I Knew A Musky Cradle Is Good For Something

[Don Wittenberger]

I haven't had much luck landing fish with it. Last fall, as I led a big tiger muskie into the cradle, the fish didn't like what she saw, came all the way out of the water, tail-walked, and broke the 30# line, taking my lure and leader with her. I figured, oh well, maybe I should have practiced on some little ones first.

Our Great Dane has a flat tire and can't get up the stairs into our house. This was quite a problem until I remembered the cradle. I spread it on the front porch, coaxed the dog into it, then my wife and I used it as a stretcher to carry her up the stairs.

The cradle is long enough and strong enough for our 130-lb. dog, and because she's over 50 inches, I think we'll keep her. :bounce:

[Rosann G]

HaHa! That was a good one Don.
Rosann

[Toni]

Now what a picture that made!

[skeeter bassin]

Great to hear there is another Dane owner on here. What happened to her?

[Don Wittenberger]

When I bought my fishing boat, I named it after my wife, gave her a new car and health club membership, and permission to get a dog (something she'd wanted for a long time). She got the dog from Dane Outreach in Kent, a nonprofit rescue organization (good folks; I recommend them). Her name is Dante and she was 6 years old at the time. We are her 3rd home; her first owner died of cancer, and her next family moved out of state.

She's my wife's dog, but likes me better, and sticks to me like glue. She sleeps next to my bed at night, and goes everywhere with me -- she loves car rides. So, for example, all the staff at the bank know her. She loves everyone, and everyone loves her, except she hates other dogs. She needs her ears scratched at least 1,000 times per day. She's also quite talkative, although I understand only a few words of dog language. It doesn't matter because they all seem to mean the same thing anyway: "Scratch my ears again."

Dante is almost 8 years old now, which is elderly for a Dane. She had hip dysplasia when we got her, and of course that's gotten worse. However, the immediate problem appears to be a paw injury. My wife thinks she hurt it getting out of the car. She's limping and had several failures in trying to climb the half flight of stairs into our split-entry home. This is probably primarily due to the paw injury, but she's probably also getting weaker because of age. The first time this happened, we hauled her up in a blanket, but that was a major struggle as the blanket was hard to hold onto and she get shifting. Then I thought of using the cradle and it works great. She can get up the stairs herself about 2/3rds of the time now, but if she fails on the first attempt, she gets frightened and doesn't want to try again, so we use the cradle to carry her up.

For those of you who don't know anything about Great Danes, I think my wife made an excellent choice. They are big dogs, of course. However, you don't need a large yard -- actually, you don't need any yard -- because they are (believe it or not) house dogs. Of course, she's too big to turn around in the hallways, but this isn't a problem because she's adept at backing up. She's quite agile, considering her body length is about half the width of our kitchen.

We walk her several times a day which is good for us, too. Mostly, she just naps or lays around. Danes make excellent companion pets, but they are most suitable for retirees or families where someone is home all day, because they get anxious when separated from their owners and don't like to be left alone. This is not a suitable breed for someone who has to left their dog home alone all day. She eats 1 cup of dry food plus 2 cans of wet food, twice a day. Danes are vulnerable to a condition called "bloat," which is lethal to dogs, so we have to be careful that she doesn't eat and drink water at the same time. We set the kitchen stove timer for 60 minutes whenever she eats or drinks; if she eats, she can't have water for an hour, and if she drinks, she can't have food for an hour. Also, her food or water dish has to be raised so she doesn't have to bend down, so I built a plywood dish holder that raises her dish about 20" off the floor.

Because of Dante's advanced age, we probably are not far away from the time when we will have to put her down. When that time comes, we will miss her, because she has become a family member. There used to be 4 people in this house, but my mother in law passed away and our daughter left home, so this dog has filled a big empty space in our home. She's almost like having another child. Naturally, we want to postpone that day as long as possible. I wouldn't do it simply because she's a little lame. I will do it when she is suffering and the quality of life is gone. But for now, using the musky cradle as an improvised expedient to get her in and out of the house is a godsend. It allows her to continue going outdoors even if she's having trouble with the stairs. It allows us to get her back into a warm place instead of having to leave her outside in this winter weather. I don't know what we would do if I hadn't figured out how to get her up the stairs. Like I said, that cradle is a godsend.

[A9]

Cool story Don. Dogs make great family members...

