Hiking (with the hounds)

Thank you DaveGunter for giving her an outstanding life. YOU are a great human pet.

 

Nice looking pup! Thanks for taking him on! It's hard for me to imagine life without a dog.

 

Oliver!

We made the drive to the off-grid cabin deep in the woods of Mexico, Maine and picked up the mixed breed hound that would become part of our family in the Spring of 2010. His mother was a Lab/Collie/Shepherd Heinz 57, the father a Walker Hound. The next day my oldest daughter and I took him for his first hike. He was 8 weeks old and being the runt of the litter was small and still a bit wobbly on his feet, so we decided on an easy trail that ran alongside Long Pond at the base of Mansell mountain. It was the first time in his life that he was not on a leash or confined to a crate. His elation over being free to roam and yet still remain in contact with his new human companions was palpable. It was on this hike that we decided to name him Oliver. My daughters were deeply involved with their school's current musical production of Oliver!. It was a memorable hike, there was an unmistakable instant and deep connection to this dog.




Oliver being a runt should have been our first clue that he was a bit of a troublemaker. Not in a bad way, he was not mean or aggressive, quite the opposite, he loved people as well as other dogs and animals and would try to greet them all as a friend. It wasn't long before we added an "!" to his name to reflect his character.

He never did figure out porcupines or that coyotes were not other dogs that wanted to play. I watched in disbelief when we encountered a pack of coyotes behind our house one day and he immediately decided to play with them, which they were happy to play along with while one circled around an attacked him from behind ripping his leg open at his Achilles. Oliver!


It was on this very same trail next to Long pond, two days before his 2nd birthday when he ventured out onto the ice and broke through about 75 yards from shore. After several frantic minutes trying to coax him out of the water and back onto the ice it was clear that he was not going to be able to do so himself. I was sure I was going to stand helplessly by and watch my dog die. I called for help, and within 30 minutes there were at least 50 people on shore trying to rescue him including firefighters, police, and park rangers. He had been in the water for at least 45 minutes by the time the two ladies from the FD got in their cold water rescue suits, tied off to rescue lines and ventured out on the ice to try and rescue him. They ended up breaking through too before they reached him, and then somehow, he managed to pull himself out of the water back onto the ice walked over to his rescuers flailing in the freezing water and started wagging his tail. The picture made the front page of the local newspaper, why couldn't he have pulled himself out without all the trouble. Oliver!





Oliver loved to lay on hard surfaces. You could make him a nice soft bed and he would choose to lie directly on the hard floor right beside the bed. Usually though he would pick a more inconvenient spot, directly in front of a door, or under your feet in the kitchen while cooking. I have some back issues that I can usually find relief from by lying flat on a hard surface. Oliver would invariably find me and proceed to step up directly onto my chest as if to say "hey, whatcha doin". Oliver!

Oliver! had an air about him, especially as a puppy, something about him made people want to stop and greet him or take a second look. Most hikes I'd meet another person who would ask, "what kind of dog is that?" or "where'd you get that puppy?" That's a Maine Hound, I got him in Mexico! A DNA test of Oliver! was unable to detect much strong linkage to any breed in particular, "undefined" is how the majority of his DNA test came back. Undefined indeed, that was a perfect descriptor of Oliver! We had rescue Greyhounds previously, the last one died in 2006. It was difficult to manage having a dog, a busy life and young kids at the same time, so I was initially opposed to the idea of getting a puppy. My family slowly convinced me, and I relented. It would be good, I decided, to let the girls raise a dog from a puppy. One of those decisions, that, at the time you make it, you have no idea how it will change your life. Change my life indeed. Oliver! was the OG, my #1 Hound, the one that would start the Hound obsession, I can only imagine how my life would have been different.


Oliver! had a heart murmur, and at 12, after a life of troublemaking, it was finally catching up to him. I watched him slowly decline all summer, and when it got to the point that he was having trouble keeping up with me and the other Hounds at even a slow walk in our woods, I knew what was coming. I took him to the vet, and they confirmed he had advanced congestive heart failure. They could treat it, aggressively, and he might make it a few more months, but he was no longer having fun, no longer able to start any trouble. They gave him some meds that perked him up a bit and I consulted with my family, the girls were able to come home for the weekend and say their goodbyes. We took him for one last easy hike on the same trail he had his first hike as part of the family. He sniffed and swam and even trotted a bit but he was a little weak and kind of wobbly. Someone stopped and asked, "what kind of dog is that?" My daughter said, "hey isn't this the spot where he went through the ice?"


We stopped at the nursery on the way home and bought a dogwood to plant on top of him. I decided on a spot right next to one of my woods roads, where a large boulder had already been dug out, leaving a hole already started. When I dug it out more, I hit bedrock at about 4 feet, flat, hard bedrock. The perfect spot, I decided, a nice hard flat spot a little bit in my way, a spot I would pass every day, a nice spot for an Oliver! dogwood.


Good-bye my friend.

 

An amazing tribute RIP Oliver

 

Rip Oliver.

 

Sorry for your loss Brother!

 

damm it....so sorry.

 

Very sorry for the loss Dave.


Wonderful tribute to his life story.

RIP Oliver!

 

Oh dear. I cried all through your story about Oliver! Ever since we joined the forum and met you and the hounds, Oliver! has always been part of the pictures. My favourite has been all the dogs sitting on the wood chair rounds beside the campfire. I hope the good memories you have of Oliver! will help with the grief of his passing.

 

Such a beautiful write up. RIP Oliver.

 

So very sorry for you loss. He had a long loving and active life with your family. Many adventures.

 

Oh dang DaveGunter
I'm so sorry to hear about Oliver , we know you gave him best life he could have.
RIP Oliver

 

As usual DaveGunter ... your thoughts, stories and photos of Oliver! are beautiful. Just new trails and wind in your face now Oliver! ... rest easy.

 

So I set up a game camera to monitor activity on the new Dogwood, thinking deer might mess with it and caught this guy on camera the first night. It’s a cat…right? But that would be a huge house cat. Bobcat and Lynx have bobbed tails.






Full video

 

Looks like a cat to me!

 

It walks like a house cat. My first response was cougar but it doesn't move like one.