remember after season is over,WHAT DOES YOU DOG DO?toby my lab retrieves at home with his toy.he goes in river and swims with me and walks river banks looking for things with me.he goes ice fishing. he rides in my bass boat and dives in water.
he rides on my lap while i cut grass.
labs can take zero weather,nice big feet,they can swim,good around people, dont shed to much,dont need a bath.
they will hunt anything.toby hunts bear, coyotes,fox,bobcats, rabbits,squireals,grouse,pheasants.
only problem i see with toby and most labs.if you get bigger labs over 80 pds,they tire out quick.
even toby tires out do to heat and heavy coat.
if you condition lab like doc e does, you can get 3 hrs out of lab.
on warm day in woods hunting grouse with toby he is tired after 2 hrs.
other dogs can go for hrs in woods.
english setter/gsp will go for long time in woods.
if i was going to pick a dog being close to lab, it would be GSP.
but i like labs ,i just wish i could hunt more with toby but i understand heat is tough on lab.
take care sproul