My best hunting dog, Tic, turned 12 today & wanted to go chase pheasants.

It was his birthday, so I had to oblige. He's still quite a stellar dog but
certainly is slowing down. He had 4-5 rock solid points this morning
& I went 2 for 3 on my end so he also got 2 really nice retrieves. I have 3
GSP's, the other 2 are younger & are really great bird dogs but he's always
been the "king".



Hopefully I was able to get these photos to post.

Enjoy the time!

quote:

he's always been the "king".

Long live the king.

Jungleboy, Tic has certainly earned his keep over the passed dozen years. Not bad at all for a dog compared to an 84 year old man. I don't know to many of them that are even around, let alone able to walk in the field and hunt.

Hats off to Tic!!!

Wonderful photos, fine looking dog too, doesn't look 12.

Why does a 12 year old bird dog needs a shock collar around his neck?

Norseman,

Good observation, this collar is a "Dogtra" beeper/shock collar combination.
I use the "locate" mode all the time. These GSP's often go on point in thick cover or
in deep grass where I can't see them. Having the locate collars is really nice! I actually
have the 2 collar set-up so I can keep track of both dogs when I'm hunting with 2 of
them. I don't think I've had to use the shock feature on Tic (the 12 yr old) in the
last 4-5 years. Hope this makes sense.

Jim

quote:

My best hunting dog, Tic, turned 12 today & wanted to go chase pheasants.

Yeah! Great pooch!

It has been two years from my original post, 2 more birthdays for my boy so I
thought I would update you on Tic (the King!), he turned 14 last week &
once again asked to go pheasant hunting. We had a spell of nice weather so I
took him & one of my other GSP's to our ranch in Southern Montana for the day.

Four of us hunted with 5 dogs, have great cover along the river with lots
of pheasants.
Shot one pheasant that landed in the river & Tic made a nice water retrieve. He
even beat the younger dog (Baxter) to the bird!



Overall we had a great day. Tic still runs & hunts hard, still I only hunted him about
3 hours just to make sure he wouldn't be too sore the next day! (don't want my wife
mad at me!). Everyday is gift with this little fellow & hope I can give a few
more yearly updates!

VERY, VERY, VERY nice!!!!

Good on you!!

My first GSP made it to 16...hunted till the end and loved every day in the field!!

Very nice, and I love the pics. Here's to more yearly updates.

Beautiful dog. Thanks for sharing your good times.
I miss my Brittany.

The best possible birthday gift for a great hunting companion!

Good looking dogs and love the pics

Thanks guys for the comments! Aren't dogs just the greatest!

Thought I would post a pic of "Tic" from 12 years ago. It's amazing & unfortunate
how they age. I'm sure I haven't changed any!!

Well, it's been another year & that means another birthday for Tic (affectionately known
as "the King" here around the ranch!)
My boy is 15 now & still able to run & hunt, certainly can't keep up with the younger dogs
but able to go about 45 minutes pretty hard!
Deep snow is tough on him, his back end isn't as strong anymore, still has the nose &
the drive!

Here's a pic of him & his littermate (Annie) who we took out about a month
ago chasing pheasants. My friend, Chris, has Annie, she's markedly slower &
has more arthritis problems than Tic, but still loves to get out there.



Hope to post some more adventure pics of Tic next Feb!

Excellent ! A good dog is a treasure. My boy turns 12 next Wed. I will grill him a steak to celebrate .
I can sit and reminisce of the great times we've had together that few will ever know , much less, understand.

Good bird dogs and a day in the field...doesn't get much better than that!

You are a lucky man..enjoy.

We look at them and they bring back memories and remind us that the years have passed by for us as well....and that we are thankful to have walked this way together.

Happy Birthday Tic!

A great story! Glad you can still enjoy your "Boy" Tic, and he can still do what he was bred to do.

You are a lucky guy, to have so much time with him. I lost my EP a few months before his 12th B'day.

Keith

It's one of life's most favorable equations: The love we have for our dogs is always returned tenfold or more.

Well guys, it's been another year & Tic keeps going strong, he's 16 now & only

has three teeth left (two bottom canines & an incisor), he still can hunt, but only for

about 15-20 minutes & then only on good terrain, if he goes down into the river

I have to step in to help him out, plus deep snow is hard on him. Annie his littermate,

pictured earlier in this thread, passed away last year. Not sure how much longer

we have to share with him, he's been the "king" around the ranch so long it is

amazing. Here's a pic of him 4 months ago retrieving a pheasant. He can't

see or hear as well, so I almost have to go to him, small price to pay.

I love this guy!

Thanks for sharing, I love posts like this, our relationships with our dogs is something only a fellow gun dog enthusiast will understand

Man what a great story !
Thank you.

16 years old and still hunting never had one of my labs make it that far.

When I would take a old dog hunting somebody would ask what if he dies. I would tell them it well save me from shooting him when the time comes.

I would much rather see them drop dead out in the field then put a bullet into their head.

Put I only ever had one dog die of natural causes. The rest had to be put down.

My oldest GSP Blitz is near 15 also.

He still rules the roost over the 3 & 5 year olds and loves to hunt. If we didn't slow him down he'd go all day. And of course pay for it the next day.

He even showed up the youngsters a couple times in the grouse woods this past season by finding a few birds they had a hard time locating.

And he even got the retrieve which was handed off to him by my 5 year old.

He has the mind, nose and drive. It's just too bad his body is wearing out around his fantastic spirit.

Nothing like the look on that grey muzzled face when he has a bird pointed. It brings me back to his early years afield with him and his father I also had the privilege to share my life with.

Great memories and great dogs!

That's the sad thing about our best friends, they lose the physical ability, but not the desire. Cheers to Tic.

Thanks for sharing, great history and story here!

Looking forward for 17...good luck