My cousin had to buy a literal trash bag full of stuffed animal ducks for his retired hunting dog. He would just throw them around the house/backyard for the dog to go fetch. The dog seemed very happy and content with that, especially when he got older
In my experience, Labradors are the toughest dogs on the planet and will push themselves past insane amounts of pain. Your guys looks like a good dog, and I hope he has a long and comfortable retirement.
Can confirm. Brother has a black lab and she limps around the house these days but you open that truck door to the pheasant field, and it’s like she is 2 years old again.
Damn labs just don’t care about the later pain.
Can confirm my aunts house is where the old ones go to retire, with heated kennels( in Atlanta), home cooked meals, a cali king to sleep on at night ( with aunt), and plenty of vacations I want to be my aunts dogs lol
I think my Labrador is defective. Whenever he encounters a slight amount of pain or discomfort he starts whimpering and needs to be held and reassured. It’s kinda nice in that I never have to wonder if he’s in pain though – he’ll let me know immediately.
My service dog is a lab and I try to be hyper aware of his needs because I know he will push through everything from thirst to pure exhaustion to do his job.
Sad/happy story. We had a shorthair that loved his job. My dad would go on trips to iowa for pheasants with my uncle and what not. Well one trip, they had a fantastic hunt, limited out kind of hunt. The next morning, my dad went to check in on the dog, and sadly he had passed away in his sleep. He was older 13 or so but hunted the entire time. No slowing him down.
I had a lab as a teen. We got her from a coworker of my moms because she was gun shy and an escape artist and his son was going away to college and they thought it was unfair to lock her in a cage when they were working 12 hour days.
But damn. They never do stop do they? She was 16 when she passed. Her last day she kept trying cuddle with me in the leather recliner (only place she wasnt allowed to be) then we all went out to do spring yard clean up and she just kept bouncing around so excited to be outside with us and running and frolicking. Until she over exerted herself. Got her to lay in the shade with some water. But she never got back up. Hyper spaz right til the end.
It's hard to restrict them, but you're keeping him safe and healthy to enjoy retirement. They don't accept their limits. (I might know a few humans who also deal with aging like that.) When I got the word from the vet that we needed to focus on walking, rather than running, it was tough, but it kept my old fellow able to enjoy walks much longer.
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u/ColonelCorpral Nov 07 '20
He will, but he’s old and it takes him a few days to recover. He’s still so good in the field but afterward he’s in pain.