HELLO
well this is my first time ever writting on a forum so please forgive me if im a little wet behind the ears..

i feel compelled to tell you about my wonderful deerhound dog called Finlay who will be 10 on the 4th April, he is still very fit and loves to have a good sprint. i know i am so lucky to still have him can anyone tell me if this is unusual..

Hi and welcome to the site, full of great people. Your dog looks great for a 10 year old, not sure if it's common or not. There are people on the site who will be able to
tell you.

Spring

Hi Jul

Welcome!! Yr dog is exceptionally handsome!

My first DH made it to 14 and was frisky til the last 6 months - My current is an old man at 8. Luck of the draw maybe. As more dogs are in pet homes the ages do get into double digits more often and there are lots of studies that show desexing gets you a few more years. The quantity of dogs in breeder homes brings the average down a little. Also the old style of feed them up as pups caused a lot of joint and degenerative disease and we are getting better at that. In Australia there are a lot of over 10 dogs around.

Hi Jul and welcome. Finlay looks wonderful for his age. It does appear that longevity is improving in the breed. I think this is due to better understanding of the breeds health issues and more discerning breeders breeding away from known genetically diseased dogs.

Hi Jul and welcome. Finlay looks in very good shape, you have looked after him well.

Welcome Jul - enjoy the site.

Welcome from Austria.
I am always happy to see "old" hounds, you did a good job, he looks great.
I am sure you will enjoy the site.
Conny+Clyde

hi i just joined last nite so i am still finding my way around this great site.

Welcome to the site. Your boy looks fine for 10 years. Love the name I had a Finley.

Welcome to the site Jul,and the very distinguished Finlay.

Hi Julia, welcome to this addictive site!!!
Your Finlay looks brilliant for his age, that is all that love and care you have given him!

I had a man from Scotland visit me once, his name is Andy Anderson, some on here may know him, he did breed in his younger days. He told me he had a bitch that was the oldest known Deerhound, she died at 15.

He found me in the members list of the Deerhound Club and it turned out his daughter lives near me and he was visiting and he wanted to come and see Murphy, which he did, lovely man and very knowlegable. I think his kennel prefix was Astrian?

Lurch8252 wrote:


My goodness, what a coincidence! I had my first Deerhound from Andy - Thane (Astrian Bailc) was his grand old lady Cistean's litter brother. Thane lived to be nearly twelve and I think he may have been the first of his litter to go. Brother Stripey (A Bannachaidh)was at least thirteen when he went. I don't think Cistean (A Bacaiche) was the oldest ever Deerhound, but she certainly made it to a great age. She was a wonderful tough coursing bitch and just too thrawn to die.

I lay the blame for my Deerhound habit firmly on Andy's shoulders - he and Astrid encouraged me to try coursing when I bought Thane way back in 1981. I went to Dava as a not-too-sure-about-field-sports sceptic, watched one course (Stripey and Barbara Matthews's Bonnie Bess of Intershare, it was) and was instantly hooked. The rest is history.

Hi i dont know about ages for deerhounds but welcome to the site

Brollachan wrote:


It is very true in one way and not in the other way what you are writing.
Yes nowadays we do have all the possibilities like DNA-tests, heart-check etc.
But the first very old dogs I met were at Ardkinglas.
11, 12, 13 years of age,- and do you think that Miss Noble cared about any health testing, like DNA etc? – No, she did not.
She for example bred a healthy individual to another healthy individual.
Maybe that was her secret.
But saying that today’s dogs live a longer life than dogs in the past, is from my point of view definitely not right.

Hi Sid

Yes what a coincidence. I met Andy about 2 years ago, as I said, he phoned me one evenng and asked if it were possible to come and see my Murphy, eeing as I live near his daughter. He came for the afternoon and we chatted for ages, he fell in love with Murphy and told me some great tales. I then dropped him off to his daughters about a mile from me. We swap Christmas Cards and the odd email. Yes he was a coursing man, not into the show scene.
The last email I had he had rescued a Deerhound. Perhaps we ought to tell him about the forum, his input would be good.

fiddle wrote:


That's pretty much what I meant. I wasn't referring to testing but more from breeding from dogs from healthy lines etc Also I think veterinary technology may help to some defree

HI jul my d/h Lana will be 11 on 31st march she is still fit and healthy, although I feel that she is slowing down a little, she belonged to a game keeper until she was over 7 and was a coursing dog, she lived outside in a kennel. My brother re homed her you would never no she had not lived in a house all her life. He emigrated to Australia in nov.08 and after much sole searching decided not to take Lana because of her age (9 1/2) so she came to live with us, she is happy with us and we love her dearly. My brother uses this site his user name is craigy

Hi Jul and I hope you enjoy this site. Your Finaly looks great and I hope you have him for a few more years. I have to say though that I don't know of many Deerhounds in Australia over 10 years at the moment.

Pam

OOps sorry Jul forgot to say welcome to the site and Finlay is a lovely looking boy, girls were in a hurry to go for a walk!
best wishes annette

Hi Jul - what a gorgeous Finlay! A warm welcome to the site:)
I am Trisha from West Wales and have Murray age 1 and Carys aged 5 months - as others have said this site is addictive so be prepared!