If I were the guy with the dog, I would have offered to let my pooch locate the bird for you. Definitely don't want a cripple sneaking off. It does not sound like that was these guys intentions. It was your bird, but I agree with you, it is not worth getting in a confrontation over. If it meant that much to them, they probably needed it more than you did. I would have just chalked it up to the fact that there are more horses' asses in this world than there are horses, and hunted on with my buddy and enjoyed the day.