I just had to put this old boy down a little over a month ago.
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He was by far the "toughest" dog I've ever been around. He would hunt pheasant until he wore the pads off his paws and only when I managed to get a leash on him would he stop. Bloody paws and all, he would keep going.

Ran full bore into a barbed wire fence, pierced his chest as he flipped [bleep] over elbows over it, shook himself off and kept running.

And when it came to other dogs, he was downright brutal. Saw him chase a great dane across our property, chased off labs and retrievers and really only ever got along with our female GSP and my Dad's lab.

Oh and he could swim for hours on end. Never for a purpose, just liked to swim.

As someone above mentioned, it was his desire. He had a very strong hunt instinct in him and he just wouldn't stop, ever. Was very difficult to say goodbye to him, because he was MY dog.