The American Beagler Forum

At what age do you thinck a dog starts to go down hill. Ive got acouple dogs that are getting up there in age 1 is 14 and I shot rabbits with him last winter but I thinck thats his last. The other is 8 and he still runs like a 4 year old. just curious on everyones oppions.

It all depends on that dogs general health and some of it does go back to the dogs genetic make up. Some dogs will age faster then others, I have known some folks that have beagles that live to 18 years old, however they weren't the young chicken, they just were retired and lived the best life a geriatric dog could live.

The thing is this dog has served you well over the years and deserves to have a great retirement if that means rabbit racing in a starting pen or in the back yard or dreamin about a good race.

ive got a 13 year old walker female whose retirement consists of sleeping all day until my beagles get rollin.she moves real slow and stiff too-until the little hounds get out of the kennel of course!

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The thing is this dog has served you well over the years and deserves to have a great retirement if that means rabbit racing in a starting pen or in the back yard or dreamin about a good race.[/quote]

This really says it all... That old dog has earned his keep and a good retirement. :-)

Leah

yeah the old boy has run alot of hare in his day. he was a really good dog!

Even rabbit dogs deserve to retire after they've served us well. When they act like they've slowed down (whatever age that happens to be), I let them run rabbits once in a while, but mostly just let them lay around (that's what they do best) or run around the yard a bit each day. They are athletes, and after a certain age, they probably ache in places they didn't know they had places, but just cannot tell you, and a beagle will run on a broken leg given the chance...

Rest'em and love'em when they get to be seniors. JMHO.

If your 14 year old is anything like mine, it breaks her heart to be left behind. Let the dog run if that's what it wants but run it solo or with young pups. Don't put any stronger hounds in there, just let him run his own race.
We run Modean in the pen now as she has lost her hearing and can't see real well. She lays around in the kennel and rests quiet a bit but acts like a young pup when she knows she is going to run. We don't want to take the chance of loosing her in the wild where she will be defenseless from predators.

Retire??? Is it more cruel to deprive a dog from running rabbits by setting him/her up in a pen for the rest of their life? Or is it more cruel for that dog to get a little stiff from running after an hour? Running rabbits is what most of these older dogs live for.
I would love to make Modean a house dog and have her live out her life o the sofa but she wants no part of it. She wants to be with her pack. So what do ya do? Let her have what she wants! She has earned it.

Retired people don't quit living, but they do the strenuous things to a lesser degree. I certainly didn't say kennel them up and forget about them. ( I hate having my words twisted, so perhaps I should do a better job of making myself more clear.) In fact, I mentioned running them occasionally. My fifteen-year-old Little Man dog likes to run/walk rabbits occasionally, but most of the time these days he farts around the yard a bit then kennels himself back up, lol. We've killed a squillion rabbits over him, but nowadays he just enjoys finding a comfy place in the sun to warm his old bones.

On the other hand, 9-1/2 year-old Dolly can still whip most dogs in the kennel, and she's carrying a litter of pups as we speak. She would still go run every day, and is very vocal about it.

I go by their cues. I don't think it's a bit cruel to rest them out their last days, and take them out to run occasionally. They really aren't that much different than people. We all slow down, and sometimes a little is a lot.

SOUTHERN BEAGLES yeah he is like your dog he would run till it killed him. see lately anytime he gets really excited and starts running around he has a sesiour but as long as he stays calm and relaxed hes fine. It really breacks my heart to see him just hanging out hoping ill take him running but I dont dare to. Hes never had them before intill the last mounth or so and I dont know what I should do hes fine if hes just relaxing so I dont thinck I should have him put to sleep at this point. what do you thinck

burntmeadowsbeagles wrote:SOUTHERN BEAGLES yeah he is like your dog he would run till it killed him. see lately anytime he gets really excited and starts running around he has a sesiour but as long as he stays calm and relaxed hes fine. It really breacks my heart to see him just hanging out hoping ill take him running but I dont dare to. Hes never had them before intill the last mounth or so and I dont know what I should do hes fine if hes just relaxing so I dont thinck I should have him put to sleep at this point. what do you thinck

As long as his quality of life is good then I wouldn't put him down yet. Maybe just take him out now and then for a short run when it cools down in the evening or early morning and let him "think" he is really doing something ;-) I have a soft spot for the oldies

I have a 12 year old beagle that is running as well as the 5 year old. She goes out every day for her walks etc. and wants no part of slowing down. I will take her out to the bush as long as she can go.

I carried her mother the last week of her life because she didn't want to stay home alone. She had a broken back and still wanted to chase when the others got going. It broke my heart to think Krunch couldn't run anymore and I sent her to a better place.

Give the old ones a chance, they love attention too.

Carolyn

You want a dog for the sofa, buy a house dog. Rabbit dogs are bread to run. My old dog (ottis) progress pack gr. ch. in arha trials. He run till the day he droped. The last day out he caught a rabbit. We took it home for his dinner, later that night he died. it doesn`t get any better than that. He lived doing what a rabbit dog wanted. I`m sure he lived a good life to the fullest up to the day he died. No regrets just good memories.

I know a guy that has a 16 year old male that has had two heat strokes, and it will still run a rabbit very well.

I only have one rule when running my old dogs, and that is that there are no rules. If the dog does it right,,,, well good for them,, if they don't,,,, oh well.

tom

i have 2 littermate gyps that are 13 now and they will still pound rabbits all day or night with the rest of the pack of course they are not what they used to be but i will give them that chance as long as they want to go, when they are tired they will let me know