I guess there's a genetic disposition as well, Chuck, in dogs and us; if we don't watch it we go to pot. Hunting dogs are like professional fighters who should train year-round in yearly pursuit of birds. My Labs remain lithe and lean to the end of their days. My current four-year-old Lab, an 84-pound greyhound, is recovering from major TPLO surgery to repair a blow-out on his left hind leg. At my age, he's my last dog. But if I'm upright eight or nine years from now, I'd get a smaller Lab scaled to smaller needs. I was looking at some beauties from Aussie stock last week. (Jake's recovery looks good; he placed his weight on his wounded leg to pee at 10 days post-op.)
