My old boy could easily jump into the jeep , even with the doors on a good 57 ft and would run hundreds of yards after rabbits and varmints . He could track a tennis ball over any terrain for thousands of yards . He was the proverbial dogged dog . At 15 , his kidneys began acting up and we stopped doing the wild running bike rides , long road trips , and week long hikes . It was in these months he started to run and bark in his sleep . He ' d never dreamed like that in his youth and I always assumed he was dreaming about all the times we spent in the brush hunting rabbit and chasing squirrels . Archie passed away midway through his 16 th year . Not a bad run for a dog found in a box of puppies on the side of the road in rural Louisiana . His ashes are on the sands of the desert in the Valley of Fire . He was around a long time and my episodic memories kick in every hour of every day . . Good lookin ' pooch OP , savor every minute you get .