>I am headed to Southern Idaho in less than 48 hours to visit family and chase birds with my bird dogs! This is a trip I have been anticipating for 12 months! The girls (four-legged and two) and I are getting up at 0’dark-30 to make the 11 hour drive with one detour to Ogden, Utah to drop off a Pointer for a member of Utah Bird Dog Forum. We plan to chase huns, chukars, valley quail, and grouse with our bird dogs. My younger brother Andy is two grouse species away from the Idaho Royal Flush…I hope we can find the last two species together! Andy and I are like two peas in a pod when it come to bird dogs and music! I love being out in the Uplands of Idaho with him in the Fall! I hope to return to Colorado much wiser and with many stories (or lies) to tell!
Dr. Joe Spoo has written a very awesome article that every dog owner should read on dental disease and the scenting ability of bird dogs on Strideaway. Joe has a very informative website (gundogdoc.com) and is one of the leading gun dog veterinarians in the US. Joe also has great taste in dogs…he has English Setters and a FB English Cocker! Great job Joe! 
These are photos from a bird dog that developed an aural hematoma after getting a grass awn or weed seed in her ear after a recent September grouse hunt. Aural hematomas develop when a dog repeatedly shakes its head or causes trauma to the blood vessels in the ear, and hemorrhage occurs within the ear causing painful swelling. I wanted to share these photos to stress the importance of having your bird dog checked out if you suspect a problem! This aural hematoma may have been prevented had the owner brought their dog in as soon as she started shaking her head! 
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Upland Ways 
>Shawn that is freeking nasty! By the way this is your cousin Eric. You and Andy have inspired me to start a bird hunting blog too. Check it out.www.ericoutside.blogspot.com
>Shawn, I can’t wait till you get here bro. We will have a great time hunting birds in Idaho! Hopefully, we don’t have anything happen to our dogs like the one in the picture. Were the holes made by the vet to drain the ear? It looks like the vet then had to sew up the holes. One time Sunny got a huge splinter in her neck and, after it swelled up like a soft ball, it drained all kinds of gooey grossness . . . all part of the joys of living with bird dogs!Can’t wait to see you! Andy
>Heart breaking and nasty. I wish they could just talk and just tell us what the problem is.Then again, they would be able to talk to us during force fetch as well… maybe its better the way it is! Good luck in Idaho!
>S.My rescue had an AH this summer, got him in ASAP…my, my…no more beauty pagents for him anynore.
>Shawn,Have a great trip and keep the reports coming! I leave on Saturday and arrive in PA on Sunday. I’ll make sure to send some updates as well.Have fun!Matt
>Thanks for all your comments guys!This was an aural hematoma that I fixed on Tuesday! It was the worst one I’ve seen…It could have been prevented had the owner brought the dog in when they noticed him shaking his head! We owe it to our hunting companions!Shawn
>Shawn,Thanks for the email last week. Funny thing… I didn’t get it until saturday night but we hunted that exact area you suggested saturday afternoon before i read your email. It turned out to be a good area. The whole area of the state was kind of spotty hunting, i think a few of the areas had really bad hatches. We saw lots of old birds, but man were they smart! The young ones we did get were from a late hatch, they weren’t feathered all the way out yet. We worked hard for birds, but we loved it and so did the dogs. Thanks for the email.Eric
>I found your blog through google. My lab has what I think is an aural hematoma…I called my vet tonight and am taking her in tomorrow. She’s 13.5, blind, deaf, incontinence issues, arthritic, and has what is possibly a large cancerous tumor that we decided 2 weeks ago just to watch b/c I’m not anxious to put her under at this age. And now this. Ugh.I’ll be referring my dad to your blogs. He has an Appalachian Turkey Dog. Have you heard of them?
Is this a common issue dogs face?
Stephanie…I see it about 4 or 5 times a year in dogs with chronic ears issues.