# Sad day, sad season



## Aimless1 (Sep 25, 2011)

Quest is 11 yrs old and is showing his age. It's been a hard season to judge how long I can hunt him as it has been unseasonably warm and it's either been too warm to hunt or we have had short 1-2 hour trips. I've had this feeling all season that this may be the beginning of the end of his hunting career.

Today I took my son-in-law on a preserve hunt. Temperatures around 50 degrees, nice south wind 10-15 mph and just a beautiful day to be out hunting. Quest was able to work the wind on the down wind side of the sorgham strips and pin the birds without too much effort. They proved to be runners today and he did a masterful job of working out where they were, never quitting and nailing all but one. But at the two hour mark he was gassed and needed to get back to the truck. 

Don't get me wrong. I have great memories and still have an awesome hunting dog. Couldn't be happier in that regard. But I am sad ... for him ... and for us ... as he is fast approaching retirement. Wish it could continue for ever.

Oh sure, I have a new V coming into my life very soon. I'm sure he will steal my heart and no doubt have a wonderful hunting career as well. 

Quest had 12 points in 2 hours today. Please join me in toasting him and his career with your favorite adult beverage. He deserves no less.


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## Gunnails (Nov 21, 2011)

Cheers to Quest.

Sounds to me like you had an awesome day.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Don't be sad. Look on it as Quest enjoying a new part of his life. He's done the hunting and made you proud. It's his turn now to relax and kick back while you lavish him with love, good food and attention. He will still be able to be your friend and companion, he will just choose to relax when you are hunting. 

Try and find other nice things which Quest can enjoy while he settles into his twilight years.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Cheers, Quest... I think they become more graceful as they age. Best is yet to come as Quest will take care and teach your new Vizsla puppy


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

A toast to Quest!

May the years that Quest be allowed to spend his days on the porch watching and teaching the new pup be long and enjoyable.

The new pup will one day take over his duties as your hunting partner but Quest will still have "that special spot" in your heart. Try and not compare the two. Hunting dogs, like people, are all different.
Your pup may never "live up" to how you hunt with Quest but it won't be for lack of effort I am sure.

Nothing wrong with using two hunting dogs. Quest for a nice 1/2 hour hunt in the morning and then maybe in the afternoon. The young buck for the long hard running and hunting.

We all get older and slower. 

Aimless1, a great read is "A Dog's Purpose."

RBD
http://redbirddog.blogspot.com


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Raising a glass to Quest... "Here's to you, buddy -- well done!"

There's a special place in my heart for our canine senior citizens. Even as their bodies begin to age, they never lose their youthful spirit!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

life is but a dream n Quest will always dream birds cheers


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## Lincolns Parents (Aug 6, 2011)

***Cheers***

Way to go Quest! May retirement treat you well.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

A few years back a friends dog was at the end of his career also. Arthritis in his joints and his vision had started to go, so we used to "plant a few" for him, and let him hunt 'em up.
He used to get pretty jazzed up.
I'll have a "Sammy" for Quest tonight, maybe Tres Generacion too.


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## Aimless1 (Sep 25, 2011)

Thank you.

Quest and his buddy (me) spent the day hanging out. We're especially close and can almost read each other's minds. This is not the first dog I've retired, but this one is harder than I remember the others.

I never brag about my dogs, mostly because there's no reason to  Quest was different. He would just go out, find and point the birds. He could and does honor points but seldom had to. He would get the birds other dogs missed. He was always the one to figure out where the running birds disappeared to. I'm sure there are much better dogs, but I've never seen them. He is a classy bird dog who happens to be a legitimate brag dog. Best of all, he's my buddy.

He'll have a happy retirement. Hunt as he's able to but no more than that. Of course he will want more. He'll still be admired when we're taking a walk or out and about. He'll still be my buddy and go where ever I go. Best of all...


R said:


> life is but a dream n Quest will always dream birds cheers


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

**** mate.... your making me tear up!!! :'( 

I know what you mean though about that one special dog. I'm already starting to think that my youngest, Astro, might be the one. At only 8.5 months he's the one who is most in tune with me. He amazes me at how he is able to read my body language. He's actually teaching Ozkar and Zsa Zsa how it's done. Ozkar is 12 months old and Zsa Zsa is 18 months old. So it's good signals from little Astro at this point. 

But i've also had three others in my life that were memorable. One a mutt, one an English Cocker Spaniel the other A kelpie. All three were amazing for different reasons. The cocker was just my buddy. He went everywhere I went and did everything I did. He went motorbike riding, boating, swimming, camping, hunting, fishing and protected my wife from an aggressive large dog on the beach one day. He was gutsy. He used to climb stuff like a billy goat! 

Flash, the Kelpie was my motorcycle buddy. He did 30 or 40,000klms on the tank of my bike. Pretty cool dog, who everyone fell in love with. My mates used to get me drunk, then ask flash if he wanted to go for a ride. He would then go nuts until I took him. There were two problems with that, firstly, I was drunk and shouldn't have been riding and secondly, the bike was kept in the hallway of my ground floor apartment. So I had to get it down the hallway, out the front door, turn it 90 degrees, roll it out the vestibule and down the stairs onto the footpath. There was a third issue, it was a 1980's Ducati, which if you didn't catch it on the starter motor first go, would need to be kick started. Kick starting a 1000CC V-Twin, in the middle of winter, drunk, with your dog barking by your side with excitement at every kick is humorous for those watching, not so for me. Then I had to at least take him up to Bondi Beach and back. He wouldn't settle for a short trip down to Coogee Beach where we lived..... nope... he had to go to Bondi or he would sit on the bike and bark till we did. Funny dog.

Then the last one was the Mutt. Sandy. Half Corgi, Half Labrador. Brilliant dog. Lost him in the bush off the back off the Ute at 100kph. Went back to find him and couldn't. Travelling along the same road 8 weeks later, we found him. A little skinny, but all in all fine. He was tough. I saw him rip apart a Staffordshire terrier, an Australian Blue Heeler and several other large aggressive dogs who thought they might come a little too close to my ute. Same with people. He loved people, but if you put your hand inside the tray of the ute, you'd lose it  

Ended up being run over by our idiot milkman who thought the milk truck was an F1 car. Came screaming around a corner, just missed me and got Sandy. That incident almost got me a criminal conviction. I assaulted the milkman. It was a country town, a long time ago, when that type of reaction was acceptable to a point.. :


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