When to retire a hunting dog?

[Gus]

My 11.5 year old springer loves to hunt. He is getting old and tired though. He is not in great shape anymore and hardly plays fetch anymore. Even a year ago he would go for 10-15 reps of fetch before thinking about stopping. Lately his arthritis is really slowing him down and I can maybe keep him interested in fetching 1-3 reps. I know he would hunt if brought in the field but I'm not sure that is the best thing for him. I was really hoping to use him one more year to try and break in the new pup I have that will replace him. (new pup doesn't seem all that bright and could probalby use all the guidance he can get). To make matters more complicated he has been virtually a 3 legged dog his whole life. At 1.5 years old he was hit by a car that did damage to his nerves in his back leg. He's had a limp or hop ever since then. With the arthritis I assume from the same incident he is really moving slow these days. I think I just answered my own questions.. What do you guys think? Hunt/leave home/ is there any in between?

[Ryan Becklund]

I am no expert and I will say that right off. I would at least take him out for alittle while as long as he can go. My father-in-laws black lab was the same way. He absolutely loved to go out hunting. Towards the end he could only go for about 1/2 hr but still loved every second.

I feel if the dog still wants to go take him. You owe it to him!

[LABS4ME]

Ditto:

I have a 12 1/2 year old lab that will accompany me this year to So.Dak. She surprised the heck out of me and made it all day every day last year... not even missing a beat! She's really slowed up the last 3 months or so as her laranyx is hardening up, so she breathes hard when excited... but I know she'll love every minute that she's out in the field, so I agree, I owe that to her.

I know old men that are arthritic and they move a little smoother and have a little more lilt in their step when they're out hunting, just something magic I guess. Old dogs usually react the same, they just look and act a little younger. My friend still has one of the 1st pups I ever bred, she is 14 1/2 years old... hunted till she was 12. Didn't get out last year as she was sick with something. She is doing pretty darn good now and I told him to take her to a local game farm and fill a small field up with birds and give her one last hurrah! I think that'd be a fitting tribute to all the untold miles she's put on helping us bag our birds.

I say take him out, keep an eye on him, let him show you how much he can handle. Really warm or really cold days or days where there is a lot of snow on the ground will be harder on him than just a cool, crisp fall day. You'll get as much of a kick as he will taking him out and watching him do his thing.

Talk to your vet and get him on a good pain killer and joint supplement and see too if that might help him be able to endure the hunting regimen a little more. Also try swimming him for his retrieves and conditioning now. It's easier on his joints but will still build up his muscle. Also older dogs don't cool their bodies off as efficiently as a young dog so the swimming will be better than the running during this hot summer.

Good Luck!

Ken

[R. Miller]

Gus,

I hear you. I've got to Brittanies that will be 12 in September. The female is still running around like she's six or seven, but her hearing is starting to go. I know she'll have one more good year on pheasants. My male, Cody, has great hearing but gets tired even on the short walks through the park now. He may be able to retrieve a few doves and ducks, but he won't be able to go after those roosters and grouse like he used to. I'm still trying to figure out what to do for this fall. I've got a place in western MN so I can maybe leave him at the hunting shack for a while when I'm in the field. I'm also wondering if I should just leave him home. It's a tough call when hunting dogs get to that age.

[Gus]

Thanks for the positve messages guys. We usually only duck hunt and it's usually only the first two weekends so extreme weather should not be a problem. He will stay cool but probably not get too hot either. I'm sure he will be fine. Thanks for reassuring me.

[charliepete2]

I say take him out. Just use some common sense and heart. Don't run him in the heat of the day and don't let him run himself into the ground. They make buffered aspirin that can really make a difference on old dogs. They even have arthritis medicines like rimadyl (sp?) that can work wonders on dogs with chronic arthritis.

You can't run and old dog hard like you can a pup, but if you love that dog and want to take him out why shouldn't you? Watch him close and pull him before he over does it. You never feel quite as bad as you do when you've let your old hunting buddy run himself lame on your account. Good hunting dogs don't seem to know they're old. They think only of the hunt and not the walk home.

