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-- Caneridge Blue Merle 01/14/2007 –– 05/15/2016 (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=928451871)

Caneridge Blue Merle 01/14/2007 –– 05/15/2016

Friday night Merle looked as good as a dog can. He treed a coon and done it with style and authority. Decided to go out again last night. Merle was doing fine when I turned him loose. Dawn went left and Merle went right. Merle struck and opened maybe a half dozen times on what didn’t seem to be a good track. Then the Garmin showed him treed but he wasn’t barking. He didn’t move for about 15 minutes and I was getting concerned and then he started moving making his way back to me. He came in with some mud on him but not really in places like a dog that had been treed in the ground. He was having trouble breathing. I loaded Merle up and headed to Dawn. Dawn had moved through the bottom and was showing treed .75 mile away. Turns out she was treed with some other dogs. I got her and headed home. Got ‘em out and fed ‘em. Merle laid down and wouldn’t eat. I was fearing that he had got in to some kind of poison or something. I loaded him up and headed to the 24 hour Animal Hospital in Chattanooga. As soon as I got him in the exam room the Vet said he was in shock. I felt of his mouth and it was cold, not cool. After all the questions, etc. they took him back for blood work and x rays. No problems with the blood work. No poisons. The vet had a few concerns on the x rays about the shape of his heart and one lung as well as the shape of his stomach. He died about 1:30AM this morning. I had the vet cut him open to see if they could determine the cause of death but everything looked pretty normal. They cut tissue from different organs to test but I told them not to as everything they do is extremely expensive and Merle would still be dead. Don’t really know what happened to him but I’m leaning toward some kind of lug or heart failure.

I bought Merle from Doug and Mitchell Garver on November 8, 2014. He has been nothing but a pleasure for me to own and hunt this past year and a half. He didn’t owe me a thing. He gave me all he had. I’ve had some really good Plott dogs in the past: Cinjun, Crowder and John. I buried Merle beside them this morning. I enjoyed hunting Merle more than any of them. He was a pleasure to handle and hunt. Thanks again to John Williams who owned, trained and hunted Merle and to the McDills for breeding this line of dogs.

.......................Clark's Blue Lep
............Wick's Camo Jug
.......................Clark's Sadie
.....NITE CH. McDill's Johnny Reb
.......................NITE CH. Laker's Speed
............McDill's Bell
.......................Laker's Kate
Caneridge Blue Merle 01/14/2007 –– 05/15/2016
.......................Boysel's Charlie Chan
............Wrights Cedar Creek Big John
.......................Boysel's Pepper Shaker
......McDill's Pretty Girl
.......................Cornett's Smokey
............Lewis' Cheeta
.......................Cumberland Valley Black Kitty


Here's a couple of my favorite images of Merle:

This one was taken on Skyline the last of the season.



This was in a river bottom near Bridgeport, AL in fall of 2015.



The was a picture I took Friday night on the last coon old Merle treed. I just didn't get any real good shots that night.


I've got a couple of pups out of Merle and it looks like Grace is bred so I may have one more litter out of Merle. Hope one turns out to be the kind of dog Merle has been.

__________________
Wayne Bowman 423-280-4325
GRCH GRNITECH'PR' Bert's NC Gold Rush
GRCH GRNITECH Bowman's Sundown Sam Beau
sundownleopards.com

I'm sorry for your loss ad if I can do anything for you just give me a call! I lost Cain when he fell out of a tree doing what he loved so I know what its like to lose a good one.

__________________
John Cox
580 284 8378

Sorry for your loss. It is always hard to lose a good one. Every time u turn one loose and u may never see them again. U have your memories though and maybe a little Merle there somewhere.

__________________
i do not suffer fools quietly!!
Mike Bertrand
336-406-9763

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm glad you have some great pictures and even better memories!

__________________
Triple B Kennels-Beauty Brains & Brawn
CH TBK's Talk A Blue Streak
GRCH Gregory's Jammin Jitterbug
CH TBK's Just Do It

Thanks everyone for the kind words. We do have some great memories. Everyone here misses the ol' boy around the house and I know there'll be a lot of "I wish I had ol' Merle" nights.

Thanks, again.

__________________
Wayne Bowman 423-280-4325
GRCH GRNITECH'PR' Bert's NC Gold Rush
GRCH GRNITECH Bowman's Sundown Sam Beau
sundownleopards.com

Sorry to hear about Merle.

__________________
GRNITECH GRCH WCH FCH RILEY'S FLATHEAD VALLEY BOLT HTX
2013 Illinois State Champion
2013 Purina Race leopard breed winner
2013 Ukc Top ten #1
2013 1st Place Robison RQE
2013 King and Overall Show winner Leopard Days

Merle was a coondog as good or better then any breed, I was luck I got to hurt with him, he had Hart that a coin hunter likes to see.he be missed!!

Sorry to hear about Merle.

__________________
Pennie & James Johnson
Homer, MI
517-542-3548
269-275-7376
Johnson's Mr Peabody Jug
Johnson's Camo Wick
Johnson's Camo Bull Lea
Johnson's Miss Camo Wick (Missy)