[Kenster]

Don- I just received my craddle in the mail last week!! Should I send it back? I dont have a Dane, and don"t want to lose a huge fish and lure like you story tells (sure to be a musky's death sentence). Have you yet to land a fish in the craddle? Was this not a good purchase in your opinion?

Kenster

[Don Wittenberger]

Practice makes perfect. Start with little ones and work up. And remember, landing a muskie with a cradle is a 2-person operation.

[jigman]

I bought a cradle and it just sits in my rod locker. A nice big net is a lot easier, I use the frabill big kahuna. I'll probably end up selling my cradle or using it for Steelhead. Mike.

[Rosann G]

First off Don I loved your dog story, glad you have the cradle to help her out with.
Bill and I love our cradle for landing muskies but it IS a two person proposition. We like it because we don't take the fish out of the water anymore and it has a ruler painted right on it for measuring the fish. It is also fairly easy to measure girth in the cradle and it's alot less stressful on the fish. It is a pain to try to get a good picture of the whole fish but I keep practicing and eventually I'll get it figured out.
Rosann

[Don Wittenberger]

Even if you prefer a net for landing fish, the cradle is useful for confining the fish after it's in the boat, so its thrashing doesn't cause injury to itself or you. The cradle almost makes it easier to return the fish to the water.

[KUP]

Just be SURE you get that puppy down in the water as far as you can reach, as you bring the muskie near because if the fish's head comes in too "shallow" the lure will get stuck on the netting and she will be hung up half way in and half way out.
And you will see the disappointment in your partners eyes as a 42+ inchers acrobats away as soon as the inbedded hook is cut.
signed...lousy net man
We now use the BIG Beckman Net Pen
Love it.
Koop

Don, give Dante a few scratches for me....

[Don Wittenberger]

The dog isn't doing well. She's still taking walks, but her hind legs collapsed under her last night while out walking, and she seems to be struggling more. We have a veterinarian making a house call tomorrow to give us an assessment. She's an old dog and there may be more going on than the obvious foot injury. She seems to be weakening rapidly. She was healthy until a week ago and suddenly is going downhill fast. Sure don't want to lose this sweet dog, but maybe it's time. This is a hard time for our family, but then, all of you who have owned dogs already know what it's like to go through the experience of an aging, ailing dog.

[gpc]

Sorry to hear that Don. I have gone threw that a few times, and its not easy by any means. I wish the best for you and your family.

[A9]

Sorry about it Don. Hopefully all will end up well and you will have more time with your dog

[Deadeyemark]

Don,
Sorry to hear about the dog problems. Ya get pretty close to em and hate to see em hurt.

Nets: A cradle is definitely a two person job. I'll stick to my Frabill Power Catch net w/knotless big game bag. Just like a soft jail cell for those big girls.

[Don Wittenberger]

We had our dog put to sleep this afternoon. The x-rays showed she had bone cancer. After discussing options with the veterinarian, we decided the best thing to do was put her to sleep immediately. If we had tried to treat it, she would have died in 3 weeks to 6 months. Quality of life was gone; she loved car rides but couldn't get in and out of the car, and loved walks but very soon wouldn't have been able to walk. She was in pain. We stayed with her through the procedure. Although she's a big dog, I decided not to have her cremated. She is going to stay with us, and will be in the front yard. I now have to go outside and dig a large hole before it gets dark.

This was hard for me, because I've never had a dog before, so this is my first time to go through this. My wife is all broken up. I'm trying to be philosophical about it. She was a rescue dog and we promised her a forever home. She was happy with us. There was never a shortage of love or attention in our home. So, we kept our promises to her. She was an old dog when we got her, and we knew from the beginning we wouldn't have her more than a couple years.

I'd like to think there's a Puppy Heaven where all the dogs that have left us are young again, romping through the meadows, and having a good time.

Also this week, I learned from my doctors that I likely have a progressive and incurable pulmonary disease.

The veterinarians love the cradle and told us they're going to get one.

[A9]

Sorry about you loss Don....

[gpc]

Thats really to bad, sorry to hear that. Same thing happend to our pit bull a few years back. She was an old dog, broke her leg chasing a squirle, got gangreen and it spread really quick. We could have done the surgery, but same deal, sometimes its best to just let them go. I also like to believe there is a puppy heaven.

[Rosann G]

So sorry to hear about your dog. I know from experience how hard it is to make the decision. We grieve for them just like we would for a person that dies that is a member of our family. My condolences to both you and your wife.
Rosann