[Jackpine Rob]

The Last Hunt

The old dog and I had been partners for 13 years, and had a heck of a ride. He was pretty much deaf, mostly blind, and arthritis was taking its toll.

The pup had taken over hunting duties, but the look in the Old Dog's eye that November morning as the pup jumped into the truck for a late season duck hunt was gut-wrenching. I swear he was crying...

The hunt that morning was successful, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the Old Dog needed to get out. The pup broke ice and trailed down crippled mallards and did all the things a retriever could do. I was pleased with his performance, but kept thinking about the Old Dog.

We quit shooting around noon, and headed back in. Along the way I announced that I was going on a little pheasant jaunt in the afternoon. My partners perked up, until I explained that I was taking the Old Dog out - and silence fell in the cab of the truck.

Changed clothes, grabbed the 20 gauge and some shells, and backed the truck up to the kennel after a quick lunch. The Old Dog struggled to his feet, and I had to lift him into the truck. This time he rode in the front seat next to me, just like the early days. He quickly fell asleep, with his head resting on the center console on top of my hand.

My father in law met me as I backed out, with tears in his eyes, and a spade and a pick in his hands, which he placed in the back of the pickup. "Any chance he'll be coming back?" he asked.

"I honestly don't know" was my only reply.

The farm was a familiar place for both of us, the site of his first pheasant, and many great adventures. The beat-up old Acme Thunderer went around my neck - even though the dog couldn't hear it, I just felt right with the lanyard on, and we headed out.

I let the dog set the pace, and he went to work, quartering through the CRP, sometimes tripping, but always with that nose working. A number of the late season birds moved out ahead of us, flushing hundreds of yards ahead and dropping into the cattail slough. The Old Dog kept after it, and I knew he was on a specific bird, as the quartering tightened and then he made a clumsy circle until he was facing me, body rigid, nose dilated - about 20 feet away.

We stood there for several seconds - then the rooster broke and took off. I let him get out a bit, and the 20 gauge came up and the bird came down. How the Old Dog marked that fall I will never know, but he beat me to the bird and laid down, one paw over the bird as he panted and gasped.

We sat in the grass for quite a while, the dog took a nap and I had decided to call it a day. I thought we had both got what we wanted, but I soon discovered the Old Dog had other ideas.

Suddenly lurching to his feet, he took off quartering again, this time heading towards the cattail slough. I scrambled to catch up, and had to physically stop him from going into the half-frozen tangled mess. He wasn't happy, and we played a little herding game until he finally understood that he WAS NOT going into the cattails. He finally turned and headed toward the food plot of corn.

Anyone who has had a dog has got to be constantly amazed at how they seem to remember places and paths, and watching the Old Dog work the treeline leading to the food plot brought back a lot of memories. I lost count over the years of the number of times he had gone crazy and taken off after birds on this treeline - flushing them way the heck in front of us, but this time he just calmly pushed back and forth through the ash and ironwood. I caught glimpses of birds running ahead, heading for the standing corn.

The cornfield was full of birds, and they all took off running down the rows as we approached. With no blocker, and just the two of us, we worked the edge of the corn where it met up with the CRP, hoping to pick up a tight-sitting rooster.

We worked down the field, the dog going in and out of the corn, and sometimes tripping and going down. After the third flop in about a minute, I decided the day was done, but the dog just shook me off and continued down the edge.

He flushed dozens of hens, some in small bunches but most were singles, until we neared the end of the field, when he stopped, his head turned to the left, and the thick brown tail went from "wag to flag". I approached, the rooster jumped up cackling, and I put a load of 4 shot into him.

The Old Dog picked up the bird this time, and slowly made his way in my direction. We met halfway, and he let me take the bird. I pulled out a camera, but before I could get set the Old Dog stood up with a groan, and headed back towards the pickup truck.

