Hi, sweetie...

from what I understand, the usual life span for a lab/retriever breed is 12 years.

My parent's one golden retriever kept going til 15 - she was in bad shape, but she was the first dog my dad had had in over 20 years...so I think he was putting things off as long as he could. She should have gone before that, perhaps...

The second golden, from the same breeder, developed lymphoma that grew like a fire with gas on it...she was PTS at 11 years.

All I am trying to say is that 12 to 12 1/2 is not young for a lab, sadly. Of course it is sooo hard....we would do anything to help our babies, and it's almost impossible to believe we can't, because we love them so much.

You might try the old standby and ask your vet: "What would you do if it was your dog?"

Like my mom's cat Pyka...we couldn't keep him going and force feeding him just for our sakes...we had to put his life and happiness first.

{{{{hugs}}}}