The age-old dilemma

Retirement is something that comes to every gundog and a survey is aiming to shed more light on the subject, reveals David Tomlinson

- David Tomlinson

THE FIRST OF February was a poignant day for my friend Martin: he retired Harley, his golden retriever. Harley started young, not long after his first birthday: during his long career he worked in the beating line, as a rough-shooting dog and on the peg on end-of-season beaters’ days. He wasn’t a keen water dog so he only went wildfowling a couple of times, but apart from that he was a great all-rounder. In August, he will be 13: if he comes out next season it will be strictly as a spectator.

He still looks good, apart from a greying of the muzzle, so I asked Martin why he had decided to retire him: “He was finding it increasingly hard to perform and there were a few missed retrieves that would never have happened a year ago. Even a half-day made him really stiff the following morning, so it seemed only fair to call it a day. He finished the season and his career, on a high, with a fine cock retrieved on the last drive.”

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