cry Magazine published under new ownership, and folks, if you’re not subscribed, you are missing out! For years I’ve wanted to see a tree dog magazine more in line with modern times and print, and they’ve knocked it out of the park. Make sure to subscribe to get yours, or check out the newly available digital edition as well! You’ll also get to continue to read my articles on tree dog health, where I’m continuing my series on whelping and raising healthy puppies.

28/08/2023

A sight every vet and owner likes to see!
This is a 4DX Plus SNAP test. It tests for heartworm antigen and antibodies for two species of Ehrlichia, two species of Anaplasma, and Lyme. Those last three are all tick-borne diseases. This one here shows all are negative on my own dog.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of misunderstanding about what this test tells you (and doesn’t). I’ll focus on the tick-borne diseases here.

For the bacterial antibodies, this test tells you whether or not the dog has been exposed to the bacteria and developed an antibody response. It does NOT tell you that your dog is currently affected with any of those diseases. Many dogs test positive for these and never act sick. That’s because the dog’s immune system can clear the infection on their own.

It’s also important to understand that this is a fraction of the tick borne disease your dog can get. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, and a host of other things are not included on this test. Therefore, just because your dog is negative on these, does NOT mean your dog is negative for all tick-borne disease!

The takeaway? Your dog doesn’t automatically need treatment because your dog tests positive for one of these. The physical exam and history from you as the owner are important, as well as other lab work parameters.

Conversely, just because these are negative, that doesn’t mean your dog is disease-free! Dogs with a very recent infection, or infected with another disease, won’t test positive but may still be sick.

If your vet recommends a follow-up test, or doesn’t recommend treatment, trust their expertise. It’s not as simple as it seems.

30/07/2023

Meet my new prospect for this fall, Tracker (named after my kid’s favorite Paw Patrol character 😂). He is a 4 month old Kemmer Stock Mountain Cur and is growing some legs! I’ve been quiet for a few months but will get back to posting more here shortly. Also pleased to share that I will continue to write for the new and improved Full Cry Magazine! Good stuff ahead! Thanks for following along.

28/02/2023

Eclampsia is a disorder of dogs caused by low calcium levels just before, during, or after having puppies.

The dog’s demand for calcium is very high during and after pregnancy. During the last few weeks of gestation, the fetal skeletons are becoming mineralized, requiring lots of calcium to build. At the time of whelping, calcium is needed for strong uterine contractions. While nursing, calcium is in high demand in the milk to supply the growing puppies.

Eclampsia starts when a dog’s blood calcium levels drop too low and she is unable to mobilize calcium from the bone. The most common reason this happens is because a dog is being fed a diet without the proper calcium levels, or calcium and phosphorus at an improper ratio. Homemade diets are commonly implicated. This is a problem because it may not be providing calcium at the right levels for the body to regulate it, throwing off calcium metabolism.

It is also associated with giving calcium supplements while pregnant. This essentially causes the dog’s parathyroid gland to become “lazy” by stopping it from pulling calcium from the bones.

Signs of eclampsia may include restlessness, panting, or behavior changes at the early stages. As it progresses, it can cause muscle twitching, shaking, a stiff gait, and other muscle disorders. Severe cases may include seizures, coma, and even death. Treatment involves calcium supplementation, orally in mild cases and injectable or intravenous in severe cases.

The best prevention is to feed a high quality commercial puppy food starting around 3 weeks prior to the due date and continuing through lactation, WITHOUT supplementing additional calcium. During labor, it is good to have a calcium supplement available if any of the early signs are noticed, and to have available for the first few weeks while the dog is lactating.

16/11/2022

First Aid Kit

A first aid kit is just that - first aid. It’s a kit designed to get your dog back to the truck alive, and then from your truck to the vet. Always rely on your local veterinarian for definitive treatment.

Knowledge is the most important part of your kit! The Pet First Aid app from the American Red Cross is a great resource for basic field first aid. Take an online course or grab a book on pet first aid and learn as much as you can.

In my vest/on my person, I’m either trying to handle little things so we can keep hunting, or stop the really big things that are life-threatening (i.e. bad bleeding). Those items are:
- Multitool - pull briars, cut bandage material/rusty barb wire, trim a quick splint… tons of uses for first aid. I always have my Leatherman in my pocket.
- Self-adhesive bandage material (aka “Vetwrap”) - temporary muzzle, keeping on a bandage or a splint, help stop a bleed, etc. Be careful that you don’t apply this stuff too tight (unless you’re using it for pressure to stop a bleed!)
- Gauze pads - first layer of a bandage
- Sterile saline squeeze bottle - used to flush an eye or wound
- Cell phone - have the name, number, and location of the nearest emergency vet stored in your phone contacts so you don’t have to panic looking for it in the heat of an emergency!

In my truck:
- More bandage material - white bandage tape, assorted gauze pads (adherent and non-adherent), cast padding, gauze wrap, VetWrap
- Sterile stapler - use this very judiciously, if at all. This is not a replacement for a vet visit! If you think it needs staples, it probably needs a vet visit. If you put in staples and fail to properly care for the wound first, you are asking for trouble. That said, for a big flap of hanging skin, or trying to close skin over a gaping wound, this can be helpful while trying to keep things intact until you can make it to the vet.
- Hemostats, bandage scissors, forceps - things I use my multitool for, but these can do it better.
- More sterile saline flush

That's it. Simple is best. Ask your vet for other suggestions that may be important for you and your situation/knowledge level.

04/11/2022

Dr. Garrett Bailey is a fellow veterinarian and a friend of mine. We met while I was still in vet school and have been talking hunting dogs and vet med ever since. He gives out some great info on keeping your moms and pups healthy, so give it a listen!

The Bear Hunting Veterinarian
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/L9f3nU4u
Release Date: 11-2-22

Dr. Garrett Bailey is a bear hunter and houndsman from Virginia. He is a crucial part of the hunting crew that Heath hunts with. Being a hunter and houndsmen, Garrett understand what our hounds go through and is always there to provide crucial services for the area's hunters and houndsmen.
Heath spends the evening with Veterinarian Garrett Bailey. Heath and Garrett break down canine pregnancy to included pre natal and post natal care of the bitch. They also go into the details of puppy care, to include vaccination schedules, parasite control and nutrition. They cover proper puppy care and what is important during the different stages of immunity up to 16 weeks old. You get a little extra on heat stroke at the end.
For those who are planning their first litter of puppies or for the seasoned breeders this is straight talk from a Vet that knows who we are and what we do. Enjoy the ride on the Journey.

www.houndsmanxp.com

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