Another OAP - they do like to prove you wrong!

[mistwalker 0]

I made the decision earlier this year that my old collie x dog would be retired.

Fairly straight forward, right? 11 1/2yrs old, been a belter of a worker, still game as hell, but takes a bit longer to recover from a hard session - chr1st! this old fella and I have had so many good times and such a strong bond since he was 6 wks old I reckon I owe him a great retirement, right? Space on the couch, long lie-in's, leisurely walks with the odd day coming along ferreting to mark burrows, nothing more - he's earned the easy life (best £23 I ever spent!) He has always given 110%, I always wanted to breed a pup from him but never found the right bitch (call me stupid, but as he's so special to me, I reckon the bitch should be 'something' too) and now I've got the choice of two! One of my mates has a collie x who was due to break in June and still hasn't come on or my deerhound x, so I decided that if the collie x doesn't come on before spring (when my bitch is due) then she's getting sorted

Anyway, back to my story (sorry about the tangent) - the other day he decides to let me know that he's not quite up for the pipe and slippers treatment just yet. We were out for a walk when the old boy disappears into a rough area, seconds later a rabbit bolts past rapidly followed (and I do mean 'rapidly') by the boy, in and out the bushes they went with barely a foot between them. The old yin pushed and pushed and then they disappeared... seconds later he pops his head back into view, proud as punch with bugsy firmly in his mouth, clears a barbed wire fence and does a beautiful retrieve to hand. Not one to rest on his laurels, he then b&ggers off to find more (which he doesn't - sorry to spoil that bit, lol) but his performance was damned impressive for any dog, especially for one his age.

Then we come to this morning - we're (me and the two dogs) out for our early morning walk on an area that often holds a few rabbits. As we walk up the middle of a field full of silage bales, heading towards a small strip wood, he suddenly bolts straight for the wood. Of course, I reckon he's chasing grass cos I can't see any bunnies, even more so when he clears the hedge into the wood. Now, there's a lot of heavy cover in this small wood and it doesn't take long to start hearing the sounds of him crashing after something (the amount of cuts this old sod has had when he just gives his all to get his quarry - you know the kind? ears ripped to bits by crashing through brambles and doesn't make a sound, yet walk 6 inches past him in the house and he yelps like a poof?)

So, anyway, with the sounds, the big girl takes off to one corner of the wood where it sounds like he's heading but as she gets there out pops bambi about 30 yds away from her! Obviously I shouted her and tried to get her on the lead but she had other ideas, which involved getting bambis heart rate up a bit then trying to stop it altogether, lol. As it was jinking this way and that, she never got a chance to make much ground on it (thankfully )

It's then that I notice the old boy has left the wood and is using his experience to steam into the deer like an exocet missile! (doesn't it just p1ss you off when they don't come back when you shout them?) He takes it round a bale about 5 yds from the wood then it goes straight for the wood. I could see the deer wasn't going to jump the hedge and I knew that if it bounced off it he wouldn't have needed a second chance (obviously, I prayed that it would be okay)! Now what happened next was something I'd never seen before - the deer jumped THROUGH the hedge! Not over it, not through a thin piece, but straight through a heavy piece of hedge. As he had obviously been expecting it to do the same, he wasn't in a position to jump over so he tried to follow it! It didn't quite work for him, lol. The big bitch followed fairly close behind, then he repositioned himself to jump the hedge too but they couldn't keep up in the woods (to be honest, once it was inside the wood, I never actually saw it again, just the dogs running through)

So there we have it, his performance and attitude (although his attitude's never been in question - I'm sure he still thinks he's a pup) over the last few days has forced me to rethink his position (although I'll need to watch him with those deer and stay away from that area as I don't want to break any laws - how do you tell a dog that thousands of years of instinct and breeding is wrong?). I guess he'll just have to get the golden watch next year? (I bloody hope so, cos I'm dieing to bring another pup on, lol)

[hagar 5]

I made the decision earlier this year that my old collie x dog would be retired.

Fairly straight forward, right? 11 1/2yrs old, been a belter of a worker, still game as hell, but takes a bit longer to recover from a hard session - chr1st! this old fella and I have had so many good times and such a strong bond since he was 6 wks old I reckon I owe him a great retirement, right? Space on the couch, long lie-in's, leisurely walks with the odd day coming along ferreting to mark burrows, nothing more - he's earned the easy life (best £23 I ever spent!) He has always given 110%, I always wanted to breed a pup from him but never found the right bitch (call me stupid, but as he's so special to me, I reckon the bitch should be 'something' too) and now I've got the choice of two! One of my mates has a collie x who was due to break in June and still hasn't come on or my deerhound x, so I decided that if the collie x doesn't come on before spring (when my bitch is due) then she's getting sorted

Anyway, back to my story (sorry about the tangent) - the other day he decides to let me know that he's not quite up for the pipe and slippers treatment just yet. We were out for a walk when the old boy disappears into a rough area, seconds later a rabbit bolts past rapidly followed (and I do mean 'rapidly') by the boy, in and out the bushes they went with barely a foot between them. The old yin pushed and pushed and then they disappeared... seconds later he pops his head back into view, proud as punch with bugsy firmly in his mouth, clears a barbed wire fence and does a beautiful retrieve to hand. Not one to rest on his laurels, he then b&ggers off to find more (which he doesn't - sorry to spoil that bit, lol) but his performance was damned impressive for any dog, especially for one his age.

