What age do you retire yours...

[dave404]

Just wandering what age everyone retires their hounds.
I see all over different sites, 6 yr olds for sale as a puppy trainer. even have seen 4 yr old.
I run mine as long as They can and want to do it.
I have 2 females that have been house beagles since puppys and are 9 and 10. they go every trip.
Wife says they grieve theirselves to death if I go without them.
I'd hate for my family to put me up when I get old and worn out, lol.
I would rather for them to do what they were bred to do instead of spending their old days in a kennel grieving to go.
a lot of times i'll load the old ones up and take em out and let em enjoy theirselves and exercise.

[Casey Harner]

Until the Good Lord needs another hunting dog. This doesn't mean I try to kill them, I always will run a old dog to show my appreciation of all the hard work he has given me. A good hound wants a loyal owner to let them go one more time.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

I don't think you ever have to neccesarily retire them,just moderate how you run them.
A lot of it will depend on what shape your hound is in when they reach senior status.Some hounds by the time they get to be seniors have been used hard and kept poorly and are about done.Others arrive in their later years in remakably good shape with a lot of miles left on the odometer.
Some years ago I had gone up to northern New Hampshire for a week of hare hunting with some friends of mine.My buddy Dan had brought along Briarpatch Black Magic who was then 12 years old.In his prime there were very few hounds that could run in front of Magic on bare ground.
That morning we put 9 hounds out with the other 8 being all less than 4 years old.We quickly jumped a hare and had a blistering run for an hour before the hare was shot.Everytime we saw the hare cross,Magic was leading the pack.But,after that hour you could tell the old man was gassed and Dan put him in the box for the rest of the day.
I don't think old hounds lose their desire but they definetly lose their stamina [ just like us older guys do! ] LOL.
Run them with other senior hounds,use them as pup trainors for your pups,let them run solo,run them for a few hours then put them up--no need to make an old veteran push himself to exhaustian.
Most times the hound will show you when he's had enough.

[billy boy]

i think if they are seasoned rabbit dogs they don't to be put to the wayside, that's what they live for , you just can't hunt them like they are still young. usually good for maybe a half a day hunt. i think the worst punishment would leave them in the kennel after they have served you so well . JMO.

[TOBY]

My best dog died on me this year. He was 12. Never missed a beat. I actually hunted him in the morning and he died that night!
You will know when there done. Every dog is different.

[LoneBeagle]

Got one that is 11 and he wants to go every chance he gets. He does his little stiff-legged doggy dance when he realizes we're leaving the farm!

The younger dogs run off and leave him behind, but he finds himself a rabbit and chugs along til he gets tired. When he's done, he finds me and we sit down to enjoy listening to the others run. I pet him, praise him and then he usually lays over and passes out til it's time to leave. He's usually snoring in the box by the time we make it back to the farm.

Keep the old dogs, and the old men, in the field as long as we can!

[pilotknob]

I have a 13 yr. old female that is the best pup trainer that ever was.She's lost a step or two and doesn't hear real well anymore.But she'll straighten out a hard check and keep it going and if she comes out and sits down next to you when a pup or young dog is barking.You can throw the juice to anything that's opening up.