Running the Old Dogs

If you do this for long enough, you get to know a lot of dogs. They all eventually get old and we are lucky enough to know them at all stages of their lives. Many of the dogs have their best years in the later time. Their personalities are in their prime, they aren't distracted as much by being juveniles or the craziness that they go through over running when they are younger. They are still able to do almost as much running, they just are better focusing.

Our dogs get to grow up with their siblings, parents, children and grandchildren. The mother/daughter relationship and the siblings, especially brothers, seems to be the strongest. Buddy and B.B. are best friends, so were Petey and Elvis, who lived to be 15 together.

This year we had to say goodbye to Andy, who was 16. Andy was the cornerstone of our kennel. He came to us at two years old, after a very successful racing season as leader of a winning team. Andy was loved by all, especially the women, who gravitated to him. He was a great leader, thoughtful, and as cool as they get. When he was 14, he ran a thousand miles with us, never backing down or letting up. The girls in the kennel still loved him in his retirement and pestered him. Guinness, our German Shepherd always went right to him, layed down belly up, and payed his respects. Andy got to retire in the girls section, which he liked. Our two other retirees who we said goodbye to this fall were Krummekakke, 14, who was born here, and Pinto, a happy-go-lucky dog we got at 9 months old in 1997. Krummy pulled harder than any of the boys, worked hard without complaint, and had a great attitude. Pinto had his best years after 10 and was gentle and loved by children.

It never gets any easier, but we are lucky to know them. Some of the young dogs do things exactly the same as those who have passed, or sound the same, or have the same look in their eyes. There are little reminders of the old ones all around us.