Then we come to this morning - we're (me and the two dogs) out for our early morning walk on an area that often holds a few rabbits. As we walk up the middle of a field full of silage bales, heading towards a small strip wood, he suddenly bolts straight for the wood. Of course, I reckon he's chasing grass cos I can't see any bunnies, even more so when he clears the hedge into the wood. Now, there's a lot of heavy cover in this small wood and it doesn't take long to start hearing the sounds of him crashing after something (the amount of cuts this old sod has had when he just gives his all to get his quarry - you know the kind? ears ripped to bits by crashing through brambles and doesn't make a sound, yet walk 6 inches past him in the house and he yelps like a poof?)

So, anyway, with the sounds, the big girl takes off to one corner of the wood where it sounds like he's heading but as she gets there out pops bambi about 30 yds away from her! Obviously I shouted her and tried to get her on the lead but she had other ideas, which involved getting bambis heart rate up a bit then trying to stop it altogether, lol. As it was jinking this way and that, she never got a chance to make much ground on it (thankfully )

It's then that I notice the old boy has left the wood and is using his experience to steam into the deer like an exocet missile! (doesn't it just p1ss you off when they don't come back when you shout them?) He takes it round a bale about 5 yds from the wood then it goes straight for the wood. I could see the deer wasn't going to jump the hedge and I knew that if it bounced off it he wouldn't have needed a second chance (obviously, I prayed that it would be okay)! Now what happened next was something I'd never seen before - the deer jumped THROUGH the hedge! Not over it, not through a thin piece, but straight through a heavy piece of hedge. As he had obviously been expecting it to do the same, he wasn't in a position to jump over so he tried to follow it! It didn't quite work for him, lol. The big bitch followed fairly close behind, then he repositioned himself to jump the hedge too but they couldn't keep up in the woods (to be honest, once it was inside the wood, I never actually saw it again, just the dogs running through)

So there we have it, his performance and attitude (although his attitude's never been in question - I'm sure he still thinks he's a pup) over the last few days has forced me to rethink his position (although I'll need to watch him with those deer and stay away from that area as I don't want to break any laws - how do you tell a dog that thousands of years of instinct and breeding is wrong?). I guess he'll just have to get the golden watch next year? (I bloody hope so, cos I'm dieing to bring another pup on, lol)

Great post mate i reckon he ll bring that pup on a treat for ya the best of mine learned watching old hands n working with em as they matured, best of luck to ya

[undisputed 1,664]

great read mate and I know exactly what you mean...at what point do you stop relying on these guys who have given so much to you over the years...mine gets to go ferreting as her nose is still an asset for marking bunny holes she gallops about like a teenager then limps back to the car at the end of the day. My mate brought his old dog out of retirement for working reasons and he slipped back into killing mode like he had never been away,,,so I dont know when you retire these guys I guess the day the head doesnt lift from the bed when I go for my jacket will be the day I hang up her spurs....all the best and a lovely looking dog too

Edited September 8, 2008 by undisputed

[mistwalker 0]

I guess the day the head doesnt lift from the bed when I go for my jacket will be the day I hang up her spurs....

 

Yep, sounds about what I reckon too.

[marko 30]

great reading life in the old dog yet i bet you he has got you thinking a bit.

[dytkos 17,594]

great reading life in the old dog yet i bet you he has got you thinking a bit.

Good post mate, they never retire, they just don't get the opportunities they used to! Dog will still be keen in mind but bodies not what it used to be!

I know mate, I'm there! Cheers, D.

[skycat 6,173]

Brillliant write up! he looks in great condition too.

[colliejohn 840]

Good read, is he a first cross collie greyhound. regards collie john.

[TOMO 25,186]

great read there mistwalker, is that top pic an old one as hes in terrific condition. if thats how he looks now TOMO

[mistwalker 0]

Thanks guys, took the photo last summer but he's still looking good. Lost his tail last year when he broke it wagging it and hit it off the edge of a door! He's a 3/4 cross, I went to look at a bitch but fell in love with him!

[desertdog 149]

exellent read i have an old bitch shes twelve lets the young uns do all the work and takes the glory, cheers to the lod uns

[Phil Lloyd 10,736]

Thanks guys, took the photo last summer but he's still looking good. Lost his tail last year when he broke it wagging it and hit it off the edge of a door! He's a 3/4 cross, I went to look at a bitch but fell in love with him!

 

Fair play to you my mushti,..and full respect to your veteran lurcher....

 

I often wish that I still had some of my old working dogs ....

 

But,.. would I still be worthy of them....

 

All the best,.CHALKWARREN...

[Guest markbrick1]

very well wrote,mark