Somewhere in this mess, I have a book about quail hunting by one of my favorite outdoor writers, Charlie Waterman. Can't put my hand on it right now, but I remember his chapter on bird dogs where he said what he liked about pointers and setters; when he got to drathaars, vislas "and other strange dogs", his opinion was 'the less said the better'. I remembered that when I bought my present bird dog Willy, a German Wirehair, but did it anyway...Never Regretted it One Minute!...Geo

Good luck on your French Pointer if that's the way you go. I'm sorry to hear of the problems your lab is having. The arthritis medicine Chondroitin(sp?) kept my old Lab, Suwannee going for a few extra years.