Has she tracked her last?

[Tedd]

My 13 yr old WHD is doing what she lives for. Finding deer!  Molly got tired really quickly tonight, almost like she has a heart trouble or something. I gave her an easy find, sure thing track. She followed it up easy and walked right up a ripped the deer to pieces.
She has fight in her, but the body doesn't go up hill or through anything thick.
A blood tracker is  hard life. Nothing easy about it for dog or handler.
She is at her happiest now, guarding the kill.    

[Tedd]

[The Night Stalker]

It's hard to see them get that way.  We are dog poor with 5.

[Tedd]

I knew she was slowing but tonight while dragging the deer home, Molly would did her normal pulling in the opposite direction on the deer. Uusally she would do that all the way home. But tonight  she would stop and sit down while I kept going.

[ron w]

They are here for us to enjoy and love, but nowhere near long enough.

[jwhitetail]

Well its great she got to go out this year and do what she loves... tough to watch'em grow old.

[Msturm]

I lost a decent beagle and a great old lab in the last two years. Used to follow me around moose hunting in AK, and running rabbits in the deep snow. Gotta love a great dog. Keep letting her do what she loves. S#!T*y situation for sure...


Sturm

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Its hard to watch the ones we love grow old.  Especially when both parties are not ready for it yet.  Sorry to hear of Molly's troubles.

[Jerry Russell]

That bond that exist between a handler and a great blood dog is pretty special.  She gave you all those great years.  She loves that work so always keep a deer skin handy and let her track some short lines in her old age.  She deserves that joy.

[achigan]

I've got 5 buried in the side yard, not working dogs, but pets. I've read that they have shorter lives so we can enjoy so many different ones.

Good looking dog! I have an older dog (working on 15yrs old) and she has really slowed down a lot.

Bisch

[dbd870]

Even happens to us - a friend of mine in his 70's has a saying: We all have a first deer and a last deer.

[tippit]

Tedd,
Molly is the reason I got my two WHD.  I absolutely love them!

[Tedd]

Tippit,
Do you have any photos of your dog? Does it track well? I have found that tracking with a dog is hard work in rough terrain and briars.
Any chance you have that Copperhead Morrison Cougar from about 10 years ago? Was that 58" or longer?
Those WHDs are such good pets. They have a lot of personality and can communicate in many ways. Mine thinks it's a human and doesn't care about other dogs.  They are supposed to be long lived. Molly gets her own exercise all day.  She has a large underground fence area and can go in and out whenever she wants and generally lives a happy dog's life torturing chipmunks and anything else that needs chased. She had a bout of lymes a few years ago and has never had stamina since. My wife makes the dog her own egg in the morning and put her on her lap at night.

[Doc Nock]

Tedd,

Rheumatologist I had told me that Lyme does NOT resurface once killed off, but in humans at least, the DAMAGE done by the lyme can flare and cause many issues years later, as it would appear to be a relapse.

I don't know about dogs...

Given the lack of good data on Lyme management in humans, wonder how well it's been studied longer term in animals?

Seems that dogs give 100% and then, have shorter lives then we'd want...perhaps they give so much love because they have less time to share?

Humans could do well to mimic that if so!

[Bud B.]

Originally posted by ron w:
They are here for us to enjoy and love, but nowhere near long enough.

Amen!

[Caughtandhobble]

She's a good one!!! Get her a pup to share her knowledge with. A pup may help her to get a little more active. The raw meat/bone diet is great for the older dogs to put a little pep in her step.

Y'all have been one heck of a good team.  

[Bladepeek]

I read this with a tear in my eyes. My 7 year old WHD, Curly, is showing signs of weakness in his hind quarters. He can climb stairs only with great difficulty. Tests for Lyme disease and Cushings disease are negative. Occasionally he runs a bit of a fever, but not often. So far, they have not been able to find any cause other than some mild arthritis in his spine. As a chronic arthritis sufferer who has seen his own X-rays, it doesn't seem enough to cause his difficulty.

I'm almost 75 and have said good by to a lot of dogs - a couple of them really good ones. It is something we know going in is going to happen. It always hurts and yet we keep going back for more.

Why? I personally need the kind of rapport I get with a dog and there is nothing quite the same as the total, no-strings-attached love we get from them.

[The Night Stalker]

All you  dog people know I just got a wire hair puppy from John and Jolanta Jeanneney. We are up to 4 hr lines and John wants to go older and longer. It is truly amazing to watch  that pup scent. It's a game I have never knew. Long wait to get a puppy  but I think I am hooked. We are also surprised what a great dog he is around the house.
Tedd, it might be time for her to pass the torch to the next. I cannot imagine just having one dog.

[DanielB89]

I love my dogs, that all I can say!  Be sure she is taken care of.  they call them "Man's best friend" for a reason!