Sad situation. I had a retriever that I lived with and hunted with from his 45 th day of life. He developed a bad hip at 10 years old and there wasn't anything to be done. I could tell he was in pain and the day finally can when he could not get in and out of the truck much less hunt. Even walking down the steps of my deck was working on him. I thought at first he was just getting older and maybe after hunts he was just a bit tired and sore. But as time went on it was evident it was more than that. The vet confirmed my fears. It was hard but after 11 years together I owed him a easy out. So I had him put down.
About two days later my girl friend at the time called me a said she saw an ad for chocolate labs in the next town over. She got me to go over to have a look. I picked one out and a few days later we picked him up. What a handful that little guy was. A lot different than my mellow old golden retriever. Keeping up with him did take my mind off my loss and the new dog ended up being a great one in the field. He loved to hunt.
He would go batsht crazy even when you got your hunting clothes out of the dryer and carried them to the closet.
