I wanted a running partner, & Darby has a very set limit for the amount of energy that he wants to expend.  Now, that we live in the country, he is no longer forced to go running with me, but otherwise, he remains my first, and the some-times alpha of my pack.  (Gabi has taken over since Darby got sick.)

Darby doesn't like to run, but given his breeding, he has done well on the race track was a solid "C" dog in both straight track and oval until  2005. 

In the spring of 2004, Darby became acutely ill.  I took him to the vet, and he was in fulminant liver failure.  Because he was only 5 at the time, the vet recommended an open biopsy.  Interestingly, we found he had a bacterial infection with underlying cirrhosis.  The cause of his cirrhosis is unknown (too much "licker", I say....).  Over the next hear, he continued to decline, but then be began to get better....slowly.  I thought I might have him only a few months....now, I don't know.