At what age?

[BDR]

I know that many of us bird hunters can't stand the thought of hunting without our dogs. So we get on the next one before our current one completely retires.

At roughly what age do you start to think about getting a new pup. I firmly believe the veteran dog will school the new one making it easier to train.

I don't mean this to sound cold,I love my dog and he will hunt till he won't get out of the truck. But the day will come when his getty-up will be gone. It's always nice to have some young legs around.

I am thinking around 7-8 years and then add a new pup inti the mix.

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Will fish for work
Brian Rogers

[leechlake]

BDR- great question and not cold just a fact. Besides who doesn't want to get a new puppy. I think it depends on your dog. I have a lab and gold retriever. The lab is 8 and golden 6. My lab is no where near slowing down so if I had only one dog I'd be waiting to get a puppy. No one can guess what kind of disease could strike suddenly, my last golden got cancer in his jaw and didn't last one month, but I would say it depends on you and what you want. Do you care if you have a 3 or 4 year old dog (the puppy) and an 11-12 year old somewhere down the line? Some of my best times with the lab where when he was 4 months old pheasant and grouse hunting. Not an ideal age to hunt with a dog but he's such a freak he could hunt a lot and it really molded him, in my opinion, into a better dog than he'd otherwise be.

Great question, you make me feel like getting another one. Actually, I've put out some feelers lately, just to be prepared. I'd start doing homework at the very least, so if the time strikes suddenly you don't make an emotional hasty decision, rather you get a pup from somewhere where the dog will be exactly what you want til 9 years from now when you need to ask this same question.

[BDR]

Leecklake- I am a long ways away from that day but I put this out to prepare the wife. She doesn't want 2 dogs I just wanted her to read some post of how it is common practice. Come on back me up guys. lol

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Will fish for work
Brian Rogers

[gspman]

Noted outdoor writer Tom Huggler said you should get a new pup every 5 years or so. That way you have a new dog being broken in by one that's just in it's prime and you'll have little "down time" between dogs. Plus you'll have the pleasure (or pain) of hunting with 2 dogs. I made the mistake of waiting until my current dog was 10 to get a pup and now I will have a couple "down" years. I should have done this when my old girl was 6 or 7.

gspman

[BLACKJACK]

You're really asking two questions here, should you get a second dog and if yes, when? The when is the easiest answer, get the second one sometime when the old one is 5 to 9 years old so you'll always have a huntable dog. Get the second dog too soon and you could end up with two old dogs, for example a 10 and 13 year old dog (I had that problem). Some people will jump in and say they have 13 year olds that will hunt all day, but in my experience, after 10, if they've hunted hard all their life, they're down to short hunts and nothing in the cold late season.

Getting a second lab in my case was based on not wanting to be without a dog during the hunting season. My first lab went lame during pheasant hunting and it drove me crazy, by the next season I had number two. That was 15 years ago and I've had two ever since, until last year, because my old dog died during the summer. My remaining dog will be 7 this summer and is a dynamo on the pheasant field, I contemplated running her one more year by herself but what tipped my hand to get another puppy in Dec is that fact that for the past several years I've been going out to SoDak for two five days trips and its such great sport that I didn't want to take a chance of not having a ready dog in case something happens to the remaining dog. I'm also getting more into bowhunting, I had thought in the past that I could maybe get by with one dog and if something happened to her, I could just do more bowhunting, but that SoDak trip tips the balance, gotta have dog power.

This is getting too long but I've thought about it a lot so I wanted to pass it on.

One more factor to think about is that puppies are fun! As dogs get older, they just want to lay around, while puppys will follow you everywhere, getting into mischief. Just last nite my new pup was right underfoot, grabbbing the tape measure, checking out the cordless drill, laying on my lap. I've made the decision that I'll be getting a new pup every 6-7 years just to have the experience of breaking in a new pup.

Good luck!

[bigdog]

With my first dog I waited until she was 8 before getting a pup. With the second dog a I got a pup when he reached 6. The most recent pup came when the older dog was 5. For me, waiting until 8 was too long, the older dog resented the pup and they did not hunt well together. The 5-6 year replacement works well, I have 2 dogs to hunt for a few years and the older dog accepted the pup better.

[BDR]

Thanks for all the replies. Some great advise to consider. I may get the second sooner than I was thinking.

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If I only had more time!

Brian Rogers

[WaveWacker]

Been "doubling up" with the dogs my entire life. In my mind it is the only thing to do. As stated above you won't have any "down time" Usually keep about 6 or 7 years between them.

It is exciting and depressing all at the same time as you watch the two dogs progress together. On one hand there is nothing better then to see a young dog progress into knowing what they are doing, and on the other it is sad when the young dog becomes the "Ace" and the old veteran takes a back seat. It is definately true that God did not give long enough lives to our best friends in the field.