Dogs are retired when their work sessions become shorter, beyond a threshold where there is a considerable difference between their productivity and that of a younger dog. We also retire our dogs if we identify a health issue which would prevent them from working effectively, or that would cause them pain or discomfort in the field. Some of our retired Technical Survey Dogs remain with us to aid the training of new dogs, in which case they enjoy all the same care and attention as our working dogs. Occasionally, we rehome our retired dogs to dog lovers after careful interview and assessment to ensure they are able to provide an adequate level of care, attention and handling.