Time for a puppy?
A friend, whose labrador is approaching its ninth birthday, asked me recently when he should start to think about getting a puppy to take over the old dog’s mantle. My reply was brief: now. With luck, his dog will be able to work well for another season or two, but by the time most dogs have reached double figures they have slowed down considerably, and relatively few can manage a full day’s shooting when they are 12, and that’s assuming that they are still fit and healthy.
It’s easy to
