When your doorbell rings at 4:30 in the morning, it’s usually not good. This morning it was a neighbor’s daughter who woke us up to tell us that their puppy, Oso, had been sick for the past couple of days and couldn’t keep any water or food down. The little guy had now reached the point where he nearly couldn’t walk.

We immediately suspected Parvo, but there was nothing we could do that early; my wife told the girl that she’d take Oso to the vet when they opened. She then called the emergency number and the vet recommended wrapping Oso in blankets when she brought him in, to help prevent contamination.

When the time came to take Oso to the vet, he couldn’t be found anywhere. My wife and the neighbors searched without luck, and were fearing that Oso had gone off to die. The most likely place was a hay field behind the neighbor’s house, which they tried to search. Everyone pretty much lost all hope when the farmer began mowing his hay.

But then Oso came stumbling out of our pasture. My wife and the neighbor’s girl took him into the vet, who confirmed that he had Parvo. They left Oso and he was put on IV plus whatever medications are given to treat Parvo.

I’m considering one of the Parvo sanitizing products but our vet recommended mixing bleach (the non-bleaching or color safe variety of course) with water and spraying down any bedding, material, etc. that could have been contaminated. The material is then to be air-dried in the sun. It was also recommended that we clean the floors with the bleach solution.

Sorry - to bring you up to date, we got a Spinoni puppy last month named Elvis, who will be 5 months old in July and are getting another Spinoni pup in August. 

Elvis should be okay because he’s had all his shots, and our puppy-to-be will have had her first set of shots by the time we pick her up. Nonetheless, we needed to sanitize the Jeep, garage, and floor where Ricky – the neighbor’s other dog – came into our house. As a precaution, we’ll be removing our shoes before coming into the house, and have Clorox wipes on hand to wipe down anything that could have come into contact with Oso.

Since the Parvo virus can remain for up to a year, our new puppy will need to be quarantined in the house and back yard until after she gets her second set of shots. Without knowing how Oso contracted Parvo, anything could be a carrier and I’ll probably need to do some of my training in the back yard rather than the pasture.

The following is a “pass along” article from the Retriever Journal.

Pass Along RJ
May 09

Mistakes: Popping and Slipping Whistles
by Vickie Lamb

Just like a sweater that unravels when the wrong thread starts to run, so do some of our best-laid training sessions come undone after numerous real-time hunting trips and excursions. Before the season began, you had a dog well tuned and ready to go; now, you’ve got a dog that’s begun to pop on blind retrieves or, worse yet, on marks. Conversely, your dog may be tuning you out and won’t stop on the whistle.

There are a number of ways to view the problem of popping. To clarify, a “pop” is when your dog is en route to a bird but then stops, turns around, and looks to you for help. Generally, this is viewed as less of an issue when it occurs on blinds — where you’ll often give your dog guidance when needed via sit-whistles and casts — than on marks, where your dog has seen the birds fall and should remember their approximate locations on his own.

Some folks aren’t bothered by popping. Indeed, a few trainers encourage this fault (although it’s considered a bad habit by most trainers, and with good reason) because they claim it means the dog is “working” with you and seeking your help. In certain hunting scenarios, this might hold water; but in most cases, it evolves into “pop goes the weasel.” Pretty soon, your dog has no momentum or confidence in himself and looks to you for help far too often. It’s much more pleasing to work with a dog that watches his birds, marks the falls accordingly, and does a magnificent job of finding or hunting up those birds; or one that takes lines and hand signals with confidence, going with gusto until you tell him differently. The argument that “sometimes” pops come in handy should be left for those rare occasions when good hunting dogs figure that out themselves.

If you run hunt tests, field trials, or Super Retriever Series events, popping is a fault ranging in degree from mild to serious, potentially putting you out of the game. The nature of the fault is evaluated by where, when, and how often it happens. For example, a pop on a blind is more critical when it occurs in front of water (failure to get wet) or tough cover or if it happens in the first segment of the blind compared to a pop happening 250 yards out in the field.

At longer distances, any number of things might be affecting your dog besides lack of confidence or unwillingness to perform a task. For instance, a dog trying his best to work with you might be forging through tough, noisy dead grass, and a nearby bird might chirp in a manner similar to a whistle-sit. Your dog hears the noise and responds by sitting and looking to you for direction. Depending where you are, whistles from other training or hunting groups might interfere with your working dog. There may even be whistles from a school or other team practice being transmitted on wind from a ballfield you don’t even know is around the corner. Therefore, a single pop on a blind at a distance is not the end of the world and should be properly assessed.

With marks, however, the dog should demonstrate prowess in using his eyesight and his nose to round up those birds. When pops are committed on marks, it is commonly tied to “retired gun” setups with no helpful gun stations in the field, or in related hunting scenarios. When your dog loses focus on the mark he is after, he loses momentum and may turn to you for direction instead of relying on his memory through confidence in himself.

TITLE VI–EFFECT ON STATE LAWSEC. 601. EFFECT ON STATE LAW.
If I read section 601 correctly, it essentially says that states cannot pass any laws that are inconsistent with HR 45. A state law is not inconsistent with HR 45 if those laws are more stringent than HR 45, but any state law that is less stringent than HR 45, is considered “inconsistent”.

