I've got a 45lb 2yr old female Springer who is as gritty of a dog as I've ever seen. Springers don't really have coats made for duck hunting, but she spent several mornings with me last season in a neoprene vest and covered in ice. Her pain tolerance is extremely high, but she takes a soft hand. A gruff word or a beep on her collar is normally all it takes to snatch her back to reality.

I've also got a 10yr old lab with bad arthritis. I haven't hunted him much at all in the last 2 years, but he wants to go just as bad as when he was a puppy. And he'll still go all day if you let him, he's just stove up real bad the next day. He's another tough one. I'm honestly surprised that he's never hurt himself he goes so hard.

"A man may not care for golf and still be human, but the man who does not like to see, hunt, photograph or otherwise outwit birds or animals is hardly normal. He is supercivilized, and I for one do not know how to deal with him." ~ Aldo Leopold