(QUESTION) I have a six-year-old golden retriever that I work every day for an hour or two and hunt him up north on grouse for two to four days straight at a time (three to four times per year) and out west for pheasants for three days at a stretch (once a year). He is full of energy and in excellent condition (of course, after three days of hunting, he is slowing down and, at 70, so am I). My vet always comments on how he looks the way a dog ought to look, weight and conditioning-wise. His only problem has been a chronic one--excessive wax build-up in his ears, more one than the other but to some extent in both. I can tell he is uncomfortable at times when he shakes his head and scratches at them or nabs them on the ground.
