9 year old Black Lab

Question
My 9 year old black lab has been shedding like CRAZY! This is not normal for him to shed this much, especially in the winter time. Can you give me any helpful suggestions as to what might cause this and what would help fix it? I read an article on thyroid problems with dogs and he has a lot of the symptoms listed. For example, he often times is stiff when he sits for a while and then tries to get up. He moves slow and sometimes its hard for him to get up at all if he ran that day. He also has lost a lot of weight over the last 3-4 months, as well as a lot of hair. In fact he has some bald spots on his legs and tail, and his hair is now constantly shedding all over the place. When you pet him you will get a clump of hair in the palm of your hand. It is really gross and really sad. If you have any suggestions as to what this may be caused by and what might help with him losing so much hair I would really appreciate it. One more thing, is it normal for him to already be acting like an "old" dog? I mean, like I said, he is always stiff and his hips tend to bother him quite often unless we give him Remidyl. It just seems like at the age of 9 he should still be lively and active. We want him to live a long life! What is the average life span for labs? Thanks

Answer
Beyond feeding a decent chow, and not too much of it and bathing a dog seldom if ever, I have little in the way of answer for your question.  Even if I could say yes, that is a thyroid problem, I couldn't give you the medicine the dog would need. You need to take it to the vet.