At what age is a racing dog retired?
I know a lot depends on things like the particular dog,but on average,how old are most dogs when they are taken out of racing?
Also,it seems to me that these retired dogs still need to work .If the team keeps the dog(which I would also like to think is the case)after retirement,what type of work are these guys doing..?
I agree- around 7-10 years. It depends though- Swenson ran the Irod once year with a 13 year old in lead!
Along with being a B team dog and/or puppy trainer, some are given away to juniors and people that want to get into mushing. That's how I got my leader Baxter.
With our Open Sprint Team, we usually see a decrease in speed and wanting to go the mileage between 7 and 8 years. These dogs are then delegated to the "puppy" team. We currently have a 12 year old and an 11 year old , as well as an 8 year point dog to take out the youngsters and other dogs not up to open specs.
I have seen some dogs at 5 not wanting to go, and then some at 8 or 9 still racing the Open North American.
It's all in the individual.
Yeah, that is what I was trying to say. All dogs are different in how long they can run! :)
From what I have seen, most dogs retire from "racing" at the age of around 7-10. But that all greatly varies, depends on the races, musher, etc....
Most dogs that are done in competitive racing are used to train other pups as lead dogs, hooked up in the fall, and lots of them just like hanging around the kennels and being the "bosses". Some are also used as the "B" team for some mushers.
Most of these "retired" dogs usually are done running completely once they are basically diseased!!! Most sled dogs will run at least a little bit until they die!!!
And yes, sled dogs usually live longer than a regular "house" pet. LOL