When I was in high school I had a golden retriever/yellow lab cross named Jake. He was the toughest and most athletic dog I have ever been around and he would have died rather than quit on me. Even near the end of his life with his kidneys shutting down and terrible arthritis you couldn't walk past him with a shotgun and he was up and ready to go. When he died, it was only the second time in 25 years I ever seen my dad cry.
