# When a working dog retires, do they go by "dog years"?



## Meanderer (Mar 23, 2022)

How many biscuits are enough?


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## Meanderer (Mar 24, 2022)

What happens to service dogs when they retire?

*"How long do retired guide dogs live for? *A guide dog’s average working life is six to seven years and they are normally retired at about 10 or 11 years old, depending on their health and the amount of work they need to do."  (READ MORE)


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## Meanderer (Mar 24, 2022)

Where do working dogs go when they retire?

"Farm dogs, sniffer dogs, police dogs, service dogs, guide dogs - our canine friends are used to the world of work. Some even miss it when it comes to an end. But what generally happens to a dog when it retires?"






"Sometimes it can be difficult to get a dog to retire - we have one that is 14 years old and still wants to work but can't," says Cooke."

"Some will lose interest in working and could be rehoused as a companion dog but it could be a liability if done in the wrong area - it might for example want to chase sheep, such is the strong instinct to work."

"Farm dogs are usually born and bred on a farm. They are not used to over-stimulation, and they tend to bond with a single person. It really is a case of one man and his dog - put them in a different environment and they can be out of their depth."

"He says he can understand how a dog that is bred for a particular job can display "behavioural issues" if taken out of the situation they are used to." (READ MORE)


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## Meanderer (Mar 24, 2022)

"The City of San Diego does not pay for ongoing medical costs for retired police dogs, which a councilman is pushing to change."

Retirement benefits for police dogs


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## Meanderer (Mar 24, 2022)

_After nearly 11 years of service, one special officer received a retirement party at the Broward Sheriff’s Office Parkland district. (2016)_

"Suzie the bloodhound, who is one of the agency’s search dogs, received a special send-off with doggy cake and plenty of attention on Wednesday. Col. Alvin Pollock gave Suzie a mock sheriff’s badge while fellow bloodhounds Wyatt, Amber and Macie looked on.  Suzie was donated by the Jimmy Ryce Foundation which provides American Kennel Club bloodhounds free to law enforcement to find abducted and lost children.  She will spend her retirement on a three-acre property in South Florida with her long-time handler Kevin Bolling."






BSO K-9 handler Kevin Bolling presents Suzie Q. with a cake to celebrate her retirement on June 1 at BSO’s Parkland district office.





Suzie’s dogged co-workers wait patiently for her to offer them some of her cake


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## Aunt Bea (Mar 24, 2022)




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## Aunt Bea (Mar 24, 2022)




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## Meanderer (Mar 24, 2022)

Before he can retire, there's the paperwork......


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## Paco Dennis (Mar 24, 2022)




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## Meanderer (Mar 24, 2022)

Retired sailor turns to new career with Cully the service dog​_"It is noon at the MARPAC Health and Wellness Expo and the crowd streaming through the Naden upper and lower gyms is robust and noisy."

"At one booth in the lower gym an Australian Shepard sits attentively by his owner’s side. Sensing the rise in his anxiety from the activity beyond the booth, the dog gently nudges him, nose to leg. This is the signal it’s time for his owner to take a break and head outside."_




"For King, his service dog is helping him deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) brought on by two back-to-back tours in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s that included the Battle of Medak Pocket. At the time, he was a reservist from the North Saskatchewan Regiment. He returned to Yugoslavia in 1996 after his direct entry into the 2 Battalion Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry in November 1995. In 1999 he re-mustered to the navy as a marine engineer."

"Undiagnosed anxiety, hypervigilance (an acute state of detecting perceived threats) and night terrors slowly engulfed his daily life. His mental illness was finally diagnosed in 2014, 20 years after his last tour."

"In 2014 King and Cully were united at the Winnipeg-based Courageous Companions, a non-profit run by veterans that pairs dogs with veterans suffering from a variety of conditions. Together, person and canine went through a bonding and training process, and then full certification testing a year later."

_"The founder of Courageous Companions, George Leonard was so impressed with King’s training and interaction with Cully, he offered him to become a service dog trainer, and so his new career path was forged." __(READ MORE)_


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## RadishRose (Mar 26, 2022)

Wonder dogs!


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