How Old is Too old

[Jonsoutdoors]

Hey Guys,
I am looking for one more cat dog for running bobcats in Oregon and lions at my place in Wyoming. As I am looking, I am seeing a few dogs that are 7-10 years old. I realize that, assuming they are solid cat dogs, that they are probably good pup trainers but what about their actual hunting limitations? I have talked to a couple outfitters and they seem to burn out dogs early but what about the average hunter that is hunting 3 days or so a week. How old is too old for a cat dog? What is a realistic expectation for a 7-10 year old dog? I realize there are a lot of factors like genes, desire and all of that but I am talking about average. Also, What are the ages of hunting levels from a pup to starter to pack dog to finished to lettting your dog spend the rest of it's life on the porch? Thanks

[1bludawg]

Once they reach 10 they can be done as a hunting dog at anytime.My Cheyenne had her last good year at 8 yrs old.I thought that was early but that's the way it is. I hunt weekends,holidays and 5 weeks of vacation time.A 10 year old dog may be a great dog but i wouldn't give much money for one because they may be done for the second week you hunt them.However,if money is no object it may well be worth the risk.

[1bludawg]

I start hunting a pup at 7 mos . old ,at a year old they should burn a hot track .Around 15 to18 mos. they should be working cold tracks well .They should tree by18 mos to 30 mos old .Between 24 and 36 mos they should be able to at least tree some of the easier cat.After that you should see them constantly improving. I hunt my dogs until they can't stay up.This can be anywhere between 8 and 11 years old.Then i take care of them until they pass away. Keep in mind this is just my way of doing things but maybe you could use it for a general outline .

[mark]

The problem with "pup trainers" is that they may be doing fine at an old age where they are, but a new owner and pups can bring out strange things in them. I have seen them start backtracking when pups get ahead of them, start jacking trees, false treeing, running off game etc etc. Things that would never of happened with the original owner and familiar dogs. Not all older dogs do this but enough of them to keep it in mind. Jmo

[scrubrunner]

most of my experience has been with foxhounds and deerhounds but I have noticed that once an above average hound ie. the one that does most of the cold trailing and straighting out the bad loses ect. , when they get to where they can't keep up any more they sometimes start the things noted above. I have an 11 year old treeing walker deer hound that has been my best hound sense she was 1 year old however her last good season was 3 years ago. Now she seems to be more interested in cold trailing than actually moving the track. However I can't stand to leave her at home all the time so I still take her and turn her out alone when things are slow and just let her do her own thing. That is just my latest example, I've seen this type of behavior happen a lot. The average, just a good solid hound I don't think I've seen this happen as much. that said I would want to hunt any hound over 6 years old several times before buying. I've seen old dogs do outstanding for a day or two and than start the B S when they get a little tired.

[justahunter]

i had a leoperd cur walker that i hunted till he was 16 he every once in a while he would tree his own cat or bear lol it was funny that poor old dog would go as hard as he could. he didnt start slowing down till he was 12. one thing about it even as slow as he got i never beat him to a tree. the foundation bitch dog to most of what i have now was hunted until she was 15 and she still caught her own cats sometimes still lead some races she was a kamphouse plott. she would be hunting still but she got in a trap that ended her carrier.