Bob St. Pierre and his German shorthair, Izzy, were featured recently on a Wednesday Outdoors story on hunting dogs.
St. Pierre, who writes a blog for the Star Tribune, lives in Hugo, is vice president of marketing for Pheasants Forever and an avid bird hunter. Izzy was just 1 ½ years old, and St. Pierre looked ahead to many years hunting with her.
But Saturday, while ruffed grouse hunting in Wisconsin, Izzy leaped over a log but struck a limb with her chest while going full-bore. She died minutes later of a ruptured carotid artery.
"It was a freak accident," St. Pierre wrote in an email to friends. "Needless to say, Meredith (his wife) and I are having a tough time losing our 1 ½ year old tornado of loving energy."
It's a crushing blow to lose a pet and hunting companion, but especially such a young one with a bright future. Condolences to St. Pierre and his wife.
Meredith St. Pierre wrote a fine piece on the loss of Izzy, which you can read here.
As if that wasn't bad enough, his other dog, Trammell, fell ill after the same hunt, and X-rays revealed two nails, a staple and a large ball of grass in her stomach. Surgery was successful, and Trammel appears on the road to recovery.
St. Pierre can't figure out how the dog ate nails, but suspects someone might have placed nails in bait to target wolves.