SEC. 602. CERTIFICATION OF STATE FIREARM LICENSING SYSTEMS AND STATE FIREARM RECORD OF SALE SYSTEMS.
TITLE VII–RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWSEC. 701. SUBORDINATION TO ARMS EXPORT CONTROL ACT.
If this Act conflicts with the Arms Export Control Act, then the Arms Export Control Act takes precedence. TITLE VIII–INAPPLICABILITYSEC. 801. INAPPLICABILITY TO GOVERNMENTAL AUTHORITIES.
It appears to me that government employees are exempt from this law.

TITLE IV–ENFORCEMENTSEC. 401. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.
Gun dealers and manufacturers who don’t comply with HR 45 shall be fined, imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.
Failure To Comply With Universal Background Checks; Failure To Timely Report Loss or Theft of a Qualifying Firearm; Failure To Provide Notice of Change of Address.
Whoever violates section 105(a)(2) of Blair Holt’s Handgun Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009, knowingly or having reason to believe that the person is prohibited from receiving a firearm, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.Whoever violates section 922(gg) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.
SEC. 403. INSPECTIONS.
In order to ascertain compliance with this Act, the Attorney General may, during regular business hours, enter any place in which firearms or firearm products are manufactured, stored, or held, for distribution in commerce, and inspect those areas where the products are so manufactured, stored, or held. This may open the door to home inspections.

Our Bill of Rights guarantee “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

“Any place” in which firearms are “stored, or held” for distribution in commerce are open to inspections. Remember that this Act considers all firearm sales as “commerce”.

TITLE II–RECORD OF SALE OR TRANSFER
SEC. 201. SALE OR TRANSFER REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFYING FIREARMS.
It will be illegal to sell, deliver, receive or otherwise transfer a qualifying firearm to, or for, any person who is not a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector, unless the transferee presents a valid firearms permit issued under HR 45.

You must verify with either the Attorney General or “head of State agency” that the individual has a valid firearms permit, and the sale will be given an authorized tracking number. The Government will have record of every gun sale made in the country.
SEC. 202. FIREARM RECORDS.
You will have up to 14 days to report the sale of any qualifying firearms, and must include the following information:
(1) the manufacturer of the firearm;
(2) the model name or number of the firearm;
(3) the serial number of the firearm;
(4) the date on which the firearm was received by the transferee;
(5) the number of a valid firearm license issued to the transferee under title I of this Act; and
(6) the name and address of the individual who transferred the firearm to the transferee.

A government-operated database for tracking all gun sales will be established “Not later than 9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish and maintain a Federal record of sale system, which shall include the information included in each report submitted to the Attorney General

TITLE III–ADDITIONAL PROHIBITIONS
SEC. 301. UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECK REQUIREMENT.
All gun owners will be required to have a background check. The only exceptions to this are infrequent (what does the government consider “infrequent”?) transfers of a firearm by gift, bequest, intestate succession or other means by an individual to a close family member, or to any loan of a firearm for any lawful purpose for not more than 30 days between persons who are personally known to each other.’.
SEC. 302. FAILURE TO MAINTAIN OR PERMIT INSPECTION OF RECORDS.
It will be illegal for a licensed manufacturer or a licensed dealer to fail to comply with section 202, or to maintain such records or supply such information as the Attorney General may require in order to ascertain compliance with such Act and the regulations and orders issued under such Act.’. In other words, gun manufacturers and dealers will have to keep a complete audit trail of all transactions with enough detail to prove to the Attorney General that they are in compliance with HR 45.
SEC. 303. FAILURE TO REPORT LOSS OR THEFT OF FIREARM.
You will be required to report any theft or loss of a firearm to the Attorney General within 72 hours after the loss or theft is discovered. This can open up a real can of worms. First, you have up to 72 hours to do your own investigation to determine whether the gun is lost, stolen or misplaced, because the last thing you want is the government to begin its own investigation.

In dealing with audits, I can give you an idea of how the investigation will go. You will have to:
1- Provide investigators with a list of everyone who had access to your house so that they may be investigated as well;
2- Prove that your guns were secured as required and that you have a valid firearms permit, and all your documentation is in order;
3- Conduct an inventory of all your firearms and provide the investigator with your registration information to “facilitate traceability”;
4- If the gun is “lost”, justify to the investigator how you lost control of the gun, as well as provide all details related to the loss.
5- Investigations are not quick, and any investigation will certainly take up a good deal of your time with follow-up questions and so forth. Any inconsistencies in the facts will likely place you at the center of the investigation.
SEC. 304. FAILURE TO PROVIDE NOTICE OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS.
Just as sex offenders must register any change of address, so must gun owners. “It shall be unlawful for any individual to whom a firearm license has been issued under title I of Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 to fail to report to the Attorney General a change in the address of that individual within 60 days of that change of address.”

Registering any change of address is bad enough, but does it mean that there will be a national registry of gun owners that can be searched on the Internet? If so, not only have you lost your right to privacy, but you could be a target for anti-gun radicals and criminals looking to steal guns.