Big-running dogs sometimes go from hunter to the hunted

Now you see them, now you don’t.

That’s why working with big-running bird dogs occasionally requires a good dose of faith.

Just ask Medical Lake-area dog trainer Dan Hoke, who breeds and trains a variety of bird dogs, from close-range hunting companions to long-distance field champions.

Three weeks ago, Hoke was riding horseback in Lincoln County and running two German shorthair pointers with radar-like noses and the capability of covering huge tracts of real estate.

He was volunteering his time and the services of his dogs, some of which are national shorthair field trial champions. U.S. Bureau of Land Management biologists had asked him to help search for sharp-tailed grouse so they could document the type of habitat the troubled species might be using on BLM lands before the birds enter their breeding season.

Sharptails are protected by Washington state endangered species rules and are off limits to hunting. But Hoke’s dogs are trained to stop, point and hold game birds from a distance.

Hoke took all the usual precautions handlers take with big-running dogs. The dogs were wearing collars with his phone number as well as radio telemetry collars so they could be tracked if they got out of sight.

These dogs might stand on point for an hour over a game bird that holds tight.

High winds and rain hampered the bird-finding mission, but Hoke wasn’t alarmed when both dogs eventually melted into the vast landscape of sage and scabrock.

Soon, one of the dogs checked back in; however, the other dog didn’t show up.

With sunset approaching, Hoke knew a different sort of hunt was on.

A dog worth thousands of dollars was lost, even beyond the range of his radio telemetry gear.

“It was a lot of bad things happening at once,” he said.

The wind and rain made it impossible for the dog to hear his calls and grounded his efforts to use an airplane to get a better radio signal and search for the dog.

His father-in-law, Larry Hattemer, normally a reliable responder in emergency situations, wasn’t much help either, owing to the problem he had with the Missouri Foxtrotter mare he’d bought, the one with the distinguished pedigree that he was going to breed with another top-quality horse.

“Unfortunately, a donkey sneaked in and got to it first, so Larry’s having to adjust to the idea of a mule,” Hoke said.

“Like I said, a lot of bad things were happening.”

Hoke went out by horse and ATV and vehicle joined by a posse of friends.

“Friends don’t come cheap for something like this,” he said. “This is going to cost me.”

Not until Day 3 did a good Samaritan call and say that he had found Hoke’s dog hanging out near U.S. Highway 2, a good 12 miles from where Hoke had last seen it.

“He was in good shape, too,” Hoke said, although he contends there’s no truth to rumors that the dog had sharptail feathers in its teeth.