When to Retire..what do others do?

[walleye18]

Thinking about retiring one of my labs.

He's been run hard/put away wet and is pushing 10. Great dog. Tons of water/land retrieves. Prolly one of the best I have owned. Just rock solid.

There is still a lot of drive in him, but he's getting slower.

As I have done with my others dogs over the years, they become part of the duck camp/pheasant hunting group....they relax at the house - and get to come hunt but only go out when its nice/really good for the "last hunt sort of thing".

God knows, they deserved the pampering...breaking ice, retrieving fatty mallards in 30 mph winds and its 13'F outtside...in water. Acting like seals and diving for birds/geese that thought they could put the slip on them. Etc...etc..

Kinda sad in a way....like just passing the torch for my other piggies to step up to the plate.

What do others do?

[LABS4ME]

Pretty much the same. Short hunts, lots of hanging out at camp. time with the other dogs back at the truck... I guess keep things fairly normal, with the exception of the length and difficulty of the hunt, duck hunting is usually an early season endeavor... When they get really old (13-14) I bring a bird or two home and we just do some fun happy retrieves around the yard. And I let them proudly carry it around for a while. I try and do a short pheasant hunt for their crowning achievement. Usually something simple like a woody wind row where they have all found success... a bird or two brought to hand and a nice cold McDonald cheeseburger for a job well done.

My dog's ashes get scattered on said wind row on the SouthDakota prairie... I have a stone plaque scewed to the base of a tree so that all who pass know that some of the best dogs on the planet have trodden here before them... The first four names are inscribed on the stone.

Good Luck!

Ken

[charliepete]

There is no magic age where I 'retire' a dog. As long as they want to go and physically it doesn't wreck them for days afterwards I bring them out. Even when they limp and are stove up from a lifetime spent afield I still bring them out a few times a season for a quick turn through a hot grouse cover or for 15 minutes at roost in the honey hole. I won't pretend to be selfless in this regard, I take them as much for me as I do for them. I want the memories. When I'm old I hope somebody loves me enough to do the same.

[stretch]

I never really retired my lab but just took her on quick and easy hunts that i knew she would find something and the weather was nice. I ended up have to put her down 4 weeks ago and week prior i had her out pheasant hunting for the last time. I wouldn't fully retire your lab but just cut back on how much and how hard you hunt your lab.

[svttom01]

I think it all depends on the specific dog and making sure they aren't overworked as they age. My 12 year old lab has dropped off somewhat significantly over the last year as far as his recovery times have slowed after a day of hunting, but now I just dial it back a little and hunt 2-3 hours a day on the weekends and will occassionally stretch it out a little longer depending on the type of cover we hunt. If we mainly hunt fields I can probably get an extra hour or more out of him comfortably and if we're bustin' cattails, I'd say it's definitely less. I was only able to hunt with my previous lab up until he was 9 and thankfully see no problem getting another solid year out of my current lab before I really debate dialing back his time spent in the fields.