Thats what came to me about the  Thursday evening dissaperence of  Hanna.

I got an astro 320 GPS  . And have been hard on myself ever since. Its way  more than what I need. Its really for hunting. I have used it twice.and am still trying to understand it.  It does what I had hoped and shows me where shes been and is and shows me if I'm on her trail when I wanted to find her. 

 She rarely would go past 500 yds and would always return on her own. The first day I tried it  at the end of the work day It showed her stopped at 900 yds!  This happend when a woman with another GSP were near by and she thought they had gone down the road.   I tracked her to a fenced in area at the house at the end of the road . Someone had just put her in it.  (I work in farm land just a handfull of houses on the private road.)

That was last week. This week I was working from 10:00 am to 6 pm . all was well . I was spraying weeds along the road and chased her away.  a half hour later I went to find her . It showed her down the road about 100 yds  form where I was working and 300 yds from my truck . It showed her sitting for along time  so I traked her.

It lead me to the next door neighbors house but she wasn;t there. It showed her moving away from the house and back . I traked her to within one  yard and nothing . No Hanna and no collar in the field. and the signal lost.   My guess  later was is this was the last recording of her movements about an hour prior.

I was already in a panic.at that point.  I  hiked an hour and a half calling for her going through fields over barb wire fences . I came up to the back of a house and a woman came out whos name happened to be Hannah.  She said "Its amazing you are here." She said  I just called your number to let you know we had your dog . But we lost her.  She  broke away from the leash. I had no idea where I was and asked how do I get back to my truck..  She offered to drive me back to my truck. Her home daylighted onto a  main busy roadway. 

I was out of it but managed to ask. "By chance did you hook her up to her name tag ring? " They said they didn't . They said they were watering thier neighbors plants  that was 100 yadrs from where I was working  and desided she was lost. 

They did not share they put her in thier car and took her to thier house . I pieced that together later..

I went home at dark and only found this womans calls. I called her back and asked again are you sure you didn't hook it to her tag? She said well we didn't find one on the ground. 

GREAT!  It turned out Hanna now disoriented with no scent back to me, ran out to the main road and almost got hit by a motorcycle acording to the young man who picked her up and drove her to his house. He did call animal control  and said he wanted to adopt her.  Thats another Great!

I ended up calling the county policearound 11.00 pm  and asked if any dog had been turned into animal control earlier. and they said they had  record of a hunting dog with NO tags and a tracking collar. At least I could sleep.

In all of this I managed to loose the long antena I had not yet used and the docking charger for the collar. It may have fallen out of the truck some how.  I had the case open .Ive been serching for it for two days .

and I have larengitis and am still shook up .

They have a saying  "If it ain't broke don't fix it." Its amazing how we humans think things need to be fixed when they are just fine left alone. We have our opinions on how things SHOULD be and can really cause more problems  by that .

I am trying not to be angry at a woman who meant to do good. 

Dang!

Jeez, you havent half been through the mill  Glad you managed to track her down in the end! What are you going to do now you've lost the antennae? Is hanna ok? That sounds like a complete and utter nightmare, i bet your heart was in your mouth. 

This experience has shaken me up alot. I had a hard time coming back and reading responses. No reflection of this forum . I am VERY gunshy in Online forums do to some past experiences . So If I don't return or take for ever to get back to respond its more due to my fear . I'm having a difficult time getting over the past.
It also takes a huge amount of time for me to write. I have adhd and my thoughts are all over the place. its grueling for me to write cohearently.

I had one woman IRL I work for not respond so supportively when I shared what happened. I am learning to not let her views get to me though. They are a reflection of her not me.

I did get Hanna out of jail the next morning after her 2 time hyjacking. I was talking to the vet outside the SPCA at 8:00 am and I could hear her forlon howl. She could hear me. It cost me a fiver for her bail. Not too bad. I also called the animal control officer to find out all the details and spoke with her awhile.

She said when she saw the tracking collar she knew the owner wanted her back and the owner wanted to be aware of where she was. I can't say I fit the latter 100 percent. She told me she checked the inside of the collar to see if information was written inside.

A VERY good idea. I made new tags and put ALL my info on her new tag . This goes against my need for privacey / safety. I have also made interchangeable tags that say

Working today
address of my clients home
My emergency cell phone.

I had this idea a while ago just was procrastinating doing it. It could have prevented what happened.

So If she does get loose or I have her off lead, if a person finds her, they can see she belongs nearby. This won't keep people from doing what Smlyinacha shared , turning an at large dog in to animal control regardless of tags.    


Because of these like minded folk who have complained to the powers that be,  our county as of June 1st has a leash law like the city. This has alot of county residents upset about this. The parks department also relocated our dog park away from this little stream the dogs used to romp in . It had a rear gate to the stream which had a little beach area and a couple of tiny water falls . Very picturesque calm and peaceful . It was pure joy to watch the dogs run the ajoining paths and frolic in the water. The new park has No water and not one shade tree.

WELL DONE!

If a dog is under voice command the leash can be avoided.

So it all comes down to training and hanna needs alot more of that. So does her owner!

Texas, I have read bit about microchipping. I'm afraid of the possibility of slippage and cancer. Shorthairs are SO active and I'd be afraid this would cause the chip to travel . They are prone to skin cancers and tumors as well. So I'm unsure right now.

I did call gun dog supply where I got my GPS . They were very nice and I ordered a replacement antena and a new charging docker. I'm not absolutely sure what I experienced with the handheld was a recording of her last movements . The man on the phone seemed to think so. I do know it was not true to real time tracking. It sure would be nice for Astro to have a DVD showing how to use it because it can do so many things.

I put the collar on her once last week for just one hour then put her back on lead. in a more remote area. I think the ideal would be for me to find a trainer who is versed in using an ecollar and for help with a GPS.tracker. When I read hanna had treed a Quarry I thought is there a rock quarry or gravel depression near by ?
  
LOL!
















I take her to work with me every day but she has to be tied up . It seems so unfair I get to move around and she cannot. I take her to a dog park after work each day so she can run off lead.


As of June this year the county has a leash law like the city. Lot's of people are very upset by this.