[mattdavis11]

A lab I took care of when its owners were out of town made it to 16. The first 7-8 years of his life he was a duck hunter in the winter and ran field trials throughout the rest of the year. He was retired when he he couldn't keep up with the younger dogs in the operation, at which point he became a lap dog that had a daily dummy work out. He was lucky to have made it as long as he did. One year while the owners were in Hawaii for two weeks, he got really sick on me. Ultimately I had to take him to the veterinarian hospital at Texas A&M, the #1 place in the nation for animal care.. He had a huge infection in his chest cavity that had restricted his lung capacity. He was on oxygen when we made the trek from Austin. Super long story shortened, he was a goner, but somehow to everyones amazement he made it. The student's had a damned good thesis I'm sure, as it was the first time an owner was willing to try to save a pet under similar conditions. They had him for 3 weeks.

I got an email yesterday to let me know that he was no longer with us. He will be missed.

The labs in my immediate family have all made it to 11, the oldest was 14. I have a female chocolate that's 5, and if she ages the way she acts, she'll make it to 30.