# what age would you get your last V?



## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

Just a very general question I suppose, but at what age would you say, "this is my last dog" .I've just turned 49 and reckon I can probs give a V enough exercise till I'm well into my 70's, (just the lifestyle I lead, low BMI, and all that), so realistically I'd be thinking around about early to mid 60's would be time to say "last pup"....any thoughts folks?...


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## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

I got a Weimaraner when I was 40 and the bloody thing wore me out he was 11 when he died in 2011 and I loved him so much...now at 53 I have a crazy Vizsla now 21 months, I recon her, either outliving me or seeing me to about 66....then I think !!!!!!!! tortoise.....


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## Big Rick (Apr 14, 2009)

Got our first V when I was 65 and our second one when I was 66. My wife was adamant about getting the first and I was skeptical because of what I had read about the high need for exercise. However, although the first few months were a bi..ch they have both settled down and adjusted to our sedentary life. They get exercise in our fenced back yard but not anywhere near 2 hours a day. I figure I'll be in my 80s when they're gone and I would have no qualms about doing it again!!!


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/06/jack-sharkey-my-dog-world-inspiration.html

My friend Gordon got two Vizsla pups when he was 77. He is 81 now and has a master hunter title on both, working on Advanced Master Hunter title, and still does field trials. He has had Vizslas since the 1970's.

Jack Sharkey impressed me in the video attached above done when he was 74.

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/06/letter-from-jack-sharkey.html

RBD


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

redbirddog said:


> http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/06/jack-sharkey-my-dog-world-inspiration.html
> 
> My friend Gordon got two Vizsla pups when he was 77. He is 81 now and has a master hunter title on both, working on Advanced Master Hunter title, and still does field trials. He has had Vizslas since the 1970's.
> 
> ...


does he still manage the rigours of exercising them both regularly though Rod?


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

He is a fixture at our hunt club where he spends hours in the fields working his dogs. He rides his horse in the trials even though he needs a boost to get into the saddle these days. He is a tough old bird and an inspiration to all of us who know him. His love and passion for the Vizsla is contagious.
RBD


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## harrigab (Aug 21, 2011)

redbirddog said:


> He is a fixture at our hunt club where he spends hours in the fields working his dogs. He rides his horse in the trials even though he needs a boost to get into the saddle these days. He is a tough old bird and an inspiration to all of us who know him. His love and passion for the Vizsla is contagious.
> RBD


Good to hear Rod, there's a guy that shoots on our drive, Septimus, he's 93, and still has his own dog, albeit a black lab, and he still walks it and works it regularly


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## Kay92 (Oct 19, 2012)

This is an interesting question. But in my opinion, I will have a dog until I am in the ground. However, I don't know if my last dog would be a V, here is why, they are so attached to people (more so than other dogs.) I'd feel bad biting the big one and leaving my poor V to a family member when I would know he or she would never be the same. But, until I'm way older I will probably keep getting Vs.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

harrigab said:


> Just a very general question I suppose, but at what age would you say, "this is my last dog" .I've just turned 49 and reckon I can probs give a V enough exercise till I'm well into my 70's, (just the lifestyle I lead, low BMI, and all that), so realistically I'd be thinking around about early to mid 60's would be time to say "last pup"....any thoughts folks?...



Haha..............49.............you're a funny man Harri............ Is that plus VAT, GST and inflation mate? Remember I've seen the pics of you beating off in your Beeks........... 

To answer your question, as long as I have a succession plan and I'm physically able, I'll keep enjoying the friendship of a Vizsla......


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

About 25 years ago I spent the summer training with an "old belgian codger" that rode the Tours in the 50's and 60's.
He used to smoke cigars while we rode ,and we weren't riding slow either, and man he could still the drop the hammer on a flat road. He was in his mid 60's too! We were twenty somethings and he was breaking our legs off at times.
I use to ask him if he found the hills hard to ride up at his age,and he told me that America was flat, not like Europe ,and that a hill was nothing more than a flat road in a different gear.
I figure age is about the same. 60 is just 20 in a different gear  
As long as you can still do it, do it.
I'll have V's as long as I can.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

When I get old and slow I will look to one of the rescues that has a V in the same condition as me. We can take walks in the countryside and just hangout together. That way it will be a tossup on which one of us out lives the other.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

I think you have to wait and see how your health is and how you feel in general, whether you think you can cope with the first couple of years of training and madness.

Also, once you retire (if you can afford to retire in our economic climate!!!) your life style may change. I know people who retire and then want to travel or have grand children and a young dog just wouldn't fit their new circumstances.

I know folk who have puppies in their 60s and enjoy them. I am sure it keeps them in good health. Me I will just have to wait and see.....not that long!

I can't imagine life without a dog. Every time we have lost a dog, we have always said we will keep walking and we never do....so that is one really good reason for getting a new puppy or maybe an older rescue.


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