Oh yes. We had ours neutered at 6 mos as well.
We took him to the lake every Saturday and Sunday. On the way he was so excited and as we pulled in our car to the area he began to happy whine. We’d let him out of the car and he was off and gone running in all his glory. Had to get that energy out of him somehow. He loved his trips to the lake.
I must say though...a backfiring vehicle or a cap gun used to make him break out in a fit of panting. Honest, you could go feel his head and it was HOT. :)
We had a big thunderstorm here awhile back, we were all in the garage looking out at the rain, came a flash and a huge clap of thunder, and Shelley dashed right out of the garage into the rain and stood at attention looking all around - "OK! Where is it? Where is it?" We about died laughing, but I threw her a bumper so she'd have something to fetch.