Hollering did no good, the Old Dog was moving at a pretty good clip, so I just kept him in sight as he went. I watched him hit the dirt under the tailgate of the pickup, and as I approached he didn't appear to be moving. It was a long and terrible last 20 yards until I reached him.

He was breathing, and as I sat down next to him, the nose came up and nudged my vest - checking out the pheasants.

We sat there in the cold November sunshine in the grass and dirt for quite a while, as I fed him a bit of jerky, and he even managed to slurp down some water. I took a few pictures finally, loaded the Old Dog into the front seat, and headed back in.

Had to put him down 5 months later, and I am pleased that we got out for one Last Hunt. Even though the composition stunk, the lighting was crappy, and a couple are a little blurry, the pics of that afternoon are treasured.

[Editor's Note: This story was first written 6 years ago, shortly after the Old Dog went to his Happy Hunting Grounds. This tale, along with several others, has sat unused, unread and unprinted on a floppy disk. The question Gus posed is a very real one to many of us who have ever known and loved a good dog, and been faced with the inevitable decline. As one dog guy to another, I offer this little tale to Gus - believing that he will treasure the waning time as much, if not more than the earlier days.

The sadness of that time has long since passed - and Old Dog has become one of those hunting camp legends, his exploits and foibles magnified by the passage of time, much as any good fish tale would be.]

[Gus]

Very touching post.

[LABS4ME]

Very Nice!!! Thanks for sharing your story Jackpine...

Good Luck!

Ken

[lawdog]

Gosh, I have a huge lump in my throat Jackpine, thanks for sharing that wonderful memory. My old lab is 12 1/2 now too Labs4me, and like you I'm noticing a big slow down for him the last few months. I've been dreading this upcoming day since the day I brought Buster home in 1994, I'm definitely going to hunt him as much as he wants to this fall, as I am almost certain it will be his last in the field with me...

I really don't care if he manages to scare up a single rooster this fall or not, he's absolutely earned the right to be out there and if I have to slow down and just let him walk around sniffing while the birds flush 200 yards ahead, that's just the way its gonna be...

[BLACKJACK]

Definately try the Remadyl, I got some for my eight year old dog last year, she has arthritis in one of her back leg joints and it really helped her, took the limp away. The nice thing is you can just give it the days you hunt, like Thur-Sun, and its not that expensive.

Good story jackpine!! I'm not looking forward to the day that my now nine year old dog can't go anymore.

[The_Duckslayer]

I was hoping that Midnite and I could have one of those days yet. However, I don't know if that will happen. She is 12 1/2 and in pretty bad shape. To top it off she has become incontenint and is really messing up the house. The slefish side of me wants to keep her around for one more year of duck hunting. The realistic side says that may not be the best choice. Her sight and hearing are still good but dont know if the old girl could hande the water again. She has a hard time just getting up and down the stairs to go out and p. I can't see leaving her outside all the time but I can not afford to replace the carpet in the house either! I knew that one day I would have to make this decision but I did not know just how HARD it would be. Take care and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

[bergie]

I just had my 14 yr old Brit put down, the hardest thing I have done in years, I am going to miss her, we had hunted both Dakotas, Iowa, and all over Mn., not to mention all the time we spent fishing, building deer stands, and just wandering around in the woods. She started going downhill a few years ago, she lost her hearing, her eyesight was going, and arthritis was getting pretty bad, but her nose still worked as good as ever, and her heart was as big as she was. I hunted her last year but took it real easy, I'm not as young as I used to be either so it is no hardship to slow down, and I knew I was going to keep taking her out as long as she enjoyed it. Started giving her glucosamine, chondroitin a few years ago and it made a big difference for a few years but the last year she went downhill pretty fast and had reached the point where I wasn't doing her any favors anymore by keeping her around, I was doing it for me. Well I'm starting to have a little trouble seeing the keys so I will wrap this up, thanks for listening, she was my friend and I miss her.