A friend of mine said he could hear the heavy breathing of that poor lab just before they hauled her off to the animal hospital which was probably just as you described. I would never forgive myself for doing that to my Xena, that's for certain. No dog would deserve that. There will be plenty of times to hunt when the weather cools off. She is my first bird dog and I had no idea what I was doing when training her but she sure does hunt hard and finds the birds. I always tell people that she has taught me more than I ever taught her.