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-- whats to old (http://forums.ukcdogs.com/showthread.php?threadid=928412841)

whats to old

Just wondering how old can a dog be and still get the job done. I know there is a lot of factors but just want some general opinions.

In my opinion; hunt them as long as they are able to go. I hunted my old dog up until he was 13. He always wanted to go; so why leave him home! I don't hunt every night so that could change things. Depends on the health of the dog too.

You might want to better define just what you mean by "get the job done."
What "job" are you referring to??? Nite hunts, pleasure hunts, the stud pen??? House pet, what??? All of the above, maybe??

Which ever one you are talking about, it pretty much is a matter of whether this dog will actually still do what it is you are looking for and realizing that no matter how good he does it now he probably wont be doing it too awful much longer. Price also comes into play here at some point too.

Dogs are different. My old bluetick female was in her PRIME at 7 to 9 years old. Still got a couple coons treed at maybe 12 or 13.

Re: whats to old

quote:

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Originally posted by Jmiller85
Just wondering how old can a dog be and still get the job done. I know there is a lot of factors but just want some general opinions.

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Too old?

I don't think it matters if they're 2 or 10, If a dog has what it takes to get it done they'll do their part if you give them the chance to do it, it's just what a good coon dog does. Look at Big D's track record from when he was younger then turned around and won the world in Rogersville, TN at what 9-10 years old? And won it in what could have been one of the toughest places terrain wise they've ever held a world hunt. Another one I can think of that could flat out get it done was Ol' Chubby. He did a lot of winning in his lifespan too and won a major PKC hunt at the age of 8 I think. I hunted with him many nights in the hills around here and SW PA and watched him burn a lot of young dogs in his later days. We'd take him hide hunting sometimes, we'd unsnap him after we found the coon in the tree then shoot it out and more often than not he'd be up and over the hill in the next hollow treed with another one before we could even begin to skin the one from the tree we just pulled him off of. A lot of fun nights with that old fella.